Vaginal pain in 3 year old?!

[TheGreatBobinsky]

I do have a Dr's appointment later this afternoon but what could be causing this? My 3 year old was fine yesterday evening, then about 20 minutes later was screaming, writhing and gritting her teeth saying her vulva hurt? I had a look and couldn't see anything like nappy rash but the opening to the vagina did look quite red and sore. I've checked for worms and couldn't see anything. My daughter has a pretty good vocabulary but she's still only just 3 so she can't really explain to me what exactly is going on either.

I put her in a cool bath and gave calpol and some nappy rash cream but she was up all night crying. She seems OK this morning but I've noticed her rubbing (possibly itching) the area a little bit. I've been googling and nothing seems like the right answer. Has anyone been through anything like this with their daughters?

Might it be a UTI?

I would have said UTI also

I would treat for worms even if you can’t see them, especially as it seems to be worse at night.

I did wonder about a UTI but she doesn't seem unwell other than the pain, and wouldn't the worms be irritating her bum too? Sorry if these are silly questions, I was lucky with my eldest and I've never had to deal with worms (so far 😬)

My poor little one gets sore down there often. Usually a bath + bare bum time to dry out + nappy cream sorts it. But as others have said a UTI is quite possible. I hope the GP can help and that it gets sorted quickly

Sounds like thrush. GP will sort it out.

We actually didn't know my son had a UTI, his symptoms suggested gastro etc but done both samples for GP and UTI came back!

I would treat for worms anyway, but this can also be caused by bacteria from the anus getting into the vulva and causing infection, as well as by worms and irritation from bath products. It’s very common in girls aged 3-10 because of wiping difficulties and skin sensitivity. Avoid bubble baths and any bath products, rinse with plain water only, ask GP to test for UTI etc. Sometimes Sudocrem works; sometimes canesten. But check with GP in case of a UTI.

Take a look too at some of the NHS leaflets online on vulvovaginitis in children - they have some helpful ideas and info.

I used to get a terrible stinging feeling down there at that age. No idea what it was but I guess I grew out of it. Poor thing!

You would only see the worms at night, so it is possible it is worms. It is better to treat anyway. They all seem to get worms once they go to toddler groups/nursery etc. It only takes one child to start an epidemic.

My daughter gets this if we’ve used bubble bath sometimes (so now we don’t at all) and sometimes if she’s not wiped properly and her vulva becomes sore. I can often see it’s red and usually sudocrem sorts it out.

My daughter had exactly this with a UTI. She's also very sensitive down there with certain soaps, shower gels, bubble bathgs etc. I have to buy very plain, unscented soap.

I get no symptoms of a UTI at all, it just shows up when I have to do urine samples for other things.
The itching could be UTI, thrush, worms, either way it's good you're taking her to the GP to have it checked out

Hi my daughter has had this for the last few years and she is 6 and has been duagnosed wiyh vulva vaginitis. The things that help are hydrocortisone ointment when she is having a flare up no soap and reducing daity especially milk in her diet. Hope your daughter feels better soon.

I think maybe thrush. It is so uncomfortable and itchy. Poor mite.

My daughter has this, it's vulvovaginitis. She will have it for years sadly. She will grow out of it around 8/9 when they get a hormone rush and can fight the bacteria themselves. Until then we just have to bathe her, Piriton can help, we use a topical steroid cream, sleepy spray and cream to help her sleep. It's awful.

Just to add as pp have said, my daughter uses zero product in baths/showers, she washes her hair away from her body so it doesn't get on her at all.

Agree re soaps, my DD used nothing now and her thrush has completely cleared.

Yes, vulva vaginitis sounds likely - we had a combo of itchiness, general soreness and redness and some sharp spiking pains. Unfortunately, she also got a couple of infections - some around the vulva and labia and a couple of UTIs, one very bad one, which the doctor told me is quite common when they have this and are young because they scratch and generally get a bit icky and the bacteria then spread and breed with abandon.

For a few years she bathed in tea tree oil and lavender oil - mildly disinfecting but not irritating at all (doctor recommended this). We've reintroduced mild soaps - usually the super mild kids foaming bath type stuff as it allows her to get clean without using a "proper" soap which she's actually quite scared of. We also found that in her case, limiting anything too acidic was good - so no orange juice etc.

Thank you for all the suggestions and tips, it really was awful she's never complained about anything hurting that much before it was quite scary, hopefully she won't have another night like that tonight.

I has the same for years (parents didnt dare take me to DR cos of various scandals around at the time).

Make sure she wipes front to back
No baths, only showers
Never use soap on the area

When the pain was bad at night I was given ice cubes wrapped in soft hankies which really helped sooth the pain.

What did the GP say OP?

I would guess worms too. They can gravitate round to the vulva, and it is worse at night. We had this a few times with DD when she was 3-5 years old, it was awful but Ovex dose sorted it quickly every time

The doctor isn't quite sure what is going on, he also had a look and everything actually looked normal at the appointment (which is brilliant but no doubt he thought I was crazy), he tested her urine which came back clear for a UTI but he's sent it to the lab just in case, it's not thrush and he didn't actually mention worms but I think I can get that treatment OTC at the pharmacy anyway? So I can try that. For now, she's been prescribed antibiotics but I don't need to start them unless her symptoms persist or get worse.

It's very perplexing, but thankfully she had a better night last night but had some diarrhea which might have been the cause of the tummy pain.

www.ruh.nhs.uk/patients/patients_leaflets/paediatrics/PAE044_Vulvovaginitis_in_young_girls.pdf Might be worth a look.