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Original poster

Dd1 has a sore privates and has done since birth.

83 replies

mandmsmummy · 12/12/2013 22:40

She has never liked us wiping her since a baby and now she's three she hates us washing her down there. It does look red sometimes and I took her to the docs who suggested not cleaning it so much and perhaps she's 'sensitive' down there. She hates us wiping it says it hurts. Health visitor said the same. Any advice please? X

OP posts:
MerryMarigold · 15/12/2013 21:45

We do mandm (but it is not a power shower or on a pump!) - and she giggles like crazy! It's quite amusing.

SoloXantiaClaws · 16/12/2013 00:19

OP, if you had GBS+ when you had her, was it a vaginal birth and if so, did you have IV AB's during labour? if so, it's quite likely to be thrush since she's been affected since babyhood.

My Dd got oral thrush with it, but I'm guessing that vaginal thrush is a possibility too.

MrsCakesPremonition · 16/12/2013 00:26

My DD went through a phase of waking in the night with a sore vulva. I found that sudocrem was good for dealing with the immediate problem and helping her get back to sleep.

I'm wondering if you used wet wipes on her as a toddler? I recently borrowed some of my DS's wet wipes as we'd run out of loo roll and I was horrified at how much they stung me. I'm wondering if she is sensitive and therefore started to associate cleaning with being sore?

Kipsy · 16/12/2013 00:30

How does she clean herself after a wee/poo? My little one used to rub away with tp until I told her that gentle patting was enough. Also, as she is prone to eczema, we use non-fragranced tp, non-bio detergent for knickers, non fragranced soap/body wash/bubble bath etc - we use Burt's bees products. While bathing, just a quick swipe of soap foam on the outside and wash with water. Sometimes if she says it is itchy down there, I wash 'inside' very gently with plain water.

ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight · 16/12/2013 00:53

There is a type of excema (?) you can get down below
Forget what it's called but dsis had it and it's not always diagnosed, other than that I'd be thinking un diagnosed strep

Thrush is a poss but IMO I would be hassling the doctors for a second opinion or asking to be referred to a paediatrician

EustaciaVye · 16/12/2013 16:51

please push for a referral. DDS paediatrician was great, and 2 weeks after starting an antispasmodic medication she was much improved. GPs cant be experts in everything.

Original poster
mandmsmummy · 16/12/2013 19:57

Seen gp today had a look said keep up with the canesten. Spoke to another on the phone and she said it's very common and the same advice. Really don't know what to do. She seems ok again and it happens every now and then but not regularly at all x

OP posts:
Original poster
mandmsmummy · 16/12/2013 20:54

To be honest I feel deflated. It seems like it's a common thing but then I get the odd serious comment which scares the shit out of me. I feel like I'm battling my docs a lot at the moment for lots of reasons and I really feel like crying x

OP posts:
ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight · 16/12/2013 21:33

I know the feeling. With dd I felt the same, she had reflux and a fish allergy (affected through breast milk if I ate fish Confused )
I dealt with it by booking an appointment every day and askin to be referred to a paediatrician - it took three appointments but they got the hint. Felt crappy because I took an appt that someone else could have had Hmm but glad I got it sorted. Ask them to email for advice if they don't want to refer

Original poster
mandmsmummy · 16/12/2013 21:38

Thanks things...that's a good idea. I've just made another appt for thurs. I'm up there so much with my AS, my sons hypermobility I think they just think I'm a worrier and not take me seriously. I do have a brain tho! X

OP posts:
passedgo · 17/12/2013 23:48

It is also probably best if you don't bathe with her as you could be passing the infection to each other.

Pinklemon · 18/12/2013 11:15

If it has been three years constantly like this, could it be lichen sclerosus? This is very difficult to diagnose by GPs, so will need a referral. LS causes sore and red vulva, and also itches, especially at night. Some cases go undiagnosed for years and mistreated as thrush/infection.

Poledra · 18/12/2013 11:22

Is there anything you can think of that she eats before she has an episode? One of my nieces turned out to have a problem with tomatoes -so, every time she ate tomatoes, she got a sore, red vulva afterwards. Soup, ketchup, anything like that would set it off. Clearly there was something being excreted through her urine which was irritating her skin. My sister removed tomatoes from her diet and it was fine. (She's 15 now, and can eat tomatoes no problem).

Original poster
mandmsmummy · 18/12/2013 20:30

Hi
Ive looked up Lichen sclerosus as I didnt know what it was. It seems an uncommon thing which affects women over 50 generally. Do you know of toddlers who have had it?

