The MUSC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has developed a program to address problem vulvar and vaginal diseases.  This program provides the patient with expert diagnosis and treatment of problem vulvovaginal diseases such as vulvar dystrophies and dysplasia, vulvodynia, vestibulitis, and recurrent vaginitis.

About Vulvar Disease:
Persistent vulvar symptoms such as itching and burning can be a sign of a more serious disease than routine vaginitis.  Vulvar dystrophies are characterized by a change in the skin of the vulva.  This skin can become either abnormally thick (squamous cell hyperplasia) or too thin like cigarette paper (lichen sclerosis).  Moreover, precancerous changes (vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia or VIN) can also present in this way.  Painful sexual intercourse is the hallmark symptom of women with vestibulitis.  Accurate diagnosis and effective therapy can restore normal sexual function.  Finally, many women experience a chronic burning sensation of the vulva with no obvious abnormality found during examination.  These women require an experienced clinician’s approach to the diagnosis and treatment of vulvodynia.

Care of Women with Recurrent Vaginitis:
Most women experience a least one episode of vaginitis during their lives.  The most common diagnoses found in women with chronic, recurrent vaginitis are: 
1) Bacterial vaginosis,
2) Vulvovaginal candidiasis
3) Inflammatory vaginitis

Trichomonas vaginitis rounds out the list of causes of recurrent vaginitis.  Fortunately, only a small percentage of women will develop chronic, recurrent disease.  These patients deserve the best in accurate diagnosis and up-to-date therapy that our Vulvovaginal Disease Program has to offer.  Early diagnosis and medical therapy can forestall and even prevent the secondary detrimental effects of chronic infection on the lower genital tract. 

Our approach to diagnosis is dependent upon seeing the patient when she is symptomatic and performing the appropriate diagnostic testing including microscopy of the vaginal secretions and culture.  Once the diagnosis is confirmed induction therapy to promote the remission of symptoms is instituted.  Following this, patients are placed on suppressive therapy to prevent relapse of their symptoms.  In difficult cases, antibiotic resistance can be found.  Testing can be performed to determine the nature of this resistance and modern antimicrobials, some available only through a compassionate use program, can be made available.

Why Choose MUSC for Women's Health?
MUSC is fortunate to have experienced physicians to both diagnose and treat persistent vulvovaginal symptoms and their causes.  Dr. Soper is one of the few ob/gyn physicians in the country trained in Infectious Diseases and is a well respected researcher in this area.  Moreover, clinical trials are always underway at Cannon Place allowing the patient an opportunity for participation in utilizing the most up-to-date therapies.  In addition, both Drs. Soper and Underwood have advanced experience [more than 50 years of combined experience] in the surgical therapy of vulvar disease including vestibulectomy for vestibulitis.  This highly curative operation, done in the outpatient setting, can restore normal sexual function in women who are candidates for this treatment.  Finally, Dr. Underwood is particularly adept at managing the patient with dysfunction following previous surgical therapy involving the vulva and vagina.  The Vulvovaginal Disease Program emphasizes the ideal patient encounter and physician-patient communication. 

Practitioners Involved:
Dr. David Soper , MUSC Women’s Health at Cannon Place
Dr. Paul Underwood , East Cooper Women’s Center

Location and Hours:
Cannon Place
135 Cannon Street
2nd Floor
Charleston, SC 29425

Hours:  Monday through Friday 9-4

 Click here for maps and driving directions to Cannon Place

East Cooper Women’s Center
1280 Johnnie Dodds Blvd.
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464

Mount Pleasant, SC  29464
Hours:  Please Call

 Click here for maps and driving directions to East Cooper Women's Center

Parking Information for Cannon Place:
Parking is provided free of charge to patient's of the Women's Center. Parking is available in the parking lot located directly across the street from Cannon Place. See map below for more information.




 Click on map to enlarge

Appointment Scheduling:
Telephone (843) 792-1414
Toll Free Number: 1-800-424-MUSC (outside of the Charleston Area)
Representatives are available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday

 Online appointment request

Patient Education - Interactive Tutorials:
NOTE: In order to view these tutorials, you must have Macromedia Flash installed on your computer.
 Click here for information on installation and use of the Macromedia Flash Plug-In

 Sexually Transmitted Diseases - Patient Education Institute Medlineplus

MUSChealth.com Online Library Links:
 What is vaginitis?
 Sexually Transmitted Diseases
 
Other Online Resources:
 Vulvar Anatomy- National Vulvodynia Association
 Bacterial Vaginosis- American Academy of Family Physicians
 Bacterial Vaginosis (BV)- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 Genital Candidiasis (Vulvovaginal Candidiasis (VVC), Vaginal Yeast Infections)- National Center for Infectious Diseases
 Candidiasis genital (candidiasis vulvovaginal (CVV) e infecciones vaginales por levaduras)- National Center for Infectious Diseases
 Information to Live By: Vaginitis- American Social Health Association
 Vulvar Problems- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
 Vulvodynia- American Academy of Family Physicians
 Vulvodynia- Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
 General Information- National Vulvodynia Association 
 Genital Problems in Women: Self-Care Flowcharts -American Academy of Family Physicians

Additional Online Resources Outside of MUSChealth.com:
(MedlinePlus, is an excellent source of health information from the world's largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine. Health professionals and consumers alike can depend on it for information that is authoritative and up to date. MedlinePlus has extensive information from the National Institutes of Health and other trusted sources on over 650 diseases and conditions.)

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