National Vulvodynia Association

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.

Currently, we fund five dedicated researchers who are studying new treatments for relieving vulvodynia. In 2026, we’ll have data on the treatment effectiveness of cannabis for chronic vulvar pain. Many chronic pain sufferers use some form of cannabis to relieve pain and anxiety. Dr. Jacob Bornstein is testing the theory that cannabis can prevent as well as treat vulvodynia. Next year we will also have results from Dr. Catherine Leclair’s study comparing success rates of a less invasive vestibulectomy to those of a traditional vestibulectomy. This information will help doctors and provoked vestibulodynia patients choose the most appropriate surgical technique.

Research over the past 20 years has shown that the vulvar tissue in women with vulvodynia has increased nerve endings as well as elevated inflammatory markers. A research team at the University of Rochester in New York is collecting data on two treatments that they expect will reduce inflammation in the vulva. Clinical trials are underway on maresin-1, a lipid that relieved vulvodynia in mice, and last year the NVA funded Dr. Emanuelle Chrysilla’s study investigating another lipid’s anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effect on the vulvar vestibule.

After the 2024 vulvodynia research summit, experts decided that the antihistamine ketotifen fumarate (KF) is a very promising new treatment because of its stabilizing effect on mast cells, which are elevated in vestibular tissue. In August, the NVA funded Dr. Andrew Goldstein’s randomized trial comparing 1% topical KF to a placebo in patients with secondary vestibulodynia. (These are women whose vulvar pain developed after having experienced pain-free sexual intercourse.) We will know the results of this study by early 2027.

NVA’s executive board is optimistic that at least one of these new treatments will relieve pain in many women who suffer from vulvodynia. We are doing everything possible to make that happen.