Vaginal and anal tearing/fissures

[arrowsmom]

For the last 6 months I have been getting tearing (look like paper cuts) in my vaginal area (1/4 to 1/2 inch long). I get the tears at least once or twice a week and they last from 2-4 days, go away for a few days and then come back. They continue to occur in the same locations;
1. Inside the vaginal lips on the sides almost always in the crease (between the labia minora and majora?)
2. Between the anus and vaginal opening (perineum)
3. Above the clitoris in the "hood" area.

This tearing is not related to intercourse since my husband and I are unable to do that due to the pain it causes me.  There is no real pain otherwise. I am getting some minor bleeding when I poop due to the tears in the anal area. The entire vaginal area is very itchy and if I scratch or rub the skin at all I often give myself one of these tears.  It seems as if the skin is very thin. There are no other symptoms that I am aware of.

I have had blood work and a biopsy done. Some of the things that I was tested for were; genital herpes, lichen sclerosus, lichen simplex chronicus, lichen planus, vulvar vestibulitis.  All results came back negative. The biopsy tested positive for "healing ulcers". My doctor does not seem to know what the problem is and is contacting a specialist in Lebanon, NH.

My Dr. prescribed an estrogen cream which did not seem to work. I have not been on any other medication for this. I am looking for some guidance as to what this condition may be and how to treat it. My husband & I want to get pregnant soon but I would like to resolve this issue first. Please help.

[Bb4567]

I use the same intuition shaver. I've often thought that caused it. I realize you posted this over 10 years ago, did the problem go away for you? I've been dealing with it for a year now.

[123456dd4l1988]

i get the same i found out that it was caused by toilet paper residue. It takes a few days of washing and it goes away and comes back the same day right after I use toilet paper. It really breaks up fine and makes its way inside and takes a few days to fully be washed out. It is hard to avoid since i am hardly home and stuck having to use public washrooms a lot and tend to run out of travel wipes.  

[willster]

Hi,
I have the exact same symptoms! I have an internal tear, that tears back open every time we have sex and nothing so far has helped. So I'm wondering did the cauterizing work? If not, did you do the episiotomy? That will be my next step as well, my dr wants to leave it as a last resort cuz she mentioned it doesn't always work and may make the situation worse. Any input you have will be greatly appreciated because I've dealt with this for 3 years now and I'm beyond frustrated!

[vivianamarie321]

Thank God I'm not the only person who is dealing with all of this!  I've had this problem for a few years now.  I've had it when sexually active for long periods and when celibate for long periods. After reading all of these posts and doing some digging around on the internet, I have a working theory that it is low estrogen levels.  I have yeast infections from time to time (which can be caused by low estrogen levels).  I have Crohn's Disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, which is what I was blaming the issue on because I have more bowel movements and thus wipe more with TP and I thought that was drying out my skin down there and irritating it, but come to find out IBD can also cause lower estrogen.  In addition, it has gotten worse lately, but I have been running a lot and am quite thin now, which can also cause lower estrogen levels. I'm going to experiment with herbal supplements that raise estrogen (chaste berry, black cohosh, Maca, Damiana, ginseng).  I found one that has a mix of all of these.  Also, eating certain fruits, red meat, egg yolks, and soy can help boost estrogen levels.  I hope it works.  This really *****!

[vivianamarie321]

Follow-up from my last post, a bunch of y'all posted that it often comes on or gets worse right before their periods, which also feeds into my theory because estrogen levels dip right before your period.

[Butterflyqueen70]

Wowwww, I really thought I was the only one dealing with this tear in that particular area. I can agree with the low estrogen levels being that this never happened before my hysterectomy. My body has gone through so many post hysterectomy issues until I wished I had gone another route and not had the complete procedure done. My gynecologist put me on a low estrogen to bring some elasticity back to my vaginal area. I am hoping and praying that in time, more sooner than later, it will help. Intercourse is very painful so it makes my love life less lovely!!!

[4audrey]

