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Original poster

URGENT help needed regarding thread/pin worms ~ 6 year old with painful vagina at night

49 replies

KarenMcG1880 · 29/01/2018 11:02

Hi there,

I need urgent help & advice

My daughter who is 6 years old occasionally ~ tonight, last night, before this was a few months ago & before that must have been last winter ~ screams & writhes with very sharp pains in her front bottom at night; I ask her to point to me to show me exactly where the pain is and tonight & on the occasion a few months ago she pointed just at the edge of her vaginal opening ~ tonight, like before I've looked & seen nothing; no redness, no cuts, nothing.... Last night I put sudo cream on ~ which I do any time she tells me she has a sore bottom {not the screaming & writhing about the bed sort of pain but just soreness from not wiping after peeing} & it does the trick, but not last night, so I thought about what I'd do if it were me & I suggested cotton wool pads soaked in cold water which seemed to help last night. Then tonight she woke, screaming again with the same sharp pain & so I got soaked cotton wool pads again but it was really bad tonight, so I got her some Calpol, & as I sat with her I started Googling & I read a lot of posts of parents with young girls of similar age with the same complaint/concern but with no real answer as to what was the cause & then I found a reply that mentioned worms...... So I asked my little girl to let me have a good look using my phone torch & I could not believe my eyes!!! I could see worms in her vagina!!! 😱 So I went & got tweezers & told my wee girl to stay calm & let mummy do something; I trained as a children's nurse so I tell her to trust mummy as she's a nurse.... The wee soul had to hold my phone for me to keep the light shining in her private parts while I caught what I saw ~ she was so scared but was so brave ~ I went into the bathroom to look at it telling her everything was ok.... I discovered it was a thread/pin worm.... So I went back through & told her I had to have another look & I found another one.... She had realised I was getting something ~ she'd had tapeworms about 2 years ago; I only ever saw 1 which happened to come out as she did a poo & when I wiped her I happened to notice it on the toilet tissue, so her & I had taken the Mebendazole tablets {Ovex} & I knew I still had 2 left & surprisingly exactly where they were ~ so I explained to her it was a similar thing & the poor lamb was screaming for me to get the tablets so she could take one, which she did. I removed 1 more from her, so 3 in total. Once had got the visible ones I asked her to let me have a good look & when I looked closely I could see tiny pin picks....

Started this last night as my daughter fell asleep but them woke again at about 3am with the same pain. Again I looked at her using the torch on my phone & again saw worms. There was one crawling on her perineum, going from her anus to her vagina. Then I found another 2 in her vagina. She was so upset as she kept telling me the tablet had worked, even though I told her it wouldn't work that quickly.

I've spent the night reading information on these little f*ers {sorry for the language but I'm appalled & devastated that my baby is going through this. She is disgusted & so upset by this, she just wants rid of them like I would if it were me ~ I did get tickly sensations down there & went to the toilet in the dark armed with my phone torch & a mirror.... I had a good look but see nothing coming out my anus or inside my vagina ~ apologies for being a but graphic}. Like I said above I had the Ovex tablets {mebendazole} but I'm reading that these are not effective if given at the stated dose... There are also other drugs mentioned {aldenazole, tiabendazole, pyrantel pamoate, ivermectin, even dog worming tablets....} I don't know what to do! I've read that they can migrate from the anus to the vagina & via itching/eggs thrown up in the air by brushing floors, shaking bedding & clothing... they can end up in your eyes, ears, nose & lungs... 😨 I'm horrified! I've also seen a large number of posts {not on here} with parents describing their girls behaving in the same way ~ most have tried various creams etc/been to GP's, pediatricians, gynecologists/out of hours GP's/A&E departments ~ there have been very few solutions given & only 1 or 2 replies to the posts have suggested thread/pin worms as being the cause

Has anyone else had this problem with your little girls having them in their vaginas & what have you done? What has worked?}

Please help...

