Vestibulitis: A Medic'S Struggle With Vulval Pain From The Other Side Of The Curtain

Going to the doctor about ‘women’s things’ is never pleasant but it’s even worse when, despite everyone’s best efforts, your symptoms remain unexplained. I’ve decided to share my personal experience of vestibulitis, under the guidance of GP Anjana Singh and consultant gynaecologist Gabrielle Downey, in order to raise awareness and facilitate prompt diagnosis for future patients.On 10 September 2013 I lay on the trolley in an anaesthetic room, petrified at the thought of having surgery but also excited about what the operation would hopefully achieve. Earlier that year I had been in the very same room as a 3rd year medical student, observing the anaesthetic induction of a patient who was about to undergo a procedure called a Fenton’s vestibulectomy. The gynaecologist explained that the procedure was for a specific type of dyspareunia called vestibulitis. She diagnosed this by the relief of pain after the application of local anaesthetic cream around the introitus. At this point my mind was racing; I had been experiencing superficial dyspareunia that was relieved by the use of local …