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Unexplained bumps in vaginal area

Hello Dr,
I am a 40 year-old lesbian.  ALL of my past sexual encounters have bee with women (9 partners, to be exact, and I have not been sexually active in 5 years).  Over the years, I have experienced 3 conditions in my vaginal area.  The first are 3 relatively small (but noticeable to the touch) keloids. I am positive they are keloids, as I have then on other parts of my body (got steroid treatment for one on my shoulder).  The keloids occurred in my early 20's when I began shaving, and cut myself--they never healed properly.  I'm not worried about those at all. Secondly, since my early 20's (I honestly can't remember if it was before or after I began having sex), I began to develop sores around my genital area, often close to my period.  One Doctor told me in passing that she thought it was thrush, though I had no sores for her to examine at the time.  They feel/look like pimples that you would get on your face.  The area is tender, then raised, then a sore appears.  If I squeeze it, foul smelling puss and blood comes out (often shoots out, sorry for being gross).  Then, they go away, and the skin returns to normal.  When I get them, they are usually on either half of my vagina--on the top or outer lips.  I would sometimes get then on my inner thighs, and I think I've had them (rarely) on my butt--I can't remember, but it's possible.  I have noticed, however, that with a better hygiene and diet, the sores do not occur. I honestly can't remember the last time I had one--I'll be safe and say 3 years?  Recently, I discovered a cluster of very small bumps on the top of my vagina, near my stomach.  They are now healing.  I am hoping this is a burn from Nair that I used to get rid of hair.  They never hurt, and I just happened to discover them while in the shower.    Lastly, sometimes I get these weird bumps in my genital area. They are usually small, and if I squeeze them, I can feel something coming to the surface.  What comes out is a scab.  Have you ever encountered this?  Also, I have tested negative for all cancer-related HPV viruses, and for #51, which causes genital warts (though I know there are other strains for this, for which I have not been tested)
More questions:  the studies on lesbians and STD'S aren't as prevalent as those with heterosexuals, but I know women scan spread std's to one another. My main question is if I do (God forbid) I have herpes 2, I'm confused as to how I got it.  I have never had direct genital-to-genital contact with a woman.  Also, if I have it, I don't understand why I would not have herpes 1 (I've never had a cold sore, just an occasional pimple on my face). Can HSV-1 be spread to the vagina, and HSV-2 be spread to the face?  For example, if I had sex with someone who had HSV-1, why would only show up as HSV-2?  Why would I not have HSV-1 as well (from kissing that same person)?  
I am driving myself crazy, but I have done the right thing, by having a blood and urine STD test--I just had it done 2 days ago, and am anxiously awaiting my results.  Thank you for your answers and for reading this!
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Avatar universal
Hi, two weeks ago I had open soars on half of my vagina,  it hurted and I went to ER,  the doctor said it's possible to have herpes but it should of looked like a pimple,  she gave me meds for it and in 3-4 days they disappeared,  then a week after I noticed some bumps on the lip of the same half of vagina,  I went to my doctor and she took a sample from it, I had to wait a week and my doctor called me today and said both test from ER AND doctor visit came back negative for herpes, but they want to do more texting for something else, what could it be??
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Avatar universal
Thank you, Grace.  This is my first time here, and I didn't realize you had to pay to have a Doctor answer your question--makes sense!  I should get my test results on Monday or Tuesday.  I'm a little nervous.  Waiting is the worst part!  As far as the scab thing, yes, it's the weirdest thing ever, but it only happens every once in a while.  Totally unexplainable.  But then, the skin goes back to normal.  Next time I have one, I will have the doctor check it out.  My friend says it could just be a dead hair follicle, but I have no idea.
Thank you so much!
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101028 tn?1419603004
this is not the doctor's forum - you have to pay to post there.

typically in strictly lesbian women, hsv1 is the main herpes infection, not hsv2. many lesbians have had male partners previously though so it's important to be screened for both.  once you get your test results back, I will gladly help you with them if you want to post them here - e.g. hsv1 igg 7.9 and hsv2 igg .44 or whatever they are.  can you transmit oral herpes to the genital area? indeed you can - it's the main cause of genital herpes in lesbian women from receiving oral sex.

anything that you can squeeze and foul discharge comes out of it, that is a bacterial skin infection. in the future, don't pick at them, see your provider for a proper exam. it could be you have infected hairs from shaving sometimes or even just that you have bad luck and get the occasional staph skin infection that clears on its own.

I'm not sure what you mean by you can squeeze some of these lesions and a scab comes out of it. you certainly need to be seen and get these looked at. don't pick at these any more either!!

grace
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