---
title: NIH Launches Vulvodynia Awarness Campaign
date: 2007-10-30T16:10:14-04:00
author: OBOS Admin
canonical_url: "https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/nih-launches-vulvodynia-awarness-campaign"
section: Blog (Archive)
---
[Donate](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/donate)

[From the Archives of Our Bodies, Our Blog](/blog)# NIH Launches Vulvodynia Awarness Campaign

By Rachel Walden • October 30, 2007

Please note: This entry -- originally posted at [Our Bodies, Our Blog](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog) -- has not been updated since the publication date listed above.

The National Institutes of Health has launched a [campaign to raise awareness of vulvodynia](http://orwh.od.nih.gov/health/vulvodynia.html) (chronic vulva pain), a little understood and even less discussed aspect of women's health. According to an NIH [press release](http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/oct2007/od-24.htm):  
  
> The NIH Office of Research on Women Health (ORWH) hopes by combining forces with partners such as advocacy groups, health care practitioners, research organizations, and federal and non-federal entities, there will be increased awareness and understanding of this important medical condition for women.

  
  
While greater awareness of the condition, for which there is no known cause and no definitive treatment, is likely needed among both women and their healthcare providers, the campaign appears to be awareness-only, with no major research funding component. A search of the [CRISP database](http://crisp.cit.nih.gov/) of federally funded research reveals only about 9 distinct awarded grants on the topic in the past ten years.  
  
I also cringed a bit to find the campaign materials introducing vulvodynia as "also referred to as 'the pain down there' or 'feminine pain,' before providing a real definition of the condition. If we're going to begin to openly discuss this issue, we're going to have to move beyond "down there" language.  
  
Some resources on the topic:  
  
- 
- [Vulvodynia and Women's Health Toolkit](http://www.healthywomen.org/vulvodynia/)
- [National Vulvodynia Association](http://www.nva.org/)

---

#### 2 Responses

Our Bodies Ourselves is no longer able to accept comments.

**catherine A** on Oct 31, 2007

Do you think vulvodynia is related to Pudendal Nerve Entrapment? see www.tipna.org and www.pudendal info.com  
My case history of Pudendal Neuralgia is stated in these two websites. I'm wondering if anyone else has suggested that these conditions could be related. Regards  
  
Catherine A .....Australia

**Katherine** on Jul 22, 2010

In my layperson's opinon 'yes' I think vulvodynia is related to PNE. I've been out to www.tipna.org, and read about pudenal nerve entrapment and neuralgia. I have traveled to see some of the doctors affiliated with the tipna website. I'm still searching, but since that is the main nerve in the groin area it has to have something to do with it.

![](/assets/img/monogram.webp)Topics

- [Uncategorized](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/uncategorized)

![](/assets/img/monogram.webp)### *Why You Can* **Trust Us** 

- We rigorously evaluate all content
- We embrace a reproductive justice framework
- We don’t accept ads or sell products
- We reject funding from the pharmaceutical industry
- We counter misinformation and disinformation
- We address the social, political, and economic factors that affect health and sexuality

[read more](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/why-you-can-trust-us)

Share

[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)