The only thing I can think of is orange squash which Ive stopped this week.

x

OP posts:
chocolatefrog · 18/12/2013 20:42

My daughter had the same problem when she was about 3/4. I took her to the doctors numerous times, was given various creams and it didn't go. After nearly a year we went private, saw a great dermatologist who swabbed her and she had strep or was it staphyloccus ?? (can't remember sorry). Anyway she had a course of antibiotics and it really helped. She has eczema too so it seemed the strep was causing the eczema to flare up. We have trimovate now which is a steroid and an antimicrobial (I think). when it flares up we pop that on and it goes.

breatheslowly · 18/12/2013 20:49

Lichen sclerosus definitely can occur in younger children.

Has your GP done any swabs? You can swab for thrush and other infections to rule them out or treat them correctly.

Original poster
mandmsmummy · 18/12/2013 21:30

No they haven't which is why I'm going back again tomorrow. They don't do anything at the moment to be honest so I'm making a nuisance of myself now. That's for all the advice x

OP posts:
Original poster
mandmsmummy · 18/12/2013 21:31

Do they have to swab for specific things or does one swab cover all?
Will the swab show LS? X

OP posts:
breatheslowly · 18/12/2013 21:46

No - the swab won't show LS, but it makes sense to rule out other things. They can definitely swab for thrush, but I don't know if swabs pick up everything or just the thing they are looking for as I have had them when I have had thrush.

pengymum · 18/12/2013 22:29

My DDs would wake up at night crying that were hurting down below. Really screaming with pain.
Tried all sorts but in the end I had a look myself and found thread worms in the vaginal area. Not many, one or two but removed with a cotton bud and applied sudocrem. This would work to settle them. Then dose with mebendazole.
Over time came to recognise the redness/soreness & dosed regularly as preventative measure. Think is endemic in some schools. All well since. Tried docs, a&e etc with eldest but nothing worked prior to this.
Hth

Original poster
mandmsmummy · 18/12/2013 23:41

I will be suggesting a swab tomorrow, how do they test for LS? X

OP posts:
Flibbedyjibbet · 19/12/2013 00:00

My DD1 (3) also frequently suffers with red and sore "bits" we've worked out that when she wears leggings she gets red again.... cue only wearing dresses and trousers at the moment and if we do put leggings on her that it's just for a day. In Summer (dresses no leggings) she had no redness for weeks.

Does your DD1 wear leggings? Could that be making any issue worse?

gracegrape · 19/12/2013 00:09

hi mandmsmummy. I just saw this thread and was interested because my 3 year old DD seems to suffer from very similar. Can I ask if you've found the pain and redness to be mainly around the vagina or further forward? I think my DD has vulvovaginitis rather than thrush. I've found absolutely no soap or bubblebath and a small amount of vinegar in the bathwater has really helped. Have you found the Canesten to be helpful? I was wondering about trying it, although I don't think my DD has thrush.

steppemum · 19/12/2013 00:32

dd1 has always had a sore vulva on and off since she was tiny. (red raw at times)

I have tried all the following:
we never use anything for washing except E45 junior bath stuff (which looks like bubbles) She sits in the bath and gently swishes some of the bath water into/onto her vulva.
When she was very little we didn't even use the E45 stuff we used oilatum bath oil in the water.

She tended to be a bit slack about getting to the loo and wiping properly, which meant she often had a damp patch on her knickers. I put dry knickers in a pile in the bathroom, and encouraged her to put dry ones on if hers were a bit wet.
Because of her poor hygiene, we did wash daily, but only bath/shower with water or the safe products mentioned. I never use soap in the bath so she isn't sitting in water that has had soap in it, and for the same reason, we only washed hair in the shower, so she doesn't sit in shampoo. But actually at 3 she washed her hair by lying down in the E45 bath bubbles and we never used shampoo.
Nappy cream helps enormously. Good old sudacream, applied generously at night, really would knock it on the head when nothing else did.

We tried the drinks - make sure she has enough, and nice and dilute etc, but to be honest we didn't notice any change.

Both dds still get sore occasionally, but much less now they are older.

Pinklemon · 19/12/2013 01:02

Hi Meandmsmummy. LS can occurs in young prepubertal girls. Most GPs are not familiar with it so a referral is needed. My dd has it and is now well under control with steroid, and has no problems at all since. I took her back and forth to the doctors numerous times and was told it was thrush. I mentioned LS, showed her the articles that I had printed but GP was insistent it was only thrush. I persisted and asked for a referral and it was the dermatologist who diagnosed it. There is no tests for LS. Experienced dermatologist can diagnose just by looking but in adults sometimes a biopsy is needed to confirm.