Cuts on my labia and pain during sex

[bostongirl56]

I'm 20 years old and in a serious relationship. I have been having sex with my boyfriend since September, and it was fine in the beginning. After a few months I started experiencing burning after sex and pain during sex. I went to the gyno and got tested for all the STDs and was totally fine. I stopped having sex for awhile and then we started again about 2 months ago being really careful. Everything was getting better, but then last Monday we had sex twice in a row and it really hurt the second time and has been hurting since. It's a constant stinging and itching and intense irritation that won't go away. I saw a doctor who said it was cuts inside the labia, and I think I can see a lot of tiny little cuts on the skin outside the inner labia as well. I do have really sensitive and thin skin there. Is this just caused by lack of lubrication? And why hasn't the pain gone away? It's been 5 days. What can I do to get rid of the cuts and stop the pain? I've been using lidocaine jelly, but it's actually not really helping the discomfort. And how do I prevent these cuts in the future? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[giddychic]

hello------I know what you are talking about------I have the same problem----I see a gyno---one of the top in the U.S.-----he has put me on premarin cream----he told me to use it before sex----not to insert it but just to put some on the outside area-----that I was proably not producing enough hormones to keep moist enough----plus I was to use plenty of lubrication------those little cuts you are talking about are very painful...I know---and it seems like they just come out of no-mans land-----it is not a STD-----hang in there------

[monkeyflower]

It could be due to a number of things; I strongly urge you to see your doctor for diagnosis and treatment. Why suffer when you don't need to?

[giddychic]

have you made an appt with the doctor yet??  Keep me posted!!!!!


Giddychic

[bostongirl56]

ive actually been to three different doctors a bunch of times. none of them know why it keeps happening. they just tell me to use a lot more lube and to stop having sex more than once in a day. so im going to try that as soon as this pain goes away. i was also wondering about estrogen creams... do you know if those work to build up the skin?? im also wondering if something like shaving or soap or detergent might cause extra irritation...

[giddychic]

yes---fabric sofener and perfumed detergents will cause things like yeast infections in some people----I have to be careful of using those things too.  My doctor has me on a hormone cream----I am to put some on before each time I have sex----it seems to be working----when I was not using it---I would have these cut like things like a paper cut and it would burn and sometimes bleed.  My Gyno told me the more sex the better----each doctor is different---but you may ask him about the cream----it seems to be working for me!!!!

[sadbox]

your story is so unbelivably similiar to mine, so first i want to say i am sorry you are experienceing this as well. I am at my wits end with this situation. same story serious boyfreind all was fine and then suddonly it was painful almost all the time. best described as stinging a little past the entrance. i to went to the dr. many times checked for all std's etc. negative and i get the advice of: more lube, occasinal vag infection story, waiting to have sex until it heals and then still painful. none of it seems to be working! i was trying differnt methods which i think contributed to a nasty yeast infection that lasts 1.5 weeks! i just want to have enjoyable intercourse sex with my boyfreind! now i am always afraid, wincing upon entry becuase i expect it to hurt now and it does. and i have been getting through the initial pain becuase then it doesnt hurt "that much" how terrible im smarter than that but i cant help myself.
ever hear of this being irritated by pubic hair at the base of your partners penis? is it proposterious to think this could keep opening small cuts that could be there? i dont know how much longer this can go on, it been over 4 months. maybe thats not that long but it is to me!!!!!
i almost feel stuipd to keep calling my dr.
anymore advice on this situation?

:( sadbox

[meme398]

This happened to me a year ago and i ended up going off my birth control and a month and a half later it was gone-- I started birth control again and I am on my third month and it has just started again the last time I had sex. It only has appeared in the past when I had sex.

I have small cuts at the bottom of my labia and it wasn't as painful as it used to be but I will see if it still continues and gets worse. I do not know if going back on birth control has just been a coincidence.

But I would suggest some of you who are on birth control to go off it for a while and see if that works.

Good luck.

[wkugirl07]

i have the exact same story as sadbox & bostongirl56. i'm 20, serious bf & all that, & everything was fine when we would have sex until maybe 4 months ago. i started getting the cuts then - they would stay for maybe 2 weeks, during which i had sex as little as possible to try to get it to heal. now it happens about once a month & it's driving my bf & i mad. what's funny is my best friend/roommate is getting them too so we really thought it was our new laundry detergent so we bought our old kind again - still to no avail. we're truly baffled. to meme398 - i have no idea, i haven't been on birth control for a little over a year so that's obviously not it for me. some of these creams you all are naming - are they over the counter or do you have to have them prescribed to you?

