I absolutely love that Lara was willing to share her story in such intimate detail - for the sake of educating people about these diseases, and also to remind those 1 in 10 women dealing with endo that they aren't alone. It's so important to continue to rally for women's health reform. The lack of medical research specifically tailored for women's bodies is criminal. Her story perfectly details how the system let her down again and again - despite all the advantages she has with access to care, medical insurance, etc.

It's certainly not in the same league as the chronic struggles of endometriosis, but I do have an anecdote about pelvic floor therapy. After I gave birth to my first child, I was having extreme pain with various activities (i.e. basically labor pain). I just assumed this pain was "normal" and would go away in time. The symptoms weren't mentioned in the screening for my 6 week post-partum doctors appointment. My doctor said I would have general pain for awhile; I was still healing from my unplanned c-section. It wasn't until I mentioned my symptoms in passing to another mom (in the pump room at work) that I heard about pelvic floor PT, and realized I could actually get treatment for my issues.

I didn't get off the waitlist for an appointment until around 8 months post-partum, because despite living in a well-populated area, these specialized clinics are not super common. The therapy was truly a game-changer for me. Not only did my therapist help me correct my post-partum issues, she also helped me work on an undiagnosed pelvic floor issue I didn't even know I had...because, women's health information is so sketchy and incomplete!! For my entire life, I just thought it was something "normal" that I couldn't do anything about. My quality of life improved IMMENSELY. Yet, the only reason I even received this care was happenstance. I shouldn't have had to learn about this type of PT through casual work conversations. I should have been referred through my OB/Gyn after being properly informed of and screened for pelvic floor issues (which, turns out, are insanely common!)

So yes. It was very gratifying to read this book and see vehement advocacy for better information, better drug testing, better disease research, and better standard of care. Justice for vaginas!

This wasn’t my favorite book and it wasn’t for me. But it does have some important information about Endometriosis. And this book will definitely be of some help to a lot of women.
Just because it’s not for me does not mean it’s not for you.
I do believe if you are having issues down there then definitely pick this book up and read it.

3.5 stars. I am an avid follower of Lara Parker's on Instagram, so I already knew a lot about her vagina problems and personal life from that, but I still enjoyed this book. I think Lara has a really honest and genuine voice in her writing, and I appreciated her candor on really sensitive subjects. I think writing about doctors not believing women's pain is a super important topic and one that should be discussed more. The only thing is that this book is a little bit repetitive and some of the chapters felt disorganized, but overall I enjoyed this book.

A super well done book highlighting the struggle women go through when it goes to getting "womens problems" diagnosed. Many women struggle for years and years to get a proper diagnosis after being brushed off by doctors. I think it's so important to have books like this so women who are going through this can relate and know that they are not in this journey alone. Thank you to Lara Parker for putting this together and sharing her story.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

I really needed to read this book. Lara’s story is heartbreaking and I could relate to her on so many levels.

I thought the writing was fantastic and full of great information. Her voice is strong and full of confidence.

I highly recommend this to any women, especially those that have had some type of problem with their vagina.

I thought this was excellent! It’s honest in the best way, and by the end of the book, it felt like Lara and I were just two friends. I read this book in around 24 hours because it was just so readable. She jumped around in the timeline a lot and it was a little hard to follow sometimes (for example, bringing up a physical therapist who had a bad impact on her, and then bringing up a physical therapist who had a great impact on her, without mentioning which therapist came first or how far apart they were), but that’s a small problem. This book was informative and personal and I really enjoyed it.

I read this book in disbelief. I had no idea a woman could be in such continuous pain from an early age. I had nothing but empathy for the author while reading. The amount of pain this poor woman has to endure is astonishing. She rattled off words I'd nevertheless heard of much less could pronounce. I was surprised endometriosis was so difficult to diagnose. One thing that crossed my mind was a hysterectomy. The author doesn't talk about that so I don't know if that's an option. She is a little reptitive throughout the book, but the fact that she is able to function is a testament to her tenacity to overcome the pain.

