Xiao Chai Hu Tang in the Treatment of Chronic Vaginal & Vulvar Pain

Chronic vulvar pain without an identified cause is diagnosed as vulvodynia; in most of the cases the pain is provoked by physical contact, whereas in approximately 20 per cent of patients the pain is spontaneous, that is, occurring without any physical contact. Awareness of this under-researched syndrome is low and conventional treatment options are limited; therefore, women often go through a long diagnostic process, at the end of which many of them are still left without an answer to their pain. This article presents the case of a woman who suffered from chronic unexplained vaginal pain that, after several examinations and incorrect
treatments, was eventually diagnosed as vulvoynia, even though her pain was not in the vulva, the external female genitals. Dietary changes and modified Xiao Chai Hu Tang (Minor Bupleurum Decoction) immediately and almost completely stopped the pain, as well as successfully dealt with other symptoms the patient had suffered for years, probably following the use of unsuitable medical contraceptives.