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Dr. Archelle Georgiou interviews expert Dr. John Willems about vulvodynia. He discusses the young women who are affected and how to advocate for yourself if you have symptoms.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
Welcome back. We are at the Women’s Conference 2010 and this is EmpowHER Live. I am joined here today with Dr. John Willems who is a specialist in vulvodynia. We are going to talk about what that means in a moment, but basically what we want to talk about today is sexual health.
You might notice that we are in a little bit of a different venue and that’s because we were in the exhibit hall earlier but there was so much excitement over the speakers that were on the stage it was a little bit too noisy for us to do these segments. So we wanted to come outside and take the opportunity to meet with Dr. Willem, thank you so much for joining us.
Dr. John Willems:
Well thanks Dr. Georgiou.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
So let’s just start with what this whole problem of vulvodynia is, explain that to us in English.
Dr. John Willems:
Right. Vulvodynia, in essence, is vulvar pain and that’s pain that inhibits, for example, ability to sexually function.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
So for people who don’t know medical language, what is the vulva and where is it?
Dr. John Willems:
The vulva constitutes that tissue that’s at the entrance to the vagina.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
That’s pretty straight forward. So tell us why vulvodynia exists? Why that pain exists? Tell us more about that. What are some of the basics and how common is it?
Dr. John Willems:
Well, in terms of discomfort with intercourse that probably involves at one point of time, 12 to 15% of the female population. So it’s not an uncommon problem. In terms of vulvodynia, and that specific more chronic problem we tend to look at it as something, a pain that lasts longer than six months and that has all different issues associated with it.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
So sometimes people might hear about this problem and think that it occurs in perimenopause or menopause or older women. As we were talking earlier we were talking about the fact that that may not be limited to that population. Who does it affect and what are the percentages?
Dr. John Willems:
Many times the menopausal pain is caused by a decrease in estrogen and a thinning of the tissues. But vulvodynia itself is predominantly in those women between 20 and 30.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
Wow, and how does that affect the rest of their sexual life, their reproductive life, how does it affect all of those issues that are so important in your 20s and 30s?
Dr. John Willems:
Well if chocolate started to taste like vinegar, you’d pretty soon stop eating chocolate.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
Okay, that’s a good analogy. So, when we think about what women can do about it, what are some helpful tips? What would you recommend if you heard that someone was having some of these symptoms? What are some steps people can take?
Dr. John Willems:
The first thing is many women feel isolated that their family can’t participate in this and they don’t want to bring it up to their family. So they need to be their own best advocate with their physicians.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
And how do you do that, I mean really, how do you bring it up? I don’t think, I have never really had big sexual issues but if I had them I don’t think that I could really bring it up to my doctors, especially with the limited amount of time that you have in the office. How do you do that? Any tips on that?
Dr. John Willems:
Well, I think that one of the greatest tips that I have seen is women that bring in a three by five card or some little prompt to themselves so they can be sure they hit their bullet points before they finish the visit.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
Great idea. And so as we wrap this up, is it a chronic problem or are there effective therapies? What’s the treatment?
Dr. John Willems:
Well there are effective therapies. I think you have to connect yourself with a physician that’s interested in this area, and even if your personal physician is a little uncomfortable with talking about sexual issues, they usually know those experts in their area.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
Dr. John Willems, thank you so much for joining us today. This is Dr. Archelle Georgiou here with EmpowHER Live at the Women’s Conference 2010. Thanks for joining us.
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