Kx

OP posts:
Scabbersley · 29/01/2018 11:04

Just give her ovex?

Scabbersley · 29/01/2018 11:04

And stop fiddling around with tweezers Hmm

Soon2BeMumTo3 · 29/01/2018 11:12

We have had the same problem in the past with our 3 year old. I showered her when she said it hurt and got the tablets from boots which we all took. We then washed all the bedding and towels and followed a strict hand washing/ hygiene routine until the problem was gone. You have to hoover the mattresses and absolutely everywhere. Also dust all surfaces with wet cloths and throw them out. Don’t panic, the situation will resolve after you’ve done everything. If not then go to the gp. Good luck Flowers

Scabbersley · 29/01/2018 11:14

They aren't living in her vagina. They are crawling out of her bum. All take the medicine and wash her bedding

iknowimcoming · 29/01/2018 11:15

You need to keep calm. The tablets will sort it but will take a day or two, you don't need to remove the worms you see and you don't need to keep looking for them, just treat everyone in the house as directed on the pack, keep her nails short, and be extra keen on hand washing after using the toilet, and first thing after she wakes in the morning, bedding wash is a good idea and sanitise the loo seats, flush handles and light switches if you want to go to town.

It's very very common, and nothing to get worked up about.

Original poster
KarenMcG1880 · 29/01/2018 11:15

Over is mebendazole

OP posts:
Almostthere15 · 29/01/2018 11:17

Most people are fine with the treatment, make sure she follows hand washing as best as she can, wash all the bedding with an extra rinse ( and anything she keeps in the bed like toys), Hoover the mattress and damp dust everywhere.

Then make sure she wears pants at night, and no one share towels.

I understand what you were doing with the tweezers but honestly it sounds a bit terrifying and it probably didn't help so don't do it again.

Make sure you take the second dose and treat the whole family. I do sympathise as we've had it twice now and my dd was exactly the same plus in was pregnant so you can't take anything. But we got rid of them no bother. There's so many scare stories online, for most people they are treated successfully. Don't be tempted to self medicate.

endofthelinefinally · 29/01/2018 11:19

Honestly?
You are a children's nurse?
Just treat her with ovex. Read the instructions and follow them.
Do the washing and cleaning.
Treat the whole family.
Most children get worms at some point once they go to playgroup/ nursery.
Little girls do get them in their vagina.
It isnt necessary to rummage around. The ovex does work quite quickly.
Consider a urine test in case there is a UTI going on as well.

Original poster
KarenMcG1880 · 29/01/2018 11:20

I'm not leaving the worms there if they are hurting her & I can see them & she's screaming for me to help her..... I'm a nurse & can very precisely remove them, I used tweezers last night as it was the first thing that came to mind to catch them but I will try a cotton bud the next time x

OP posts:
Original poster
KarenMcG1880 · 29/01/2018 11:23

Yes I am a children's nurse ~ is there a problem?

I have given her Ovex, I gave her that last night as I said above & will give her another one

OP posts:
elektrawoman · 29/01/2018 11:24

As others have said, don’t stress, it’s very common, we’ve all had it and I caught them off my DS and the same thing happened to me. Yes it’s gross but try not to make a big deal out of it with your DD or you will make her neurotic! Treat everyone in the family with Ovex and repeat in two weeks time. Wash all bedding and towels on hot and change pyjamas every night. Vacuum bedroom and mop bathroom. If she is sore just put sudocrem or Vaseline around her vulva and anus (this helps stop the worms moving too). Bath or shower every day giving area a good wash. Please don’t panic it’s really common, don’t read all the horror stories on the internet!

Soon2BeMumTo3 · 29/01/2018 11:25

Get her in the shower instead of rummaging in there.

AmethystRaven · 29/01/2018 11:27

Don't give another one yet! Wait 10 days and redose then. It's not nice but you just have to wait for them to die (and clean your house until your hands are raw - been there done it but it worked!)

