Welcome to the last taboo in women’s health…
Curled in the foetal position, incapacitated by pelvic pain, Anet Skarbek wanted just one thing: a name for her condition. But all too often, for the sixteen percent of women worldwide who will experience vulvodynia, this is a futile hope. Their search for a diagnosis — let alone suitable treatment — frequently becomes a crusade for a truth the medical profession is only just waking up to.
It’s time to unmask the beast.
Characterised by intractable, chronic pain in the vulva/vagina, vulvodynia has been misdiagnosed, mistreated, ignored and ridiculed for centuries. Vulvodynia: The Hidden Beast offers an interdisciplinary paradigm shift that points to new solutions for this devastating and stigmatised women’s health issue.
Rigorously researched, sometimes dark, but ultimately triumphant, this book seeks to connect patient experience with informed medical practice to advance effective, accessible vulvodynia treatments. By shining a light on previously unexplored studies, coupled with a candid account of her personal story, Skarbek speaks aloud the words we were taught to whisper.
“A must read for every woman with chronic pelvic pain, as well as their friends and loved ones, who want to understand their journeys”
Christin Veasley - Director, Chronic Pain Research Alliance.
Now available on Amazon as eBook: https://a.co/d/094lEx7y
About the Author
Anet Skarbek is an Australian writer of Polish heritage. She was born and grew up in Western Sydney on the land of the Dharuk Nation. She completed a Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Sydney and has worked in various positions in social work and medical administration.
Since 1995, Skarbek has struggled with chronic illness, which impacted her life as a wife, mother and employee and which now informs her writing. Central to her craft are identity, ethnicity, and social justice, with a particular interest in access to effective healthcare for women with pelvic pain.
Skarbek was diagnosed with vulvodynia in 2006 and is a long-term member/supporter of the National Vulvodynia Association, the Vulvar Pain Foundation, the Chronic Pain Research Alliance, the Interstitial Cystitis Network and Tight Lipped.
Vulvodynia – The Hidden Beast, is her first book.