Dr. Selk interviews Dr. Andrew Goldstein, an obstetrician and gynecologist and the director of the Center for Vulvovaginal Disorders in New York City and Washington DC, about his new randomized control trial studying laser therapy in lichen sclerosus (LS). Topics covered include reasons behind conducting the trial, methodology of the study, results of the study, how to counsel patients about laser for LS, previous research and other evidence on laser for LS, importance of unbiased study design, differences based on type of laser used, and the ethics of counselling patients about treatment.

In this week's episode Dr. Selk interviews Dr. Claire Danby, who is an obstetrician gynecologist at Maine Medical Center with a dedicated vulvovaginal clinic and a clinical assistant professor at Tufts University. Today they discuss desquamative inflammatory vaginitis (DIV). Topics covered include the definition of DIV, presentation, diagnostic criteria, etiology, demographics, prevalence, a systematic approach to diagnosis, treatment, treatment changes based on menopausal status, other conditions that get confused with DIV, and cure rate of DIV.

Dr. Selk interviews Dr. Martha Goetsch who is a long-term researcher and clinician specializing in vulvar conditions at the Oregan Health and Sciences Unit. In this week's episode they discuss some of her recent research on estrogen in vulvar pain. Topics covered include the background and reasons for exploring this area, theories behind the cause of vulvar pain, methods studied to reduce vulvar pain, and results after implementing these methods in post-menopausal women. They also discuss estrogen regimens in post-menopausal patients, differentiating between atrophy/dryness and pain, systemic absorption of topical estrogens, how long to treat with estrogen post-menopause, reassuring patients about estrogen use, the utility and importance of using lidocaine in these patients and what concentration of lidocaine to use.