Bright Red painful urethra

[SinisterBumFacedCat]

Has anyone had this and found a way of sorting it out/coping or even a diagnosis? The lower half of my urethra is bright red at so painful. The only thing I can put on it is Vaseline. I tried a steroid and now it’s worse! Plus I made the mistake of putting lidocaine on it and stings and doesn’t really anesthetise it. The vagina is fine, the vulva is ok, no atrophy and LS has been ruled out. No UTI either although i’m On antibiotics for mild infection in my discharge. Am in so much pain, really worried about going to work on Monday

Sorry I'm a little confused. Do you mean your clitoris? The upper half of urethra is internal.

Try some external thrush cream. If you are on antibiotics, they may have caused a ph imbalance. It's reasonably common.

Was going to suggest thrush too. For me it's red and burns rather than itchy, canestan stung when applied initially but sorted it out almost immediately

Your urethra is internal so what exactly is red? The urethral opening?

Does it sting when you pee?

I’d stop putting stuff on (up?) it. Stick to cool water only. Rinse of thoroughly with the shower.

Drink. Lots. Of. Water. If it is you urethra causing pain water. Water only. No juice, beer, wine, squash, coke. Just water.

Friends dd had quite severe red soreness around her urethral opening and it was blackcurrant juice causing irritation. Lots of fruits, tomatoes, strawberries, blackcurrants etc are well known for causing irritation.

Sorry yes it’s the opening. It stings all the time if I wee or not. I’m having a bath now. I’ve not tested positive for thrush. I’m on water, was only drinking 1 tea a day but will drop that. Minimal alcohol so don’t mind stopping that too. I love chocolate but fuck it i’ll Live on fresh air if I can ditch this pain!

How much water? You need to be drinking pretty constantly to dilute your urine down. Urine should be very pale.

About 1 big glass every 1-2 hours. I’m weeing a lot but the pain won’t stop.

Do you suffer with cystitis, can you see a doctor or pharmacist, dont put anything on it unless its recommended by a health professional. Poor you, it sounds awful.

Like a pp canesten cream worked for me. Sorted it really quickly.

I’m reluctant to try Canesten because every cream I try except Vaseline irritates me. I can use cold packs to relieve the pain temporarily but that just seems to make the pain come back worse without them. Also I can’t take an ice pack to work with me

Chlamydia? That can be a symptom of that?

I had this last week ended up sitting in the bath in the middle of the night. My mum suggested thrush, which hadn't occurred to me so I tried the tablet/ cream combo which worked.

Are you urinating too frequently? Maybe you need to retrain your bladder. I unfortunately had a UTI last summer, was given several different antibiotics and ended up with thrush that went undiagnosed for months.

I've had a cystoscope and scan of my bladder but they can't see anything wrong. I now drink caffeine free tea & drink a pint of water over a 3 hour period. I also try to time when I go to the loo so I'm not going too frequently.

All is fine when I'm on my period but if I get stressed, it flares up.

I have no clue when I need to go, so I just go every 2 hours because I feel stinging pressure constantly. I’ve had this before and it took ages to go, but I was never really back to normal. Interestingly the only time I do feel normal is when I’m on my period.

My gynaecologist is struggling to come up with anything. I had a Cystoscopy last year and all appeared fine, but they honestly just seemed to want to discharge me ASAP

It was suggested to me that it could be to do with oestrogen levels, not by a dr but someone else who was having problems. I thought it could be vaginal atrophy as I'm breastfeeding but was told I'm too young.

No one is really interested, so I try to manage by drinking water often, urinating every few hours and distracting myself. Oh another thing I did was to make sure I do my pelvic floor exercises, I think that makes a difference too.

That’s interesting, my Gynaecologist says atrophy can happen when you are breastfeeding. I’m well past that stage! Not menopausal though. I’ve had vagifem and that’s helped my vagina but has had no effect on my urethra, ovestin just stings. I’m running out of things to try.

I had this for three months. Nothing helped - no dr, hospital- nothing. Until I went private. They inserted medicine directly into my bladder 6 times over 8 weeks and I've had nothing since.

Zoidforth, can I ask what the medicine was called that you had inserted into your bladder? I'm trying to get help with this problem too. 😥

@Clara905 @zoidforth sorry can you tell me the medicine used or who you saw? Thanks

Mo21blue I used Vagifem pessaries on prescription & I generally feel OK in my bladder now. They've helped somehow. I do get occasional bladder burning still but not all the time & nowhere near as bad.