- Vulvar pain is rarely associated with cancer.
- Vulvar pain is rarely caused by a sexually transmitted disease.
- Vulvar pain is not contagious.
- Although we may not be able to prove what is causing your vulvar pain, we know how to treat it and the vast majority of women will get significantly better with treatment.
- Vulvar pain is not due to poor hygiene and soaps and detergents may be making your condition worse. You can use gentle soaps on the rest of your body but NO SOAP on your vulva. The vulva should be washed only with water.
- Many women with vulvar pain have been suffering for many months or years and going from doctor to doctor and trying treatment after treatment with no success. This kind of chronic pain can be exhausting and demoralizing, especially when you don't feel you can talk to anyone else about it. However, proper treatment as administered by a vulvar expert may take weeks or months. YOU MUST HAVE PATIENCE and give the treatment program a chance to work.
- Even when properly treated, vulvar pain has "good" days and "bad" days. If you have a string of "bad" days do not assume that your treatment program has failed. This may just be a phase. Call your doctor.
- Do not assume that a setback is due to the same condition that was diagnosed originally. Other conditions can cause similar symptoms and the only way to tell the difference is to see your doctor for another examination. Although office visits may be inconvenient, a diagnosis and treatment plan that is made over the phone may be wrong and may make matters worse.
- Just because the doctor could not find anything wrong doesn't mean that the pain is all in your head. The pain is in your vulva. Even though your doctor is a gynecologist he/she may not know much about vulvar pain. You need to see a specialist.
- Just because the doctor could not find anything wrong doesn't mean that you "just need to learn how to relax during sex". Your problem will not be solved with a glass of wine or a Valium. Your problem is that you have vulvar pain. Even though your doctor is a gynecologist he/she may not know much about vulvar pain. You need to see a specialist.
- There is nothing wrong with you as a person. The problem is your vulvar pain.
- Just because your pain is in a sexual organ doesn't mean that you can't talk to others about it. Support of friends or family is important. Find someone you can confide in and talk to them. If you don't have a friend or family member that you can confide in, find a therapist.
- If you are in a relationship, your pain affects your partner as well. Appropriate couples counseling may be helpful.
Finally
It is OK to seek information on your own. The more you know about this disease, the more control you have over your situation. However, please make sure that you get your information from a reliable source. Sometimes patients become depressed if new treatments fail. Try to find a vulvar expert.
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