Please help, wtf is wrong with my vagina ??

[helpmepleaseahh]

Please help me, I’m extremely worried about this.

I’m not a troll, MN can verify I’ve posted before

I’ve got a female problem and I’m so embarrassed and upset about it. I told my mum and she’s never heard of it and said I should go to the doctors (I will when I’m home from uni on Thursday) I’m just so worried about this and I don’t know what it could be. I’ll try and use the correct terminology rather than slang words to make it easier to understand

recently I’ve had a lot of discomfort- like a really strong burning itch. It’s not so much Vaginally it was more towards the clitoral hood. I never scratched it but it’s just felt really uncomfortable and there was a strong smell. I went to the pharmacy who recommended thrush treatment so I did that. No change whatsoever. I tried different things and nothing helped. We also treated for bv in case it was that but again, no help. I hadn’t shaved so I couldn’t get a 100% complete view of the area but it didn’t look particularly bad.

until I shaved last night and realised exactly what the problem is. I’ve got like a tear/split in the skin, probably about an inch and a half in size, running vertically up the clitoral hood. It’s AGONY and walking and stretching my legs opens it. The skin has torn completely open and there’s a strong smell and that horrible burning itch feeling which obviously I’m ignoring but I’ve never seen anything like this before and I’m worried sick

it doesn’t look like thrush or BV at least from what I’ve seen with pictures of them.

I’ve never had sex so it can’t be an std unless I’ve got it from a public toilet or a swimming pool, not sure if that’s even possible?

basically I’m just worried sick about what this could be and if I’ve got some kind of horrible bug down there or what is going on. I’m going to go to the doctor (absolutely dreading that too as I don’t want to have to show them but obviously it’s necessary) but does anyone have any idea what this could be and will they be able to fix it?

Thanks very much in advance. I’ve been worried sick about it all night

I've had this before but without the smell. If you typically shave (which usually makes things itchy), you might have been scratching it which has broken the skin. Might be best to see the GP because of the smell as it might be infected but otherwise you need to keep it clean, let it breathe (maybe sleep with no pants/PJ bottoms) and put a bit of sudocrem on if you can.

Is it through exercise? I cycle a lot and if I don't get my "bits and pieces" in position , regardless of padded knickers etc , I end up with skin splits that sting like nothing else x

I'm thinking (from the smell) could maybe still be BV. Took me ages to get rid of mine - including wearing new knickers everyday and throwing them in the bin for like 2 weeks so that it wouldn't come back. I know that seems really wasteful but it was the only thing that worked.

Genital psoriasis

Don’t be scared about showing the dr, OP, I know it can feel a little undignified but this is literally their day job, absolutely nothing to worry about. Maybe you could request a female dr if that would make you more comfortable?

Ooh owwie, that sounds awful! Could be some form of dermatitis. If you haven't already try epsom or sea salt - either add to a few inches water in the bath and soak for a few minutes or make up with cool boiled water in a spray bottle to spritz on your self after using the toilet (for regularity more than anything else). Fingers crossed they get you seen to soon!

Thrush can present as cuts a bit like a paper cut, I regularly get thrush and if I don't get on top of it quickly it eventually ends up like this. If it is you need a course of Fluconazole to shift it. The cream and a tablet on its own won't shift it. With thrush being fungal it would account for the smell and the fact it's unlikely to be an STI for the reasons given.

GP may well do swabs, it's just a big cotton bud so please don't worry about this is they ask for them, it may be uncomfortable because of the cut but it should only be momentarily.

Any white spots OP? Lichen sclerosis is a possibility, but GPs can be terribly under informed about it, especially if it's in the early stages or if it's on a younger woman.

Oh yes!!! My friend had this!
She said it was infected and only realised once it had got swollen. She went to the Dr, can't remember what they did but cleared up in a few weeks :)

It may have happened when shaving as she shaved down below too, so maybe small cut that has torn abit more and become infected

Thank you so much for all the advice.

I couldn’t get a doctors appointment unfortunately, it’s a several week wait so I’ll just need to be patient until I can be seen. It’s not any worse- not any better either unfortunately. I definitely haven’t cut myself shaving- i hasn’t shaved for a while and only shaved after the problem started so i could see better what was going on. It’s so frustrating and so painful, it’s basically a big hack/split in the skin. I’ve tried sudocrem and all the usual stuff as welll as treating for thrush and BV but no help unfortunately x

Do you have any hydrocortisone cream? Or any other steriod treatment?

It could be an infected cut, lichens sclorosis, or VIN.

I don’t have any unfortunately, neither do any of my family. I’ve never actually heard of VIN so I’m going to go and google it to see if it looks like that x

Are you making sure the cut and area are dry before putting the sudocrem on in a thick layer?

Another vote for skipping straight to an appointment at your local GUM clinic, it is quite possibly where your GP would refer you to anyway. The splitting and itch sounds possibly like lichen planus/sclerosis, but could also be brought on by thrush that won't go away. Swabs needed to check/discount thrush/bv, etc. Make an appointment OP, depending on where you are you may be able to attend a walk in GUM clinic too.

Yes - it needs checking in case it’s lichens sclerosis.
Or it might just be a slight cut- I’ve had one there but not the smell. It just healed on its own, no idea how it got there.

Yeah I am, it’s made no difference unfortunately

I’ll go and check if there’s a GUM clinic nearby, that’s a great shout thanks. This might sound stupid, bus is lichen sclerosis bad? I’ve only vaguely heard of it but I assumed it was sort of like a genital eczema?

@helpmepleaseahh stop with the creams and go back to basic wound care. Bathe it with cooled boiled salt water or saline from the chemist. Avoid tight clothing. Don't use cotton wool, use non fluffy gauze from a first aid kit for cleaning/drying.
Otc painkillers for now.

@helpmepleaseahh if you can't get seen by a gp for weeks, or get into a GUM clinic then look for a minor injuries unit.

@helpmepleaseahh Lichen sclerosis and planus are understood to be autoimmune conditions, it's unknown what causes them though. But basically a dermatological condition. There are dermatologists with specialism in vulval dermatology. GUM clinic is definitely a good shout

So body incorrectly attacks healthy cells, which causes itching/pain/splitting of skin/inflammation. If it's this, topical steroids are first line treatments to bring it under control

Don't be embarrassed, would you feel the same if it was a cut/wound on your leg? I've once had a skin tear, no idea how it happened, but dear god the pain. The skin is very thin on the vulva and can be damaged quite easily. My GP advised a wound care plan and gave me antibiotics to avoid an infection.

It does sound like a cut which may be infected. If you can, try to dry very well, then air dry until putting on undies. There's some good advice here on basic wound care until you get to the GP.

@helpmepleaseahh also, I probably mentioned this too in one of my earlier posts but if you can't get into see a gp, make an apt to see a practise nurse. They're the ones who deal with wound care and if there's anything else going on they'll get a GP involved.

Poor you. If there's a possibility it's infected though, I'd try to be seen sooner rather than later. I've previously had very painful splitting in skin down there just from washing too vigorously ( but no smell) and it's very painful although did heal within a few days. I'd definitely try to get an appointment somewhere, even out of hours, in case you need antibiotics in your position. As an aside though, if it's BV, I think multi gyn ( I think that's right) from Boots/ Superdrug/ other chemists is meant to be really good.

Ouch

It just sounds like an infection but a GP wait or several weeks is not acceptable - infections can get worse.

Your options are

• Ring up the GP, exaggerate your symptoms if necs, and get an appt within the week
• Do the same at your uni docs, if you have them
• Go to a woman’s health clinic
• Go to small injuries unit or just A&E (not on Sat night, obvs)