Stretching after childbirth

[chesirecat]

Hi,
I'm new here.

Mine is a terribly long story that spans over 5 months now & it's still going. It's turned my family upside down & played havoc with my sanity.

The mega short version is 2 GPs told me it was ok to use an itching cream on my outside genital area - when it's not!

Cut to me being 5 times my normal size and full of lumps.

I was sent to a dermatologist who never really worked with vaginas before & his treatment & advice led to me damaging my outside labia even further.

After returning from a totally ruined holiday of a lifetime he told me to apply a potent steroid & Epaderm to my inside labia. I had no real trouble with my inside labia apart from swelling. Up till this point I had what I believed to be a perfectly healthy & happy vagina. I reacted badly to the steroid - swollen, red and itching & he told me to apply the Epaderm with abundance. Unfortunately Epaderm contains that sulphate that is actually a detergent & thins the skin. I started to get a burning in my vestibule.

I then went to see a gynaecologist who prescribed me oestrogen cream which made me worse as the steroid and Epaderm had damaged my skin & my skin was now susceptible to any sort of irritants - I also didn't have a dry vagina.

I was left to research online till I found products I could use to bring the swellings and the lumps down myself as the dermatologist basically threw up his hands & said he didn't know what to do with me & would pass me on to a specialist in the next county. The gynaecologist basically said I should book in for a biopsy - but that would be 2-3 weeks away.

I returned 2 weeks ago only for her to refuse me a biopsy saying I was too emotional & I should come back in 2 weeks when I had calmed down. She also refused to give me any advice or reassurance. In fact whenever I go to see her she comes up with some other problem to scare me with.

My GP has had me on sedatives & off again. I'm currently waiting on an appointment with a specialist up in London but that's going to be a long way off, I presume.

I had a c-section with my daughter & up till now had really small labia minora. Now they have stretched from being swollen so long & they feel painful. I also have really thin skin there now, the gynaecologist confirmed this. It feels like someone has yanked them out & bashed them with a hammer. Well, what I guess that would feel like anyway.

So my question is to anyone who went through a natural childbirth & had their labia minora stretched is this what it felt like & did the pain subside & after how long. I'm not so worried about what they look like as the discomfort. Do you have any tips to get them back to optimum health.

I have also been left to assume I have eczema in the area.

Thank you!

Which itching cream did you use ?

Sounds awful. Have you had any swabs ?

It was Eurax itching cream. I was only using it because I shaved and had a shaver's itch. Despite shaving down there for 10 years with no issue the 1st doctor said no no no, the Eurax wasn't the problem, I must be allergic to the shaving gel. I was itching so bad at that time I was easily persuaded to keep using it.

The second doctor insisted I had an infection despite the fact I presented with all the side effects of the Eurax cream. This guy even had me raising my hand to speak to him because I dared to question him.

I'm sick to the stomach I let him convince me he was right & I was wrong.

Absolutely no swabs have ever been taken - ever!
The dermatologist barely looked at me presumably because of where the problem is.

When the gynecologist first examined me she said he'd sent my vagina into trauma with all his treatments - I was completely clamped up with pains down my legs. Bear in mind this damn thing started out as a shaving rash!

I begged for tests to be done & when it finally got round to my biopsy, like I said, she refused but not till after doing the vulvoscopy & pointing out 2 areas of interest, telling me I had thin skin now & leaving the lotion on so it dried me up even worse than before I got there. She doesn't in a million years think I have cancer & expected it to show eczema or chronic inflammation but she just wanted to be sure I didn't happen to catch a disease at exactly the time this started - her words.

The specialist in London's secretary said don't go back and push for a biopsy. Judging by your case history it'll just cause you even more pain. Let the doctor see you as you are first.

I've had no discharge at all, no smell & it hasn't itched for ages. Before this I had absolutely no problems with my vulva whatsoever. I presume it is merely damaged skin. When I used to get in the bath the left hand side used to swell up & feel like a bag of water. I'm glad to say that's eased off now, tho my outside labia are still a bit spongey & pillowy.