The Multidisciplinary Vulvodynia Program
With generous funding from Mrs. Leslie Diamond, and with resources and support provided by Vancouver General Hospital, the Multidisciplinary Vulvodynia Program (MVP) opened its doors on October 21, 2008 and represents a state-of-the-art and unique treatment centre in Canada devoted to the care of women with genital pain.
We are located in the Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre at Vancouver General Hospital. Staffed with gynaecologists, pelvic floor physiotherapists, and psychologists working collaboratively onsite, and a nurse clinician coordinating the care of all providers, the goal of the MVP is to provide evidence-based quality care all in one location for women with genital pain.
We also serve as a resource for community physicians providing medical care for women with vulvodynia, and hold a repository of essential treatment guidelines that will ensure patients receive only the highest quality of care.
To find out if you or someone you know may be a candidate for receiving services at the MVP, please contact us here.
We believe that vulvodynia is a complex problem. Everything is connected. If the vulva is painful, this causes sex to become painful, this shuts down a woman’s sexual feelings and responses and makes the pelvic floor muscles tense up, and this makes the vulva more painful and sex more painful, which makes a woman’s sexual feelings worse….
We believe the best way to break up this vicious cycle is to address a woman’s pain AND her sexual health AND her pelvic floor muscle health.
Our goal is not just to make sex not painful but pleasurable. We realize there are many emotional, physical and financial barriers to accessing this type of care. We believe this program will provide a unique opportunity for women to try all these therapies.
Women who participate in our program commit to a 4-month course of therapy. All patients are interviewed and examined by a physician. Our nurse clinician will meet you at your first appointment. She will review our skin care recommendations and answer your questions about our program.
All patients then attend a one-hour “Orientation” session to the program. At this session we will review what we know about vestibulodynia and explain the different treatments that are available. Our patients tell us that after they learn more about this condition they feel more equipped to deal with the pain. Learning more about this pain condition will decrease the fear, anxiety and panic that often are associated with genital pain.
Patients will then attend a one-hour session on “Sexual Health”. In this session we will review how pain can interfere with a woman’s sexual feelings, responses and relationship. We will also discuss strategies to begin to return to sexual health.
Then all women participate in 3 cognitive-behavioural group therapy sessions. These sessions will help women find ways to cope with their pain and further improve their sexual health.
All women in our program will have 3 appointments with a pelvic floor physiotherapist.
Finally, prior to completing the program, women have the opportunity to meet with one of the clinical physicians and or nurse to discuss other medical and or surgical treatment options. Women will return to their referring physicians for ongoing care.
We are interested in documenting if and how the different treatments work and women are asked to fill out different research questionnaires through out the program.
In all women will have total of 10 appointments over 4 months. Click her for an example of a typical patient’s schedule.
The start up costs for this program was provided by a generous donation from the Leslie Diamond Health Foundation. Vancouver Coastal Health has also provided resources to support our program. We are very excited about this program and hope to expand the program in the future.
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