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Vulva and vagina

Read about vulval care and how to treat vulval irritation. We also cover conditions such as bacterial vaginosis, lichen planus, lichen sclerosis, vaginal atrophy and vaginismus, plus causes of vaginal and vulval pain. You can also read information about pelvic organ prolapse and cancers that affect the vulva and vagina.

About the vulva and vagina

It’s impor­tant to look after your vul­va and vagi­na and under­stand what’s nor­mal for you. Learn more about this area of your body and how to take good care of it.
Underwear

Vulval irritation

Your vul­va is the exter­nal part of your female gen­i­tals that you can see. Your vagi­na is inside your body. Vul­val irri­ta­tion is com­mon in women of all ages. The skin of the vul­va is very del­i­cate, mak­ing it vul­ner­a­ble to irri­ta­tion from a range of prod­ucts and chem­i­cals. If you are con­cerned about vul­val irri­ta­tion, see your doc­tor and ask them to check your vul­va. It’s impor­tant to get the right diag­no­sis and treat­ment. Learn more about vul­val irri­ta­tion, the symp­toms, caus­es and treatments.

Vulval and vaginal conditions

There are many con­di­tions that can affect your vul­va and vagi­na. Some­times they can be irri­tat­ing or even painful. Most con­di­tions improve with treat­ment, so it’s impor­tant to see your doc­tor if you notice any­thing unusu­al. Learn more about these con­di­tions, includ­ing the symp­toms, caus­es, treat­ments and when to see your doctor.

Vaginal pain

It’s com­mon for women to expe­ri­ence vagi­nal pain for dif­fer­ent rea­sons. Learn more about painful sex (dys­pare­u­nia), vagi­nal epi­sioto­my, tears and vul­vo­vagi­nal split­ting. We explain the symp­toms, caus­es and treatments.
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Vulval pain

It’s com­mon for women to expe­ri­ence vul­val pain dur­ing their life­time. It can range from minor dis­com­fort to chron­ic pain that reduces your qual­i­ty of life. Learn more about vul­vo­dy­nia and puden­dal neu­ral­gia, includ­ing the symp­toms, caus­es and treat­ment options.

Pelvic organ prolapse

Pelvic organ pro­lapse is when the lig­a­ments, con­nec­tive tis­sues and mus­cles that sup­port the pelvic organs stretch, caus­ing the organs to drop down. The word pro­lapse means to ​‘fall out of place’. There are dif­fer­ent types of pro­lapse, includ­ing blad­der and bow­el pro­lapse (vagi­nal pro­lapse) and uter­ine pro­lapse. Learn more about pro­lapse, includ­ing the symp­toms, caus­es and treat­ment options. 

Gynaecological cancers – vaginal and vulval

Peo­ple with female repro­duc­tive organs and gen­i­tals can get gynae­co­log­i­cal can­cers. Learn more about vagi­nal can­cer and vul­val can­cer, includ­ing the symp­toms, caus­es, diag­no­sis and treat­ment options.

Vulva and vagina resources

Find resources on vul­val and vagi­nal con­di­tions includ­ing trans­lat­ed fact sheets, pod­casts and webinars.

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This con­tent has been reviewed by a group of med­ical sub­ject mat­ter experts, in accor­dance with Jean Hailes pol­i­cy.

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