National Vulvodynia Association

March 19, 2026

The NVA has published our Spring 2026 newsletter. If you would like to receive future newsletters by email, please join our listserve.

March 11, 2026

Deadline to Submit Letter of Intent is Monday, March 23, 2026
Deadline to Submit Application is Thursday, May 7, 2026

March 11, 2026

We want to share an update on vulvodynia research that we’re currently funding. Our goal is to find new effective treatments based on the knowledge researchers have gained in recent years.

March 11, 2026

Mypelvicplan.com, developed by Drs. Georgine Lamvu of Orlando VA Health Care System, and Sara Till, ob/gyn at the University of Michigan, was created to help women with pelvic pain conditions.

March 11, 2026

Never before has there been a movie like Lady Parts, a festival award-winning dramedy about a 31-year-old woman who moves in with her parents prior to having a vestibulectomy. Writer Bonnie Gross hopes that the film will empower women to start conversations about having pain in a part of their body that is taboo. The […]

March 11, 2026

As you know, Lidocaine 5% is a widely prescribed temporary anesthetic that vulvodynia sufferers apply to the vestibule shortly before having sex. A substantial number of women, however, report burning upon application, typically lasting 15 to 30 seconds (or up to two minutes in some women). At a recent NVA meeting, Board member Kathy Polletto […]

March 11, 2026

In early March, the NVA executive board funded two new studies to accelerate the development of new vulvodynia treatments. The award recipients are Erin Carey, M.D., associate professor of ob/gyn, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Elena Tonc, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology, Hamilton College in New York. Dr. Carey’s research will advance two complementary […]

March 6, 2026

Strong evidence supports the use of mindfulness and cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT) for increasing women’s satisfaction with sexual relationships. Both mindfulness and CBT are the basis for eSense, a self-guiding online program that has produced positive results in women lacking sexual desire or experiencing distress in their sexual relationships. The program is a combination of […]

February 25, 2026

A Virtual Skills-Based Program to Manage Pelvic Pain Patients with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) are needed to test the efficacy of PelvicSense, a virtual skills-based program to manage pelvic pain and possibly vulvodynia. In this randomized controlled trial, the control group waits six months to do the program. It is our hope that PelvicSense will help […]

February 2, 2026

Deadline to Submit Letter of Intent is Monday, March 23, 2026 Deadline to Submit Application is Thursday, May 7, 2026 NVA is seeking research proposals on developing novel medical treatments for generalized vulvodynia or vestibulodynia. NVA research grants usually range from $40,000 to $80,000 with a maximum of $100,000. Although we acknowledge the usefulness of CBT and […]