As someone who has never shied away from calling it like it is—no matter what “it” is—Lara Parker’s Vagina Problems caught my attention instantly. It’s a catchy title, to be sure, but as I am someone with vagina problems, I wondered how Parker’s story and mine might be alike.
A blunt memoir of the harrowing journey to receive adequate medical care as well as an explanation for health issues spanning nearly half the author’s life, Vagina Problems is the book I quickly declared a “must read,” even posting about it on social media—“This book is AMAZING,” I said. “As a chronic illness gal, THIS is the book we need to rally around! If you have a vagina, enjoy vagina, or love someone with a vagina, READ IT”!
Vagina Problems is the type of book that makes the reader laugh; Parker is relatable and so incredibly human as she tells of her troubles, both physically and in her personal life. Vagina Problems is a book that will make the reader positively enraged because women still face so much uncertainty in the medical community, as well as disbelief. (Why are women so readily disregarded, told to “drink some wine” or declared “emotionally unstable” whenever we have a problem a man can’t readily fix?!) And Vagina Problems is exactly the book everyone who cares about vaginas (or, if they’re a misogynist and don’t care beyond the pleasure a vagina can provide) must read.
Lara Parker’s story of living with chronic pain—both as a struggling professional and someone who faces oh-so-many do-gooders who think they can use a cup of herbal tea to solve what medicine cannot—is the story of every single woman living with chronic pain and/or vagina problems. From struggling to be believed that yes, this pain is so much more than cramps to fighting for her right to proper medical care and compassion to trying to accept the reality that, unless something drastic changes, the way of life of a chronically-ill person won’t change, Parker is never afraid to share exactly how she feels or thinks. This is the sort of transparency we need in reading memoirs because it’s the type of storytelling that tells the reader we aren’t living through This or That alone. It tells the reader there is someone out there who gets it. And for potential readers with chronic illnesses or vagina problems, or both, I know you’ll appreciate this.
But I want to address the less-likely readers out there—those without chronic illnesses or vaginas.
As Parker addresses, both the medical community and our society know so much about male genitalia. However, very little is scientifically known or addressed about vaginas, vulvas, clitorises—a woman’s genitals. Even less is commonly known about the problems many women face with their genitals, and Parker’s book opens the door for this conversation. These are things we need to be talking about—as women, mothers, friends, spouses, girlfriends, yes, but also as the non-vagina-possessing counterparts. (I could say the same for heart disease in women versus men, but I’ll save that for another day.)
The reality that one’s organs could permanently influence one’s way of life is mind-boggling to all those who haven’t experienced it, and often, I think that’s why some folks will discount those experiences. “Oh, is it really that bad?” Yes, yes, it is, and we need to be educating ourselves and (as kindly as possible) others that there are many hidden, invisible-to-others ailments the human body can experience. Parker has plenty of experience with those, and her book is the perfect starting point for anyone who is curious about chronic illness or any long-term affliction.
And I say “any” because, as I read Vagina Problems, I was often reminded of my trauma.
Recently, I was diagnosed with Complex-PTSD, for many reasons—one of which is the repeated sexual assaults in my teenage years. My best friend and I have discussed these incidents. Once, she shared that it was hard for her to come to me with her problems because “They just don’t seem so big compared to what you’ve faced.”
I understood, and I do, but that doesn’t matter. I told her that if she’s in pain about something, that’s all that matters. I’m here for her, because I know what its like to not have anyone here for me. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple romantic squabble or a family crisis—if she’s in pain, I want to know. I may not be able to help, but if I can, I will.
The way Parker described the “barrier” between herself and her friends sans-vagina-problems, I feel a similar barrier in my social circle. I have challenges that my friends simply cannot—and may not ever—understand, and that can be isolating. It can be isolating to be crippled by something unseen, even temporarily. Moreover, it can be infuriating to be crippled by something that you can’t just show someone for them to fix. If I walked into a doctor’s office with a limb missing, they’d be on it like duck on a June bug. If I walked into happy hour naked, my friends would notice.
But if I walk into a room feeling like a part of me is missing, or that I’m completely exposed for all to see? Not everyone picks up on that.
Vagina Problems by Lara Parker is a fantastic book that depicts the life of someone with chronic, incurable pain, and the focus is on the physical. However, so much of what Parker said throughout reminded me of my emotional pain that I want everyone I know to read it, simply because she put words to things I’ve been struggling to describe for years…things I’d imagine many of us struggle to verbalize.
The quality of Vagina Problems that makes it truly remarkable, though, is the fact that I could sing its praises for hours and still have more to say. Everything about this book is helpful, even the aspects that aren’t strictly positive. I want to take my gynecologist a copy and discuss the ways I’ve felt that way in the past—both in his office and other doctors’ offices!—and ask how doctors and patients can be working together to change the narrative for women everywhere.
Vagina Problems by Lara Parker is a five-star book, a must-read for everyone, and a book I can’t wait to share with my daughter in fifteen years or so, so that she enters womanhood fully-equipped, both for the “What if?” for herself as well as with compassion for other women.

