Every day, a smattering of people land on my blog while searching for information about pouty poussies. These searches look like
- gluten free diet and vulvodynia
- quercetin for vulvodynia
- why does voiding cause me pain in the clitorial area
- farting hurts my bladder (I can't believe I've never blogged about this -- me too!!)
- can a tight pelvis affect your poo?
And then there are the people who land here for other reasons, like
One search topic that brings someone here every few days is
Another popular search is for "q-tip test," which I also wrote about in the belly-button post. It's as if the two were fated to bring quirky searchers together.
The searchers come from all over:
I also have a few dozen regular readers who subscribe to my blog on Blogger, via e-mail, or through some other feed.
Here's why you should blog about your vulva: every day, someone new lands on my blog and finds out about vulvodynia. She finds out that her symptoms have a name. She finds other names that might be an even better fit for what she has. She goes away with something to Google that isn't a symptom: it's a specific and awfully elusive word that will lead her to a diagnosis and treatment.
I'm only blogging because one of my searches led me to Quinn's blog, Life with Vulvodynia. After Quinn's, I started reading others -- listed in the sidebar -- and they have been my most important source of knowledge about pelvic pain. Other sites provide definitions; blogs provide the how, when, where, what, and sometimes the why. Blogs are the humans; we're real-world instances of the condition. We're the ones who tell the world what all those wide and murky pelvic-pain definitions mean.
I encourage every v-girl to join the chorus of vulva blogs even if it's just to write crotch poetry or post pictures of vulva lookalikes or WRITE IN ALL CAPS ABOUT HOW UNFAIR THE MEDICAL WORLD IS. If you do, someone is going to land on your blog and learn about what she has. And she'll learn that you -- and a whole community -- are right there with her.
P.S. If your blog isn't in my blog's sidebar, let me know!!!
P.P.S. I have a free StatCounter account to track traffic to my blog.
There sure are a lot of people looking for stuff about natural treatments and vulvodynia! I get people translating that entry too - English to other languages. This is a global phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should blog about their vulva :) Thanks for the statcounter idea. I just downloaded it.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to add me to your blog list, if you would like.
pudendalpain.blogspot.com
Thank you, P! I added you to the sidebar. It's possible you've contacted me before...if so, I'm sorry it took so long! I look forward to reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteLove this post! We should all blog about our vulvas! It's helpful in so many ways! I also added the stat-counter - I've always been curious if anyone is actually reading my blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Esther-
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say thank you for this blog. I haven't gotten too far in all the posts, but I wanted you to know that I am another woman with vulvodynia. I had a vestibulectomy in April and have felt so much worse. I don't want to say that it wouldn't work for other people, I am just unlucky. I now have a bartholin's cyst because of the surgery and intensified muscular pain coupled with nerve pain. I have a standing desk at work which helps and I am trying the gluten-free diet to see if that works. I am on several meds including gabapentin and amitryptiline. Luckily I have a very understanding boyfriend who is supportive, not resentful for the lack of sex. I will let you know if I find something that helps the pain.
I like the points you got there, reading them was aspiring. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDelete