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Are Oral Birth Control Pills a Cause Of Or Solution For Pelvic Pain?

In Female Pelvic Pain, Pelvic Health, Pelvic Pain, Vulvodynia by Stephanie PrendergastLeave a Comment

By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC West Los Angeles A frequent question from social media:    “I have Vestibulodynia and painful bladder syndrome. I am almost symptom free except for near or during my period. My hormone levels are fine. My urologist prescribed testosterone cream because he found atrophy. At the same time I have another doctor telling me that …

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5 Tips to Reduce Vulvodynia Symptoms

In Vulvodynia by pelv_admin2 Comments

Vulvodynia can affect up to 25% of women in their lifetime.1 The vulva is the anatomical term for the external genitalia in women that includes the clitoris, labia, mons pubis, and vestibule (vaginal opening).  Vulvodynia has received specific diagnostic terminology as we now know there are various causes and presentations of symptoms that can be considered “vulvodynia”.3  Box 1 contains …

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Sex Therapy and CBT for Pain with Sex

In Female Pelvic Pain by pelv_adminLeave a Comment

In 2012, The Journal of Sexual Medicine published an article, What we don’t talk about when we don’t talk about sex: results of a national survey of U.S. obstetrician/gynecologists. The results from the survey revealed that though Ob/gyns routinely (63%) assess their patients’ sexual activities, only 40% of them ask their female patients about sexual problems. Sexual problems may include …

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Vulvodynia, Vestibulodynia, and Vaginismus: what’s the difference and why does it matter?

In Vulvodynia by Stephanie Prendergast3 Comments

  By Stephanie Prendergast, PHRC Cofounder   As many as 28% of women experience painful sex at some point during their reproductive years and that sucks. Knowledge is power and May is Pelvic Pain Awareness Month so we want to provide women with useful information about the three most common diagnoses associated with painful sex: vulvodynia, vaginismus, and vesitbulodynia. Differentiating …

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Jagged Little Pill: Part Two

In Female Pelvic Pain, Vulvodynia by Joshua Gonzalez, MD7 Comments

  By Joshua Gonzalez, MD   After reading my last post, Jagged Little Pill, many of you who have had similar suspected OCP-related problems may be thinking there’s no hope.  Trust me, you are not doomed if you’ve ever taken an oral birth control and you have symptoms of vulvodynia.  My goal this week is to reassure you that you’re …

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Jagged Little Pill: How Oral Contraceptives Wreak Havoc on the Female Body

In Female Pelvic Pain, Stress Urinary Incontinence, Vulvodynia by Joshua Gonzalez, MD9 Comments

By Joshua Gonzalez, MD   The advent of oral birth control pills in the 1960s was heralded as a huge victory for women’s rights.  Finally, women could take control of their bodies and their fertility.  Since then, oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) have become ubiquitous in reproductive aged women with nearly 10 million women today using The Pill as their primary …