really what I needed to read at exactly the right time in my life, have been highly recommending not only in store but to all my friends and female family members, such an important subject that often gets ignored, so glad to have been kindly a copy of this book, thank you!!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

The content in this book is so important and not talked about often enough. The writing was just okay; it did feel as though the author was repeating herself (even the same phrases) over and over - could definitely use another edit. But the subject matter was so important that I feel the need to still give it 4 stars. I don’t have the “vagina problems” that the author describes but know people who do. I can’t imagine, and I really sympathize with the author’s chronic pain. I’m sure this book will help a lot of people.

As someone with a recent diagnosis of endometriosis, dysmenorrhea, pelvic floor dysfunction, and dyspareunia but a sufferer for 15 years, this book hit so close to home. I want everyone around me to have a copy so they can understand what it is I go through. I shared so many of the same struggles as Lara and like she said, this diagnosis can be so isolating. Lara is breaking down that “shh, you can’t talk about!” barrier and gosh, it felt good. I can’t recommend this book enough. Whether you’re a warrior or Endometriosis, Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, Vulvar Vestibulitis, Interstitial Cystitis, Dyspareunia, Premenstrual dysphoric disorder, Adenomyosis. Dysmenorrhea, Ovarian Cysts, and Fibrocystic breasts, or you know someone who is, please read this book to better understand yourself or the people you love!!

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this. I follow Lara on Instagram and while she is amusing sometimes, maybe we just don’t have the same humor.
This was a lot of sharing of her vagina problems (duh) and how they’ve affected her life. But every chapter felt really similar to me and I felt like after the first three or four, I was rereading over and over. I think Lara deserves credit for everything she has been through but unfortunately, I don’t think I’d read another book by her unless it was fiction. I didn’t see the humor and wit that is mentioned in blurbs. I think this was written for Lara and for other chronic pain sufferers who would feel seen by this book.

Wow. This book gave me ALL the feels. Vagina Problems by Lara Parker is such an important and timely book about what life is like living with chronic pain as a result of endometriosis, pelvic floor dysfunction, vulvar vestibulitis, vaginismus, and vulvodynia combined. Candid, raw and real, Vagina Problems starts the much needed conversation about various taboo female topics that can no longer be ignored.

I applaud Lara for using her platform to be so open and vulnerable about the topic of vagina problems and share all of the painful depths of her experience in such great detail. As a reader, it is excruciatingly hard to not take her pain and concerns seriously but Lara speaks some serious facts when she says that women are told that most of their issues or pains are associated with “really bad period cramps” or something psychological going on, and are written off many times before anything is even looked into. Not only is it heart wrenching to learn that one in ten women have endometriosis and that it takes an average of seven years to receive an accurate diagnosis, but that there is no cure or reliable method of long term relief from the chronic pain associated with endometriosis. This is not okay and we need to keep these uncomfortable conversations going if we want to see changes with how these concerns are handled in the medical community and find a reliable cure or treatment method for these disorders.

