The Vulval Pain Society

Resources, practical advice and information for people living with vulval pain, families, healthcare providers and the wider public

About the Vulval Pain Society

What is the vulva?

What is the vulva, and how is it different from the vagina?

Find out about the vulva

Vulvodynia and other vulval pain conditions

All about vulvodynia, vestibulodynia and other types of vulval pain.

Find out about vulval pain

Finding a vulval clinic

How to go about accessing an NHS vulval clinic to diagnose and treat vulval pain.

How to find a vulval clinic

Get support

Looking for help for vulvodynia or vulval pain? This section shows the various ways to access treatment, plus lists of support groups and links to information and resources.

Get support

Our new online contact details!

Wondering where to find us? We’ve now got a .uk on the end! Our website is now at https://vulvalpainsociety.org.uk and our email is at info@vulvalpainsociety.org.uk

Find out how to contact us

Research

What do we know about vulvodynia and vulval pain? Find out about vulval pain research, past and present, including studies which are currently looking for participants.

Find out about research

Latest News & Events

See all News & Events

Vulvodynia medication research: Manchester is now open for recruitment!

The ongoing clinical trial by MAC Clinical Research – investigating a potential new medication for provoked vulvodynia – has now expanded to a Manchester site. You’ll receive a free health check-up, up to £1730 for time and commitment, plus reasonable travel expenses. Options to register your interest with MAC Clinical Research: 🌐 Website: https://bit.ly/3ZJNCZ9 📱 UK Freephone: 0800 917 7617 If you’ve not already watched our Q&A with MAC’s clinical lead discussing this exciting research, you’ll find the link at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVMGL3bIqdQ

Read more

Watch the recording of our live stream 'A New Medication for Vulvodynia? Clinical Trial Q&A', 5 February 2026

When:

Online at your convenience

Where:

On our Facebook page, our YouTube channel and the VPS website

A clinical trial for a potential new medication to treat provoked vulvodynia is discussed in this Vulval Pain Society (VPS) event.

Dr John Connell, Chief Scientific Officer at MAC Clinical Research, joins VPS trustees Sheren Gaulbert and Dr Winston de Mello to answer questions from patients and clinicians, including who may be suitable for the trial and how it could help manage vulval pain.

Link to watch:

#Vulvodynia #Vestibulodynia #PelvicPain #WomensHealth #ClinicalTrials

Thumbnail image of the front of the VPS leaflet on vulval pain. The leaflet title 'Vulvodynia' is in magenta capitals, followed by the subheading 'Do you have unexplained female genital pain?' There are two short paragraphs on unprovoked vulvodynia and provoked vulvodynia, or vestibulodynia, with a statistic in magenta at the bottom. Half the VPS butterfly logo is shown in a pale pink.

Download our leaflet on vulval pain

Our leaflet on vulval pain, including vulvodynia, vestibulodynia and other vulval pain conditions. The PDF should be printed on both sides of the same A4 sheet and then folded into three sections.

Download as PDF

'Smears without Tears' guide

This is a guide on how to get the best out of your smear test (also known as a pap test). You might want to print it out and take it with you to your next test.