Sore cracked vulva help?

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

Can anyone please help? I’ve had vaginal oestrogen pessaries for soreness/dryness for a while (I’m in my 40s and peri) but things have really flared up on more of the vulva area over the last day or so. I’ve had a look and I have sort of “cuts” (abrasions?) which are really sore, especially when I go for a wee. I haven’t helped myself by sitting around all my work day in faux leather leggings, then having a boiling hot bath, I know!

Absolutely no chance of seeing a GP this side of Christmas (really) but can get to a pharmacy tomorrow. I have various nappy rash type stuff in the house, plus Vaseline - will any of that help? What else? I am in boxer type Pj shorts at the moment rather than knickers. It is definitely not dress and no pants/tights weather here, but loose trousers tomorrow with cotton underwear?

Thank you for reading/any help. (Also not sure if I should have said I am not some sort of weird fanny troll - this is my usual long term user-name and I normally post about perfume and cats!)

Are you sure it’s not herpes?

No, it is like little cuts, up where the seam of your jeans hits if that makes sense? Actually bleeding. I was prescribed the oestrogen tablets by a menopause specialists when I was almost crying as she put a speculum in to insert a coil, and she said my skin was very dry/irritated then.

Steroid cream, is what you needed. I've had this- very, very unpleasent.

You need Ovestin cream and not just the pessaries for vaginal oestrogen - you can use the Ovestin cream internally with an applicator and externally as well.

Oh no. My doctors don’t see people in person anymore - all the HRT stuff was over the phone last year - and i assume that is prescription only? Even getting a telephone appointment will be into about March!

You can get vaginal oestrogen via Boots online GP service - it costs about £25 and then the prescription charge. Or buy Replens. Tonight, I'd do Vaseline myself. Good luck

Get ovestin oestrogen cream so you can use as a cream , prescription
Otherwises buy otc Canesten® Hydrocortisone or 1% hydtocortisone cream otc

Hydromol is really gentle and great for washing with plus you can use it as an emollient so worth getting some of that
I have a weird thing where randomly the top bit of my bum splits and it's helped that a lot, plus I wash with it to avoid BV/thrush etc
Amazon have it

I have this actually - hydrocortisone 1 it says?

It could be Lichen Sclerosis which usually is helped by steroid cream but you need a doctor to look and make the diagnosis.

Have you heard of lichen sclerosis? It sounds like it may be that?

Hmm, the gynae doc didn’t mention that and she is the region’s top person.

It just feels really “irritated” and now I think about it we have had horrid “recycled” toilet roll as a sub in the last shop which maybe hasn’t helped either. It’s like the feeling you get after sitting in a highly perfumed Lush bath bomb bath, but worse!

I would use the d bite cream , it s tge saMe as hydricortisone cream. dont use for more than 7 days straighgt

Gynae (private) prescribed betnovate bjt you wont get that from gp as it smuch stronger than 1% cream
So try tge 1% couple days to get some relief

I’ve slapped on Vaseline for now, but will go in on the bite cream tomorrow. FML. Menopause is the gift that keeps on giving. My poor DP just had to endure a right rant after asking why I had my summer jammies on!

Could it be thrush? That can leave papercut type grazes on the vulva. Try some canesten.

I thought this too. External thrush can cause cracks in the skin like that similar to athletes foot. I had it recently but no internal thrush which has never happened before.

I wondered that too actually, and it has been a bit itchy, but no cottage cheese type discharge. I’ve been a bit run down, work stress etc, so that does make sense.

Thrush causes this with me, so could either be the dryness and you need oestrogen cream or it could be thrush. If it’s thrush Vaseline will make it worse :-( do you have any plain barrier cream? You’ll need a doctor to look at some point I’m afraid as you need to know which issue you have. But short term a canesten pessary / cream from the supermarket certainly won’t harm you and could do the trick…. If that doesn’t work then try the oestrogen cream route?

Thank you everyone for being so kind. I feel like I can’t talk to people in real life about this stuff, and my partner is so supportive but he is also a bit useless on women’s health!

I reckon it’ll be topical estrogen you need, I’ve had this happen once or twice (also forties/peri).

If I forget to do my twice-weekly Ovestin, and especially if that forgetting coincides with the wrong bit of my cycle, the skin occasionally becomes quite suddenly fragile and incredibly easily injured, so that it’s damaged even by the perfectly normal edges of cotton underwear/clothing or as you say, rough loo paper.

Good luck, it’s so sore but it does recover really fast with estrogen ime.

Right, plan of action is to get Thrush tablet tomorrow, then if that fails do a Boots online doctor for the oestrogen cream. @LemonJuiceFromConcentrate you describe it exactly how it feels, like my skin has been really delicate and split open. 😬

@Judystilldreamsofhorses

I'd phone your GP first thing in the morning

Also avoid anything perfumes like lush bath bombs and-wearing synthetic fibres - surely that is staying the obvious

Honestly, I would just order the cream now. It’ll come in handy regardless. I really think it is quite likely to be that (even if you also have thrush).

And it might take a few days to arrive, and you don’t want to suffer with this for any longer than necessary!

No point phoning the GP, honestly. I’ll do a private consultation and yes, of course I know the drill!