[Jary08]

You know, ive had similar problems...except i dont think iv had cuts....it all started when i began getting recurring uti's and the antibiotics i got gave me thrush, but even when i didnt have it it was painful to have sex...im in a long term relationship and got tested for STD's and nothing...but after i have sex i burn for a while after..its been a year and 3 months since i remember having sex that felt normal and ive recently had another bout of thrush which ive just finished treatment for but im still worried the problem will still be there.

I hope one day us ladies find an answer to all of our problems!

[chris1133]

i have the same problem...im still a little confused about what my problem might be...when you talked to your docs did they give it a name of are they just as confused as us?

[ireenshay]

HERES SOME USEFUL ADVISE AND HELP

I also have the exact same problem. Tiny, almost non-visible cuts (lik paper cuts) around the entrance to the Vagina and near the perineum. They appeared only a few days ago, for no apparent reason.

I have been on and off antibiotics for 3 years with recurring pneumonia. Recently changing drugs to Doxycycline. You will soon see how this is relevant.....

I have had a few friends with the same problem over the last few years, all initially baffled by its sudden onset and lack of information about it. Luckily they did the ground work for me. My best friend has had this same skin issue and did everything humanly possible over the course of a year to source out the cause and fix the problem, it was affecting her sex life and long term relationship with her boyfriend. He was very patient and waited for her to figure it out - She did!!!! Finally!!! after seeing Gyno after Gyno.

OUR ANSWER!!! It is caused from excessive use of antibiotics and/or a particular antibiotic that just doesn't react well with your skin. There are many types of antibiotics... penicillin, diflucan,amoxicillan, erythromicin etc But certain types have certain side effects. The drugs weaken the tissue and cause the skin to rip and tear easily. For women, commonly around the vagina (labia majora).

So, what to do??? and why don't the doctors know about it??? You have to keep the area dry, so it can heal, but sometimes bepanthen or paw paw ointment is good, so you can at least urinate without the sting. Have warm salt baths, avoid soap on  the area and use anti-bacterial wash. Avoid sex.... I know, its hard but you have to. ... for at least 3 weeks sometimes more. In most cases the skin will repair itself. You can assist with bio oil, vitamin E capsules, evening primrose oil or omega 3 fish oil to help skin cells replenish......you can even open the capsule and rub some directly on the skin, when it starts to heal a bit. BUT, in some cases, like my BF's she had to get the skin removed from the area because it just would heal.

GPs see so many variations of different skin problems and STDs that they probably don't think of the side effects of the drugs they so easily prescribe! They are so pro-drugs that they dare not think it has such devastating reactions. Just think of what's going on in our insides, if thats going on on our outsides! Only a few Drs and specialists would be familiar with the actual cause, so, thats why I thought I should help bring awareness.. It's a real problem and I hope my insight helps.

Good luck, keep me posted.

Ireenshay

[cpaine]

Your post is very interesting to me because I had a D&C last July and had to take lots of antibiotics for it.  Because one antibiotic made me vomit, I had to have another actually injected into my cervix.  After that experience the mild fissures I had been getting turned severe.  (Previous to that I would get fissures after sex but only occasionally and it seemed they were related to yeast).  Thus far I've been diagnosed with yeast, BV and strep b and have been treated for all with no relief.  I just came back from the doctor today and she suggested lichen simplex but from reading up on it on line, it seems to be an bucket term for dermatitis.  She also did a DNA test and hopefully I'll get those results soon.  Anyhow, I think you may be on to something with regards to the antibiotics but I just have one key question - did the treatment you described yield a cure for you?  





,    

[NinaLinda]

i have the same paper-cut like problems which seem to be getting more and more common, along with dryness and painful sex. i am active in researching holistic approaches to medicine and do not use anti-biotics or birth control. I refuse to accept that the only possible treatment is of the symptoms. I want to learn how to keep it from happening in the future and am sick of being blown off by my doctor and being told to use more lube.

I've done some research (what little there is on the subject) and my thoughts are that my body may be low on estrogen or some other hormone. Women's bodies are constantly changing and perhaps my diet is not up to the task. Especially since I was on birth control for about thirteen years (which provides estrogen) and it was never a problem until I stopped taking it about three years ago.

I'm looking into taking some estrogenic herbs in the form of pills, tincture, or even teas.

