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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be freaking out at what I have just found, TMI sorry

41 replies

Chocolatetoastforbreakfast · 19/02/2023 10:12

Literally just seemed to appear overnight. A small, hardish slightly tender lump at top of outer labia under the skin. Not a Bartholin's cyst as it's too high up.

I know vulval cancer is uncommon in women under 50 (in my 40s) but worried it's some kind of horrible secondary or that I'm one of the unlucky women under 50.

I know no one can diagnose this on mumsnet and I'm going to call the gp tomorrow, just wondered if anyone else had had this and it turned out to be nothing as am really panicking.

OP posts:
MyKitchenRules · 19/02/2023 10:32

Go to a pharmacy and ask for magnesium sulphate paste aka drawing paste. It could just be a boil/cyst/ingrown hair. Also warm/hot flannell over the area may help. I know you say too high up for bartholian cyst but I wouldn't assume cancer as a first thought.

Blueblell · 19/02/2023 10:39

ingrowing hair would be my first thought. No expert but I wouldn’t think cancer if it appeared overnight!

Xrays · 19/02/2023 10:45

Blueblell · 19/02/2023 10:39

ingrowing hair would be my first thought. No expert but I wouldn’t think cancer if it appeared overnight!

This.

I’ve got a recurring cyst that pops up there. Seen the Gp about it and they aren’t remotely bothered about it. Don’t panic.

geogrump · 19/02/2023 10:46

I've had a few 'over night' vulval cancers, they've all been ingrown hairs 😂

Twentywisteria · 19/02/2023 10:46

Bartholin's can appear everywhere. Cancer doesn't tend to crop up overnight.

tillyoumakeit · 19/02/2023 10:47

If it's appeared overnight and is sore it's almost certainly some kind of spot/ingrowing hair.

deflatedbirthday · 19/02/2023 10:47

Another for ingrown hair OP. They can cause issues overnight and are quite painful. I get them now and agin and they cause a lump. I soak the area and try to tweeze the hair out if possible and as pain allow.

Try not to panic!

MyCatIsAnnoyinglyCute · 19/02/2023 10:48

It’ll be a cyst.

Alwayswonderedwhy · 19/02/2023 10:48

I've had this a couple of times. One I managed to pop and the other just went by itself.

BubziOwl · 19/02/2023 10:49

Most probably a boil, ingrown hair, cyst, or something of the like, especially if it's tender. I get these from time to time, especially when pregnant or otherwise unusually hormonal 😁

A hot flannel might help draw it out? Mine never ever come up to the surface though tbh so yours might be the same, but for me they disappear in a few days or maybe even a week or two.

I'd just see if it improves over the next few days, and if you're still worried then go to a GP.

ThreeblackCats · 19/02/2023 10:49

I’ve had enough of them over the years. They eventually come to a head and burst. I had one once, the size of a Cadbury cream egg, ‘king agony. But they go.

Ive only had to go to the gp once when one turned really nasty.
Don’t poke it and it will be ok. I can guarantee it’s not cancer.

ididntwanttodoit · 19/02/2023 10:51

Definitely sounds like an ingrown hair. Mine took ages to deal with. Horrible.

Floralnomad · 19/02/2023 10:54

I’ve got one of those , I had it for years , it’s not an ingrown hair it’s some kind of cyst . Many years ago and for no reason it flared up and popped out ( usually it’s under the skin completely with no head ) and it needed a few antibiotic courses to get it to go away including Rifampicin . It shrunk back to its usual small size and there it remains , still with no head .

KILM · 19/02/2023 10:56

Hot baths, as frequently and as lengthy as you have time for, or a hot flannel if you don't have the time.

inloveandmarried · 19/02/2023 11:18

It being a tender lump is a positive sign. It's more obviously irritation from either a blocked gland or a blocked hair follicle.
Hot bath and wait it out.

DPotter · 19/02/2023 11:21

During what turned out to be the perimenopause, I had several spots / boils on my vulva. Very painful & uncomfortable. Vulval cancer is very rare and rare things happen rarely. Much more likely to be a spot / boil / ingrown hair

CinnamonSodaPop · 19/02/2023 12:03

I just had one of these! Was a cyst, it's just on its way out now. Give it a couple of weeks. They advised to have warm baths.

Original poster
Chocolatetoastforbreakfast · 19/02/2023 12:04

Thanks everyone. Feel much calmer now!! Will try hot baths and hope it shrinks.

OP posts:
GarlicCrackers · 19/02/2023 12:47

if It goes rock hard it might not shrink.

I had one pop up next to my clitoris, had it removed at hospital. I tell you know having anaesthesia injected into that specific area is NOT the one

glad I got it removed though, ‘‘twas like having a second clitoris

Stigsmother · 19/02/2023 13:17

I have had spots in these areas before too, really, really painful but fortunately short lived, I'm sure it will turn out to be the same😊

Rebellious23 · 19/02/2023 13:41

I get these a lot (I have HS) and some are really painful
I have lidocaine gel as I get them on the inner labia and when they burst it hurts to wee Blush so I have to numb it before I can go

Bemyclementine · 19/02/2023 13:43

I had sone sort of spot there, it was excruciating

Stressedmum2017 · 19/02/2023 13:45

Ive had those before, I just ignore it and it goes away on its own.

Littlegoth · 19/02/2023 13:50

No but I’ve had several suspicious lumps checked (from armpit, to breast, to labia) and each time been told that cancerous lumps don’t just appear all of a sudden. If it’s popped up overnight that’s a good indicator that it’s nothing sinister, however painful or inconvenient. Get it checked at your GP. The last weird lump I got there turned out to be a varicose vein (didn’t look how I thought it would!!) x

zingally · 19/02/2023 14:54

Sounds like an ingrowing hair, or just a random spot. I've had random spots appear down there before that have disappeared just as fast as I've noticed them.

I think if you've only just noticed it, hang fire for a few days and just monitor it. If it's still sore in a week, get an appointment then.

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