WellThisIsShit · 29/01/2018 11:29

Take the NHS advice instead of reading scare stories and poking sharp objects up your child’s private parts.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/threadworms/

endofthelinefinally · 29/01/2018 11:30

I was just surprised.
I would have expected a children's nurse to be a bit calmer/ rational.
I hope your dd feels better soon.
IME the treatment works quickly.
I think it is very important to play things down with small children as they do get upset if mummy seems worried.

jennymount · 29/01/2018 11:31

This happened to me. It's rotten, your poor DD.
Like somebody already said, they're crawling out of her bum- give it a couple of days for the ovex to work, make sure she has a VERY thorough wash each morning to stop the eggs hanging around. All bedding clothing etc must be put on a really hot wash- also apparently they don't like garlic so maybe make some strong flavoured food? I did this in combination with the tablets and it worked a treat.

Original poster
KarenMcG1880 · 29/01/2018 11:32

I'm not going to give her the second Ovex yet x I will change bedding & wash our towels & hoover the mattress & bedroom, and clean the bathroom x it was just not very nice & a bit of a shock to find them x

OP posts:
WellThisIsShit · 29/01/2018 11:34

I’d question why you think it’s appropriate to write in such graphic detail on the internet?

I’d ask for all that detail to be removed from your OP as it’s both unnecessary and highly inappropriate.

Original poster
KarenMcG1880 · 29/01/2018 11:38

Oh my god! I was not poking them up her private parts! They were around the opening & yes thinking about it now I could have maybe wiped them out with a cotton bud or cotton wool or toilet paper... They were hurting her & I just wanted to get them out of her...

OP posts:
BluePheasant · 29/01/2018 11:42

Tweezers? Jesus!

When this happened to DD I filled the basin with warm water (no soap) and rinsed her bum and vulva. Emptied the basin and repeated a couple of times to rinse away as many worms as I could. This gave her enough relief to get to sleep.

Treated with ovex the next day. Second night needed to repeat the night time rinsing again to give her some relief to get back to sleep.

Third night it was all over.

And of course wash all bedding, towels etc.

VeryHappyIndeed · 29/01/2018 11:44

Hello! I had the same problem with my 4 year old girl some months ago. It was so incredibly distressing as she woke up in the middle of the night screaming and touching her vagina and nothing I could do helped.

The pediatrician was not much help. I thought that it could be a UTI and I even worried that maybe aha had been assaulted and I felt so guilty for working and not have noting it. My husband was equally distressed as this happened several nights.

Looking in internet I found a post from a parent who said that similar happened to her girl and that it were worms. So I went in the night with a torch to check in her while she was asleep. First night I didn't see anything but I persisted and I think the third time I saw the worms poking from her anus. The doctor finally accepted that the cause were worms, though reluctantly, and I her the medicine which we all had to take at home - even the nanny - for three days. We washed all bed covers with hot water and disinfected bathrooms and floors on the house I think everyday for a week.

Luckily that was enough and she had not had them again. With respect to the dose, I followed the dosing indicates in the medicine, which was higher than what the doctor had prescribed (the medicine had a clear indication of the dose per age).

I feel for your daughter as that seemed so painful, but I am glad you have it sorted now. Ah, my younger daughter had had the same episode some months before just one or two nights and then stopped, so it is very contagious.

Good luck!

Scabbersley · 29/01/2018 11:45

Something about the OP makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Luckily there's no real reason to go into detail about our young dds vaginas.

Take the medicine and pour yourself a large whisky.

Original poster
KarenMcG1880 · 29/01/2018 11:47

Blue Pheasant ~ that's a good idea ~ where did you do the rinsing ~ in the bath? Kx

OP posts:
NewYearNiki · 29/01/2018 11:49

Get to a GP as you don't have a clue.

Original poster
KarenMcG1880 · 29/01/2018 11:50

Thank you VeryHappyIndeed x I'm feeling a bit more calm about it now thanks to the supportive & helpful replies x

OP posts:
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