AIBU to not really know what my vagina normally looks like (waaaay TMI)

[NameChChChChChanges]

Apogies in advance for the TMI nature of this post. Naturally, I've name changed because I'm a bit mortified.

After having a nice relaxing bath tonight, for no reason whatsoever other than the fact I'd just bought a new magnifying mirror (with the aim of making it easier to do my eyebrows!!) I decided to have a little look at my vag. It's literally been years since I bothered looking down there, am well past the point of making any effort to make that area look presentable.

Anyway, got the shock of my life to see (sorry, this is the TMI bit) no hole but instead a big fleshy lump sticking out where the hole should be. What the actual fuck?? Also have a couple of other fleshy lumps around the inner lips.

Am quite frankly mortified by my lumpy bits and after frantically googling will be making a GP appointment tomorrow.

Am also a bit mortified that I have no idea how long my bits have been like this, or even what they are supposed to look like any more. Was thinking that I pay attention to how my boobs feel and check for lumps etc but it has never occurred to me to do the same down there.

So it got me thinking whether I am strange for my lack of vagina/vulva checking?? Nothing feels any different down there, so I haven't given it any attention really. Does everyone else check down there on a regular basis?

What's the bartholins cyst like? I've tried googling for pictures but like pp, mostly get twee crap.

I've got a hardish, practically perfectly round, spot that looks like a whitehead that wont pop. It feels like it will have that hard white stuff that comes out of a blocked pore in it. Its maybe 3 or 4mm across.

I'm waiting on an appointment to get it looked at.

I'm tempted to lance and squeeze it myself though so I can see what comes out of it.

TMI but I can't see mine even with a mirror - it's recessed too far in. I just sort of assume it's all OK, because short of buying a periscope, I'm not sure I have any other options.

Possibly some of your fleshy lumps are Bartholin's glands?

I don't really notice it until it becomes infected - then it's huge, dark purple and absolute agony. I just look for changes as both the abscesses have been in the exact same place, it's been a few years and the skin is still a slightly different colour.

This has made me realise I've not had a good look at my vulva since I was a teen. I shave but I'm a bit fat so can't get a good view of it I wouldn't be able to pick mine out in a line up!

I don't really notice it until it becomes infected - then it's huge, dark purple and absolute agony. I just look for changes as both the abscesses have been in the exact same place, it's been a few years and the skin is still a slightly different colour

Ok thanks

I recommend watching 100 Vaginas on All4 (UK)

I shave everything g off once a week using a magnifying mirror so I'm completely au fait with mine. However it's not pretty after 2 vaginal births. An episiotomy one way and a tear the other way. Scar tissue like Freddy Kruger's face.

Plus why do fanny lips get longer and darker as you age!?

BigusBumus,
Just laughed out loud hahaha.
I shave everything off in the bath every couple of days and I think that’s why the FLips look big and longer as there isn’t any hair to cover them up .
Also I had a 3rd degree tear with my “Only “ child 10 years ago .😬😬.
That’s why she is a Only child .lol
Xx

I don't think I've ever looked at it unless to check a shave job was done properly, back in the day when I bothered!

I've also never rummaged about up there as I'm too squeamish.

They're ugly looking things, there's no getting away from it!

@Chouetted hahaha, a periscope

I like mine, I regularly look. I also use a moon cup so I feel it very regularly inside etc. My DH would also notice any changes as he is looking at it the most.

I haven't noticed any changes yet, looks the same as always to those asking about c section births, I'm 30.

I once worked with a bloke, who when I said that penises were not the prettiest of things to look at, retorted 'well Womens bits aren't either are they? I mean, if you saw one crawling up a garden path you'd stamp on it'.

And the 'I wouldn't recognise mine in a lineup' comment upthread has me giggling (quietly) in bed. It's 4am and I really should be asleep. But here I am insomniac reading about other women's fannies. Such is the life of a menopausal MN er

If it’s not prolapse then maybe you have genital warts

I’m genuinely shocked you have only just now seen your vulva properly... I check mine everyday.

Surely when your cleaning yourself you have a look to check your clean right?

CtrlU OP isn't a toddler! She (nor any woman!) needs to look to see if they're clean! Surely you know how to clean yourself!

FortunesFave,
Are you serious??
What do you do in the bath/shower , I shave my bits and have used tampons since I was a teenager .

My Nana said hers looks like a hedgehog with mange that’s been runover.

I love her but she’s a oversharer of things you need mind bleach to forget.

Avamiah well I LOOK at it regularly as I said in my first post on this thread but I don't need to look at it to see if it's clean! I don't shave it or use tampons though.

I check mine all the time. You're prone to all sorts of stuff down there. Its important to check for changes.

@CheetasOnFajitas

Have you given birth vaginally? I have and, as a result I have a very mild prolapse where the muscle wall between the vagina and rectum is a bit weak and it can bulge up into the vaginal entrance if I’m a bit constipated.

Would be good if you came back to let us know what the GP said.

This is me. And I honestly actually had no idea what it was until I went to a talk about prolapses and vagina health and went “OHH!”

Surely it was use of a magnifying mirror which was the problem - labia x10 would be pretty big and purple.

Surely when your cleaning yourself you have a look to check your clean right?

I’m curious now... why do you need to look at your vulva to check it’s clean? I don’t particularly look at any of my body parts as I’m washing them. I could just as easily shower in the dark.

What do you do in the bath/shower , I shave my bits and have used tampons since I was a teenager

Again, I don’t look when I’m putting a tampon in. I can feel where it needs to go. I do look with a mirror every so often to check everything looks alright down there. But the only real day to day reason I inspect my vulva is for hair removal purposes.

Untangled I agree! I'm not one of the posters who claim to never have looked....I look regularly but not to check if it's clean! I can feel that! I think they mean that they shave and want to see if all the hair;s gone.

I don't do that! Mine is as nature intended.

The people who don't look, don't you wonder what your partner sees when he looks ?

@WorrierorWarrior in my professional experience, women who have never had a vaginal birth tend to have slight differences in their vulvas and vaginas. The labia and perineum are less likely to be damaged or scarred by tears or episiotomy sutures for example. The vaginal walls may be less stretched and have less laxity (this is more apparent in women who have had many or huge babies) and the cervix usually appears more tightly closed.

However I wouldn’t necessarily know without asking, women’s labia are all hugely varied. Female genitalia is fascinating, and incredible when you think what it copes with.

I also recommend the documentary 100 vaginas. My daughters thought it hysterical when they saw it recorded on our Sky Planner but I found it fascinating.

It's never crossed my mind to look at mine. I don't shave etc either, so no reason to go poking around down there either.
I'm sure my husband would tell me if there was anything amiss with it.