What I especially love about this book is that Lara doesn’t just describe to us in necessary painstaking detail about her day-to-day life living in chronic pain from endometriosis, she also describes her experiences with vaginal physical therapy (I had no idea this was a thing!), dating as a straight woman without being able to have penetrative sex and the depression and anxiety of feeling unloved. When she discusses her experiences in all of these areas, not only is her pain clear as day, but so is her sense of humor, strength to live her best life, and hope and determination for change and answers.

I want to mention again how important this book is. While there are parts of the book that seem repetitive, I was honestly glued to this book and finished it in one sitting. Whether or not you have experienced any vagina issues yourself, or know of anyone who has been diagnosed with endometriosis or any other vaginal disorders, I highly encourage all women to read this necessary book, hitting bookshelves on October 6th! Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review 💛

As someone who has some of the same vagina problems as the author (though nowhere near the severity), I was excited to read this book. I’ve followed Lara on buzzfeed and IG for a while now and I admire her raw honesty about her Vagina Problems and her determination to not only receive adequate care, but to get Vagina Problems to the forefront of the healthcare conversation and normalizing them. With that said, this fell a little flat for me. It was repetitive (I’m not sure how many times she said “mind-boggling” but it was a lot) and felt like it could have been better if it had been shorter. Still, the fact that her story is mainstream media and now a book? That’s HUGE for the endo world and maybe doctors will start taking pelvic pain seriously.

Wow. Am I ever thankful that I don't have vagina problems. I very much rather live with my few kill-me-now migraines a month, than the constant pain and torture that Parker lives with.
I can't express how impressed I am with Lara Parker and her willingness to put everything out there in the hopes of getting people to talk about topics that are still considered taboo by many. I can't believe how dismissive medical professionals were of her pain, but I can also totally believe that because I've also been dismissed as a hysterical woman when I was in very real pain.
I really hope that Parker's honest memoir is something that helps people open up about what is often dismissed as "female problems" and not given the attention it deserves. Yes, they're not exactly easy topics talk about, but they're also things that affect half the world's population. Let's open up and talk through the uncomfortable to get to the understanding that we need.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the chance to read it early.

This book is so important! Nobody ever wants to talk about their vagina problems and lots of people think it's all in their heads - or are TOLD that it's all in their heads. We need to advocate for ourselves and our bodies. Thank you to Lara for sharing your story with us! I hope that this book inspires others to advocate for their bodies if they're also struggling.

Author Lara Parker puts everything out there in terms of her medical issues. While the book is easy to read, it is a bit long and respective for the content. It would be move effective as a shorter memoir.

4.5 stars

I expected this book to feel a lot more "taboo" than it actually did. Sure, it talks about sex sometimes, but really there are only a couple chapters devoted to the sex part of vagina problems. This book was really more about living with chronic pain. I didn't expect to identify with it as much as I did, but I've lived with terrible anxiety-induced stomachaches that hit 6 on the pain scale for about three years now, and some of these lines really hit home. It was a difficult read sometimes for that reason. Truly, I think this would be a good read for anyone with chronic illness, especially the physical kind. My only complaint is that it got repetitive from time to time, but this stuff does bear repeating, so it was a minor quibble.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Honest open raw anyone who suffers from chronic vagina problems will be nodding their heads while reading the book.Its so real so well written bat times hilarious a book to give to friends who are suffering with this problem.#netgalley#vaginaproblems

An honest reflection on the author's journey through years of horrific pain, finally diagnosed, initial relief, and crashing reality as she grapples with several compounding "unfixable" chronic pain conditions. Her obsession with attempted prevention rang very true to my own after my initial Vagina Problem diagnosis. Parker weaves in hopeful and earnest prose without getting Pollyanna or despondent. Reading about her reworking of relationship and sexual expectations helped me release some unhelpful expectations of my own. But even if you have not experienced pelvic pain, this book offers key insight to the daily impact chronic pain in general can have on a person. I feel more empathetic toward myself and my friends with health complications. It's a quick read too, with conversational language. Definitely worth the read even if you don't personally relate.