Welcome to the Vulval Pain Society, a UK registered charity supporting vulval pain sufferers.

Our aims are:

  • To promote and protect the physical and mental health of sufferers of vulval pain through the provision of support, education and practical advice

  • To advance the education of the general public in all areas relating to vulval pain

We offer advice and information on all vulval pain matters. You can read detailed information about vulvodynia, vestibulodynia (previously known as vulval vestibulitis), lichen sclerosus, and other vulval pain conditions. We also have information on sex and vulval pain, pregnancy and vulval pain, and other general good advice.

Find out more about us.

NEW - What is the vulva?

ASCII-style graphic containing a large white question mark on a jade green background. The question mark is made up of a list of the structures of the vulva in small font text

A basic guide to the different parts of the vulva, location and function. The page includes a labelled colour photo of the vulva (so may not be safe for work), plus a full text description of each of the structures indicated in the photo.

There's also a quick guide for health professionals to carrying out a vulval examination, and for patients, there's a link to our How to perform vulval self-examination page, which has a labelled black and white line diagram of the vulva.

The new page can be accessed from our main menu at What is the vulva? or by clicking on the green square above this text.

Participants needed for web-based study on female pelvic pain and self-esteem (London Metropolitan University, London, UK)

London Metropolitan University are looking for participants for a study regarding the impact of female pelvic pain on self-esteem. The aim of the work will be to find out how pelvic pain affects the self and how it relates to sexual distress.

To participate in the short online survey, you will need to suffer from a pelvic pain condition such as vulvodynia, vestibulodynia, interstitial cystitis, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, fibroids or other pelvic condition.

Full details of the study are available on our Current research page. 

Report from Your Pelvic Health Women's Coffee Morning held at Redruth, Cornwall on Saturday 10 June 2017

Cropped poster for the Women's Pelvic Health Coffee Morning, showing a cup of coffee with beans on a white background with a vertical magenta stripe to the left

Dr Liz Venner, Associate Specialist in Dermatology at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has very kindly sent us a short report following the Your Pelvic Health Women's Coffee Morning which took place in Camborne in Cornwall on Saturday 10 June 2017. The article summarises the presentations given by Dr Lisa Haddon, Consultant Sexual Health Physician, Dr Anna Weiss, Consultant Anaesthetist/Pain Consultant, Ms Rachel Collett, Women's Health Physiotherapist and Dr Venner herself.

You can read the article on the VPS website.

Cosmopolitan article on vestibulodynia

The VPS has been featured in women's magazine Cosmopolitan in an article on vestibulodynia. You can read the entire article on the Cosmopolitan website.

NEW - Finding a vulval clinic page

Woman sitting working on a laptop with notebook, pen and cup of coffee

If you're looking for a vulval clinic in the UK, you can now access the link from our main menu at Finding a vulval clinic.

Podcast and transcript now available for 'Airing Pain' programme on vulvodynia

Link to podcast for Airing Pain Programme 87: Vulvodynia

If you missed the recent Airing Pain radio programme on vulvodynia, you can now access the audio podcast from the Pain Concern website. Pain Concern's thirty-minute programme features Dr Winston de Mello, Dr David Nunns and Dr Rebekah Shallcross talking about vulvodynia.

A transcript of the programme is available on the VPS website if this is more convenient.

For more information on the programme and the interviewees, click on the 'Read more' link below.

Read more: Podcast and transcript now available for 'Airing Pain' programme on vulvodynia