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

[KarenMcG1880]

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

Hi all,
Thanks to those who reported, we really appreciate it. Regarding the appropriateness or otherwise of the description, we reckon that's best left to her mother, and since we don't have any reason to think that she isn't the OP we are inclined to leave things as they are.
(Being completely candid, when I found the same thing in the same place in a child belonging to me, I MORE THAN FREAKED, so I am personally sympathetic.)
Hope she gets better soon, KarenMcG. Longer term, it might be wise to change your nickname, but we really hope that tonight is better than last night for DD. Going by our experience, it should be, but don't risk not re-dosing in 10 days.

Just in the bathroom sink Karen but she was only about 3 at the time so still small enough to sit her in the sink. For older child could just rinse gently with shower or just use the bath. I used the sink as seemed the quickest way to help her at the time as she was frantic with the irritation. Horrible things.

Remember the whole family needs to take the medication to be sure you’ve got rid of them completely.

Very very common infestation in children and nothing to worry about. You have done the treatment now: repeat in 2 weeks , get in with hand washing and no need to think about it again.
You will recognise the symptoms if she gets it again before the need for torches or tweezers.!
If a small child has an itchy bottom or vulva at night , go ahead and treat, there is no need for flustering about in the night( IMO).
I had one child with recurrent nits and one with recurrent threadworms and I would put them in the same category.
Oddly my middle child only once had nits and to my knowledge never had threadworms despite being a finger sucker.

If she's really uncomfortable she could have an infection where the worms have come from her bottom to her vagina, that's much more uncomfortable than the worms themselves. She could need treatment from GP for the infection.

No, she couldn’t!

The worms crawl out of the anus and have a little party all round that general area.

The solution is to kill the worms NOT use tweezers!

You trained as a children's nurse but dont know how to treat threadworms?

mumsnet - it is absoulutely not up to parents regarding what they post on the internet about their children. You as the site owner are perfectly entitled to assess the appropriateness or not of any content and delete as appropriate. Particularly when a child is involved and the parent has posted using possible identifying details such as name and profession. Plus you have an acknowledged perverted troll problem. Stop being so bloody mealy-mouthed about this type of stuff

I shouldn't have to explain myself to anyone but Gobbolinothewitchscat ~ I worked in neonatal & then a fracture clinic, just because I'm a nurse doesn't mean I know the answer to every medical problem.... Everyone has their own sphere of expertise, mine is not gynecology, parasites, gastrointestinal, A&E....

Are you suggesting that I am some sort of a pervert? She is my daughter!

Gobbolinothewitchscat Hear hear!

SURELY a nurse would be familiar with threadworms.

Name change fail?

Of course! A nurse has the answer to everything medical! Silly me I must have missed that day in my 3 years training

Bit of a big grey area between ‘everything medical’ and ‘extremely common childhood parasite’.

What a level of fuss

It's very likely threadworms, as you already know....you've dosed her up, dose her again in 2 weeks, and hopefully that's that. There's absolutely no need to get in a faffy palaver over worms growing in her nose etc.

Really, count yourself very lucky if this is the worst health issue you have to deal with in your kids.

I hope she feels more comfortable soon.

Bit too much information in the op, a simple My dds got worms, any advice? Would suffice, however, as pp have said, Ovex is brilliant, just remember to treat everybody, retreat a week later, and boil wash everything you can. If dd is still complaining of pain then she could have a UTI so see your gp who will be able to help.

You said you are a "children's nurse" - therefore it is perfectly reasonable yo expect that you would have knowledge and experience of worms.

But, in amy event, I am not a nurse and I know how to treat threadworms or look for the information. What possessed you to use tweezers, God only knows. To post this on a public forum with graphic details and identifying information is very ill advised. That is a matter of fact. Only you know your motivations

To be fair to the OP, I think there's a bit of misunderstanding about what paediatric nurses do - I wouldn't expect one to have any more knowledge than a layperson about threadworms.

I think there is something off with this... with the amount of detail given. I think a nurse would know be using tweezers in that area either she could get a really bad infection if you scratched her. You need to take her to the GP and not rely on information from online. Please don't give her dog worming tablets either.

Dog worming tablets 😯

Children's nurse. Front bottom? Panic over common childhood ailment. Ok.

Go and have a chat with the pharmacist if you don't feel the treatment is effective. You will know they live on the bowel not the vagina, yes, they are just visiting. Hope she feels better soon

What Gobbolino said! Bloody hell.

Wash with a shower head instead of wiping if she’s awake enough? My little boy has worms now 😒

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