As above, sorry if this is TMI.
I've been with my partner for over 10 years (and been on the same contraceptive pill the same amount of time) and have had a decent sex life. However, I've been finding it painful to have sex for a while now (not sure how long, possibly started in January or February). This has been making me anxious so the amount of sex we've been having has (understandably) decreased.
Recently, I had my partner have a look at my vagina to see if there is anything obvious which could be causing the pain, and he found a small tear at the back of the labia (minora). This is only painful during sex (when I presume it's stretched and reopened), but although we have waited 3 weeks recently between sessions, it doesn't seem to be healing and reopens every time. There is a small amount of blood following sex, but this doesn't continue and the tear doesn't cause me any other problems.
I've googled the issue, but a lot of the responses I've found have been as a result of childbirth and I do not have any children yet. I'm nervous about going to the doctor, probably as I don't know what to expect, so I was wondering if anyone else could share their stories or advice as to what could be done about this? Is there anything I can try before going to the doctor?
Thanks