I have been reading these comments for about a week now and still haven’t been able to get through it all.  Such valuable information!  Nonetheless, just as so many have stated before, I am so happy to see that I’m not alone.  When I googled, this blog is the first thing that came up and I’m praying that I will find answers too.  I’m 43 with 2 kids and eat fairly well, exercise regularly and I’m healthy with no major issues ever.  I have no allergies and life is for the most part normal with typical stresses of running a business and being a mother. I use an IUD and I don’t see any specific time of when the tears started happening, ie after sex or before menstruation etc.  I just have had no relief whatsoever since August!  My story began about 4-5 months ago with just 1 tear along the crease where my labia minora meets the majora.  After about a month, it seemed to have healed with Neosporin and wearing a lot of skirts with no underwear.  I thought I had caught a nail or maybe my husband caught his nail or it was tampon insertion or waxing.  It went away before my annual gyno exam so I never brought it up to my doctor.  It came back with a vengeance after a month.  The same cut in the same place came back and grew longer and even more painful and after some time, I had massive itching and burning.  I started treating myself with Neosporin again but did research and thought I was just experiencing vaginal dryness, even though I’m not even close to premenopausal.  After research for dryness, I started using vitamin E oil and A & D ointment  and that kept the cut at bay but not healed.  Then I started getting fissures in my perineum and anus and I figured then it must be hemorrhoids and started treating accordingly.  Naturally everything got much worse and I felt like I was pooping glass and was bleeding with every wipe.  The itchiness has been UNBEARABLE!  Wiping caused more tears and I had to brace myself with every trip to the toilet.  I finally went to my gyno but could only see the nurse just a couple of weeks ago. I was handed the news of possible Herpes 2 and after a LONG and frightening week, the blood test and culture came back negative.  Phew! But what the heck is this!  While I was waiting for results, I was given 2 samples of creams and found the one with 1% hydrocortisone relieved symptoms by 50% within 24 hours.  I have the over the counter cream Cortisone 10 and started using that.  Within 3-4 days I was almost completely healed.  I purposely stopped using the cream for 2 days in order to go to my follow up appointment with some fissures.  Yesterday, I saw my doctor and I brought up this blog and some of the suggestions for causes.  She tested me for autoimmune diseases and swabbed for yeast infection.  She prescribed me a corticosteroid ointment.  It appears to be working now almost 24 hours later but the Cortisone 10 seemed to have been more effective.  I’m giving this ointment 3 more days and if there’s not at least 90% relief from the itch or the fissures aren’t starting to heal, I plan to just use the Cortisone 10.  Although, I wouldn’t want an official diagnosis of an autoimmune disease, it would at least be an answer.  I’m terrified that I will fall under the umbrella of the big question mark like so many others in earlier posts and will have to constantly fear of a new fissure or reoccurrence or the old method doesn’t work anymore etc.    But for now, try Cortisone 10.  It has worked well for me.  I’ll post again once I get my results.  Best wishes to the future and present sufferers and would love to hear from any of the older posts.

[Bikey62]

I have almost the same problem. I feel like I am allergic to myself. After intercourse the sperm would burn my bottom. I couldn't wait to wash it off. I was tested for everything even diabetes. Every test came back negative. The only relief is using the Hydrocortisone 1% cream. I have had a pilonidal abscess removed and when they drained it it went all down the whole front of my bottom I don't know if  that is what causes the clogged pores that I've gotten only since I've had the abscess drained and removed. And I was told I would always have to use an antibacterial soap on my bottom  I don't know if that's the cause .  Any help would be appreciated thank you Marcia

[jerbark]

Please check out Lichen Schlerosis

[KrisBetter]

I really hope that some of you ladies are finding relief. I was suffering from similar issues, which have been especially bad for the last 10 months or so. I was diagnosed with Lichen Schlerosus about 5 years ago and seemed to respond to topical corticosteroids initially, but then had a few glorious years without any real symptoms.  My obgyn didn’t think it looked like lichen schlerosus but couldn’t offer any help. I went to my dermatologist, who kind of blew me off at first. But then I went back to the dermatologist during a flare up and demand to be tested for a possible allergy to toilet paper. I couldn’t think of anything else that might be causing it because I stopped putting anything down there in the hope that my body might resolve the issue. So my dermatologist recently referred me for an allergy patch test (I got the T.R.U.E. patch test) and learned that I am EXTREMELY allergic to gold! I know, gold. Ugh. I've been wearing my white gold wedding band and ring for the past 10 years and was given a gold necklace last fall - this would account for all of my recent problems. But I admit, I was skeptical (to say the least) that a necklace would be responsible for all the hell I had been experiencing. I did some research and learned that although the areas that where jewelry is worn are sometimes unaffected, people can have reactions elsewhere on their body-including-DING DING DING- their vulvar and anal areas!!!!  And I did have flare ups in the vulvar and anal regions and extreme discomfort. But ever since I stopped wearing any jewelry (just to be sure!) I have been symptom free!!!! It’s been about 6 weeks and let me tell you, it’s been like heaven. I’m don’t even have to treat the area with any ointments!  I share this news in the hopes that some of you will have similar responses. I was suffering from swollen, inflamed, itchy, painful, and eventually had fissures in my vulvar skin. As you know, not fun. During a flare-up (which was at least weekly and would last for days) it affected just about every area of my life. I’m now not convinced that I even have Lichen Schlerosus – I think it was the gold allergy all along.
To find out more about this, look at the Allergic contact dermatitis section of the below link (page 4). And please ask your doctor, obgyn, or dermatologist to refer you for an Allergy Patch test. It’s not the most fun test to go through, BUT the possibility of change and HEALTHY skin is totally worth it. For you it might not be gold, but there may just be some other almost unbelievable explanation for this unfortunate pain. Best wishes on your journeys ladies!
http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1255&context=pog