A 21-year-old woman in the United States recently opened up about the reality of living with an excruciating rare medical condition which leaves her permanently aroused. According to the New York Post, Scarlet Kaitlin Wallen has persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD), a condition which causes uncontrollable arousal. She was just six when she began to feel severe and constant "pins-and-needles" in her genitals. She said that ever since her symptoms started showing she's only had a handful of painful days, which has left her unable to work or study full-time.
PGAD affects one per of the population, even though not everyone's symptoms are very severe. For Ms Wallen, the last decade and a half has been just marred with excruciating pain. As per the Post, the 21-year-old has even had some of her genital nerves removed in a bid to numb the pain.
"I'd been experiencing pain for as long as I remember. My vulva was constantly burning - it was like I was naturally aroused but I didn't want it. There's nerve pain, it's not wanted - and there's no pleasure. I'm hopeful I'll be able to have a painless sexual relationship in my lifetime," she said.
Ms Wallen said when her PGAD started at 6, it stopped her from playing with her friends. She described the pain as "burning bugs under my skin" and like her genitals were on fire.
At the age of 13, Ms Wallen said she started experiencing random days without pain. But the burning and unwanted arousal would come back with a vengeance after a couple of days, she continued.
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The 21-year-old said she would deliberately use vapour rub on her genitals to distract from the unwanted arousal. Chemicals in the rub would give her severe thrush but she found the "rawness and burning" more tolerable than the pain from PGAD.
Just before graduating from high school, Ms Wallen saw a doctor. Her clinician was certain that she was suffering from PGAD alongside her other sexual dysfunctions. The doctor also found she was suffering from congenital neuroproliferative vestibulodynia, which means the pelvic nerves are hypersensitive to touch, and Ms Wallen has been suffering from this since birth.
Ms Wallen then had genital nerves removed in a bid to numb the pain but she only had parts of the painful tissue removed, giving her a greater chance of having a "normal" sex drive in the future.
With treatments and surgeries being developed all the time, Ms Wallen remains hopeful she'll be able to have "a life without PGAD" one day.
