Oral contraceptives & Vestibulitis/Vestibulodynia (link from the NVA)

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The common denominator in Oral Contraceptives is synthetic Progestins (man made progesterone). Interesting to read the link between hormones and vulvar pain, particularly, vestibulitis (which is also called vestibulodynia). I began taking the pill at 17 for Endometriosis. It led to localized vestibulodynia in me. Chelle

http://learn.nva.org/risk_factors_1.htm Oral Contraceptives The role that oral contraceptives (OC) may play in the development of vulvodynia remains unclear. Some clinicians propose that the use of OCs, particularly at an early age, may play a role in the development of vulvodynia by down-regulating estrogen receptors in the vulvovaginal tissue, thereby causing the vestibular epithelium to become thin and fragile. In one study, quantitative sensory tests were performed on the vestibular mucosa in 39 healthy women, 20 of whom were using OCs and 19 of whom did not use OCs and had normal menstrual periods. Significantly lower mechanical pain thresholds were observed in the OC group, with the most sensitivity in the posterior vestibule. This finding led

to the conclusion that OCs may induce increased

sensitivity in the vestibular mucosa in healthy women, possibly contributing to the development of VVS. (26)Another study comparing 32 VVS patients and 17 controls from a Swedish vulvar clinic found that, while the two groups did not differ in age or age of first intercourse, VVS cases had used OCs for a significantly longer period of time (3.06 years versus 1.92 years). (17) In another study, the medical records of 45 VVS patients from an Oslo vulvar clinic were reviewed and compared to questionnaire responses from 180 controls; after adjusting for age, there was no difference in OC usage between patients and controls. (13) Another study of 57 VVS patients and 173 controls found that women who had used oral contraceptives before the age of 17 were nearly 11 times more likely to develop VVS compared to women who had never used oral

contraceptives. (16) Finally, a study comparing 138 VVS patients and 309 controls found that women who had used OCs were 6.66 times more likely to develop VVS than women who had never used them; when OCs were first used before age 16, the relative risk of developing VVS reached 9.3 and increased with duration of OC use up to 2 to 4 years. (27)