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Burned my vulva with white vinegar, help!
Hi there,
First off, I'd like to state I've been diagnosed with and am undergoing treatment and physical therapy for vulvadynia. It's been going extremely well, but now I'm afraid I've made things worse down there :(
I also suspect I may be suffering from lactobacillosis these last 2 or 3 months. I seem to have a cyclical infection, where i'm fine at the beginning of my cycle and then experience a burning different from my usual vulvadynia burning right before my period, along with a white pasty discharge and slight itching. No odor. The last time this happened, I went to my GYN and she did a super swab (every manner of yeast and bacterial infection, including STDs), and I came back negative for all. I did notice though that they do not test for lactobacillosis or CV, and at the time she sent the swabs away to a lab and did not view a wet mount herself. I don't know if they did one at the lab. The symptoms disappear after my start of my period as well, which is supposed to be another telltale sign.
Anyway, last night I thought I noticed a weird growth near my urethra. Afraid it might be a vaginal wart (I have had HPV in the past, but no warts, normal paps since the initial finding), I decided to do the vinegar test. I held a cotton ball soaked in white vinegar to the area for ten minutes, and it burned like hell! That should have tipped me off to stop what I was doing, but I thought it was burning because it was a new bottle of vinegar (I've done this before with only a mild burning that disappeared as soon as I took the cotton ball off). When I took the cotton ball away, EVERYTHING it touched turned pale and whitish. The growth actually stayed kind of pale pink, so no wart (yay?)
First off, I'd like to state I've been diagnosed with and am undergoing treatment and physical therapy for vulvadynia. It's been going extremely well, but now I'm afraid I've made things worse down there :(
I also suspect I may be suffering from lactobacillosis these last 2 or 3 months. I seem to have a cyclical infection, where i'm fine at the beginning of my cycle and then experience a burning different from my usual vulvadynia burning right before my period, along with a white pasty discharge and slight itching. No odor. The last time this happened, I went to my GYN and she did a super swab (every manner of yeast and bacterial infection, including STDs), and I came back negative for all. I did notice though that they do not test for lactobacillosis or CV, and at the time she sent the swabs away to a lab and did not view a wet mount herself. I don't know if they did one at the lab. The symptoms disappear after my start of my period as well, which is supposed to be another telltale sign.
Anyway, last night I thought I noticed a weird growth near my urethra. Afraid it might be a vaginal wart (I have had HPV in the past, but no warts, normal paps since the initial finding), I decided to do the vinegar test. I held a cotton ball soaked in white vinegar to the area for ten minutes, and it burned like hell! That should have tipped me off to stop what I was doing, but I thought it was burning because it was a new bottle of vinegar (I've done this before with only a mild burning that disappeared as soon as I took the cotton ball off). When I took the cotton ball away, EVERYTHING it touched turned pale and whitish. The growth actually stayed kind of pale pink, so no wart (yay?)
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi!
If you were my patient, I would first off have to tell you that I don't believe in lactobaciliosis. Lactobacilis is a normal healthy and GOOD type of bacteria to have in the vagina and prevents problems with other organisms, especially yeast. That is why your gyn did not test for it, because she/he would have had approximately 100% chance of diagnosing lactobacilis in the specimen. I also have to tell you that increased pasty white discharge in the second half of the cycle is a normal and healthy sign of ovulation. Finally, when we use acetic acid to evaluate the vulva, we dilute it to a 1% solution, so I would definitely NOT recommend repeating your test.
You very likely did burn the vulva, and it is going to take time to heal. I would definitely recommend returning to your gyn to see how severe the burn is and if it requires treatment.
Hope this helps!
Dr B
If you were my patient, I would first off have to tell you that I don't believe in lactobaciliosis. Lactobacilis is a normal healthy and GOOD type of bacteria to have in the vagina and prevents problems with other organisms, especially yeast. That is why your gyn did not test for it, because she/he would have had approximately 100% chance of diagnosing lactobacilis in the specimen. I also have to tell you that increased pasty white discharge in the second half of the cycle is a normal and healthy sign of ovulation. Finally, when we use acetic acid to evaluate the vulva, we dilute it to a 1% solution, so I would definitely NOT recommend repeating your test.
You very likely did burn the vulva, and it is going to take time to heal. I would definitely recommend returning to your gyn to see how severe the burn is and if it requires treatment.
Hope this helps!
Dr B
cont'd
However, the burning stayed. I washed my vulva with cool water, and it still burned. I decided to put my vulvadynia medication (which has lidocaine) and though that almost made me cry at first, it ultimately relieved the pain overnight. It is now the day after, and I'm still in pain, but many places are bright red, and there seems to be this gross yellow discharge, looks like pus-y mucus. I know it's not coming from inside me, as I still have the other discharge, and that is still pasty white. I don't think it's coming from my urethra, quite possibly from my bartholin ducts or the damaged skin itself. It oddly enough doesn't burn when I pee, but it is otherwise VERY sore and hurts to wipe. Also, the mucus actually seems to be making it feel better, and if I wipe it away it feels very painful again.
Is this a chemical burn of sorts? How long do you think it will it take to heal? Is there something I can do to alleviate the pain, or should I just leave it alone? Should I be worried about the mucus or is that part of the healing process? Is it also possible that lactobacillosis may be why it made it burn as badly as it did, because the vulva and vagina are already burned and inflamed by the acid-producing bacteria? I'm seeing my gyno on the 4th for a check up on my vulvadynia therapy, but hopefully it will have healed by then. Also, after some more research I've concluded that the growth is probably a benign urethral polyp because it matches the pictures I've seen, but I'll ask her to take a look at that too to be sure.
I'm very upset and depressed right now. I wouldn't have done what I did if I thought this could happen! Especially since it wasn't a big deal last time. Any advice would be tremendous. Thank you!
However, the burning stayed. I washed my vulva with cool water, and it still burned. I decided to put my vulvadynia medication (which has lidocaine) and though that almost made me cry at first, it ultimately relieved the pain overnight. It is now the day after, and I'm still in pain, but many places are bright red, and there seems to be this gross yellow discharge, looks like pus-y mucus. I know it's not coming from inside me, as I still have the other discharge, and that is still pasty white. I don't think it's coming from my urethra, quite possibly from my bartholin ducts or the damaged skin itself. It oddly enough doesn't burn when I pee, but it is otherwise VERY sore and hurts to wipe. Also, the mucus actually seems to be making it feel better, and if I wipe it away it feels very painful again.
Is this a chemical burn of sorts? How long do you think it will it take to heal? Is there something I can do to alleviate the pain, or should I just leave it alone? Should I be worried about the mucus or is that part of the healing process? Is it also possible that lactobacillosis may be why it made it burn as badly as it did, because the vulva and vagina are already burned and inflamed by the acid-producing bacteria? I'm seeing my gyno on the 4th for a check up on my vulvadynia therapy, but hopefully it will have healed by then. Also, after some more research I've concluded that the growth is probably a benign urethral polyp because it matches the pictures I've seen, but I'll ask her to take a look at that too to be sure.
I'm very upset and depressed right now. I wouldn't have done what I did if I thought this could happen! Especially since it wasn't a big deal last time. Any advice would be tremendous. Thank you!
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