I just got back from the ISSWSH (International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health) annual meeting in Long Beach, California - and I couldn't wait to bring everything I heard straight to you. This solo episode is part conference recap, part deep dive into the research I think matters most for anyone living with vulvovaginal pain, pelvic pain, or sexual pain of any kind.

In this episode I cover:

• What sexual medicine actually is - and why a whole field exists around it
• Vulvodynia subtypes and treatment matching - new data showing that hormonally-driven vulvodynia has a 70% response rate to estrogen/testosterone therapy, and why getting the wrong treatment for the wrong subtype may be why nothing has worked for you
• Endometriosis and neuroproliferative dyspareunia - a newly validated subtype of deep endo pain that is nerve-driven and needs an entirely different treatment approach
• Pelvic venous disorder (PEVD) - essentially varicose veins inside the pelvis, and why almost no one is being checked for it despite its links to chronic pelvic pain and conditions like POTS, MCAS and hypermobility
• The vaginal estrogen update - why the removal of the black box warning on low-dose vaginal estrogen is such a big deal, and why these symptoms aren't just a menopause issue
• Why women's pain is still being dismissed - a powerful presentation on the clinical gaze, pain measurement, gendered bias in medicine, and the feedback loop between underfunding and misdiagnosis. Plus: the dismissal of women's pain is not evenly distributed, and we need to talk about that.
• Access and equity - new data showing Manhattan has 60x more pelvic floor physios per capita than the Bronx, with only 21% of practices accepting Medicaid

I also share something personal about privilege, what it means to be in a room like this, and who I'm really doing this for.

Resources & links mentioned:

• 🔗 ISSWSH — International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health
• 🔗 @painsdownthere / @ThrushSupport - follow her on Instagram for important work on the link between recurrent thrush and vulvar nerve damage
• 📖 When Sex Hurts: Understanding and Healing Pelvic Pain by Goldstein, Pukall, Goldstein & Krapf - the book on vulvodynia subtypes I recommend bringing to your doctor
• 🔗 My Instagram: @meet.baubo

If anything in this episode resonated, please reach out - I read every message. And if you're finding this podcast helpful, sharing it with someone who needs it is the biggest thing you can do.