The Vulva is the area of skin between your legs. It includes the labia, which are the flaps of skin that surround the opening of the vagina. There are many different conditions that can make this area painful or irritated. It may be painful due to an infection such as thrush. It may be painful due to a skin condition like dermatitis or lichen sclerosis.
However, sometimes it can be painful without any infection or skin condition being present.
To make it even more complicated, sometimes all these conditions are present at the same time – or at different times in the same woman. It’s also common for her to have other types of pelvic pain as well.
Your doctor will check for infection, and skin conditions such as dermatitis. They may take a swab or possibly a biopsy (tiny sample of skin) looking for infection or skin conditions. A bladder infection can also give this type of pain.
If these are normal, but you have pain, then you may have a ‘Vulval Pain Syndrome’. This means that you have pain in the Vulva, but no abnormality can be found. Your pain is real, but it is a pain that can’t be seen by others. This pain can feel just the same as pain from an infection or skin condition.
Sometimes, it is previous infections or skin problems that can trigger the Vulval Pain Syndrome. Sometimes the Vulval pain starts for no known reason.
Vulval pain syndromes are not a sign of a dangerous health problem.
It can be embarrassing to talk about vulval pain, but is important to discuss vulval pain symptoms with a doctor experienced in this area of medicine – there are treatments available. Don’t just try to ‘put up with it’!
Doctors and women’s health physiotherapists use different names to describe different types of vulval pain syndromes:
- Vestibulodynia or vestibulitis. This means pain at the opening of the vagina. The pain usually comes on after touch or pressure during sex, medical examinations or inserting tampons. For some women, it can last for hours after sex.
- Vulvodynia. This means pain in the outside skin of the female genitals. The pain can be present all the time, or it can come and go. The pain may be felt all over the vulva, or just on one side, or one or two spots. Touch does not usually trigger the pain, but it can make it worse.
- Clitorodynia. This means pain around the clitoris, often brought on by touch or sexual arousal.
Women with vulval pain use words like:
- burning, tearing, splitting, stabbing, feeling raw, and sometimes itchiness or stinging.