[joot1]

I'm glad you posted this.  Have been having these cuts for more than a year and I'm SO sick of it!!  Every time I have sex they appear within a couple of days. Other times they just appear on their own, if I just wipe or just walking around or for no reason at all.  Have tried two GYNs - more appointments than I can remember - at least 10 times.  Tried: (prescriptions) Lotrisone, Terconazole, Diflucan, Clobetasol, A & D ointment, and my own attempts have included vaginal garlic, diluted tree tea oil, tree tea oil suppositories, hydrogen peroxide, potassium sorbate, OTC Monistat, OTC Tioconazole, Monistat chafing powder gel, oral acidophilus, vitamin B complex, and omega supplements.  I have tested negative several times for herpes by culture and by blood antibodies, negative for chlamydia, negative for gonorrhea (stopped seeing 1st GYN after she suggested a 3rd round of tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea and patronized me with persistent suggestions of more lube).  We have tried using condoms in case its a sperm allergy, got hypo-allergenic lubricant since most of them contain propylene glycol that is supposedly a common allergen.  I tried discontinuing the Nuvaring but grew painful ovarian cysts, found out my ovaries look like bunches of grapes, and was put on Yaz to suppress growth of more cysts.  So here I am in my long-term relationship, basically infertile but compelled to use oral contraceptives AND condoms.  And still getting the damn cuts!!

Out of the myriad treatments I have tried so far, I have found the A & D ointment helps the best, and I like that I can slather on tons of it several times a day without worrying about side effects... I have been putting it on in the morning after shower and in the evening before bed.  But it seems to only help heal what is already there and seal out whatever pathogen or allergen or moisture that is making me prone to the cuts... and if I miss a single "dose" or go on a camping trip or maybe even try to have a sex life, welcome back to vaginal paper cut hell!

Could I suddenly be allergic to my own sweat?  My own vaginal secretions?  The doctors say they don't see any yeast, but Diflucan has cured the cuts OVERNIGHT on 3 separate occasions (Dr #2 "it must be a coincidence"), and the association with antibiotics that people have mentioned above also lends support to the yeast hypothesis.  It looks to me like this problem is common enough that the doctors need to wake the hell up -- stop suggesting more lubrication and do some clinical trials.

[hystrygirl]

I have the exact same experience as you! Only exception is that I've been dealing with my issue for over 7 years. The only thing that helps (sometimes!) is that I completely shave everything down there, use hypo-allergenic soap, and apply a Vitamin E shave gel while in the shower for a few mins. I have to be VERY careful when wiping cuz I may tear, and most of all I have to watch out when having sex. I hate that I try to avoid sex whenever possible, but nobody has been able to help me. I pray that I will grow out of it, since I apparently grew into it.

I pray for all of you , and I pray that no one has to live in this hell for as long as I have.

[kr432]

ohh man, so glad to hear this isnt some freak issue only happening to me. i recently went to the doc, tested for std & got my yearly pap. everything was fine. I also had a horrible cough and cold so i went back, and the doctor put me on ANTIBIOTICS. 500MG amoxacilin. i see that alot of you are using antibiotics too and now come to think of it, since this is not the first time the small paper cuts have appeared on me ( and my sex life is basically random/non existant , well atleast for the last month or 2)... it happens about once a year.. not too sure, but i get sick about once a year and placed on antibiotics... could be that was when i get the cuts!!!!! who knows. maybe its a hormonal imbalance for others who are not on antibiotics or birth control. i wish there was more info on the subject because googling it only comes up to forums like this with MANY woman expiriencing the SAME problem with NO solution!!!!!!!!!!! DRS! we pay you to figure this sh*t out!!! its time for you to put our money to work.

[kats27]

gosh, i thought i was in this hell all by myself. have been dealing with this for close to 2 years now. it started out with my husband burning me after sex. would have to quickly hit the shower and this would stop hours later. saw my gyna who treated me for a bacterial cyst. then a coulpe of months ago, it progressed into actual pain/stinging during intercourse. my husband and i did a series of std tests, all negative. i was getting lower back pain as well, so the doc put us on UTI antibiotics to treat clinical symptoms, the actual test was negative. things got alittle better for a while, then the cuts. the skin down there tires when he is trying to enter me, these tiny cuts appear and ofcourse, urinating burns. they only last afew days before they heal completely, but this makes us unable to ever do it more than once in one night. sex seems like torture, my husband has been extremely patient, but i can only put him off for so long. some body help me, please.... kats27

[mom32786]

I started getting this after the birth of my daughter. I haven't been back on contraceptives so I know it's not that and because we  practice natural birth control,  my husband and I don't have sex that often, so I know that's not the cause. It's usually when I take medication. It started after I took amoxicillian and now appears any time it pleases.

It's definitely not thrush as I've had that before as a reaction to anti- biotics and I know it's more itchy and resembles a rash. These are just tiny little paper cuts that burn.

Thank you for all your advice, I'm cutting out all pharmaceuticals to see if it works!

[sparky2607]

OMG! I was thinking it was an STI due to the fact my boyf had the same, but I was on Amoxcyllin for a week for a Respiritory Tract Infection and Different antibiotics the week before due to a UTI and I had the same thing small paper liek cuts on my outer labia!  I found washing with non perfumed soap and then rubbing on Sudocrem for a few days worked, after 4 days I was back to normal!  And im just checking these blogs to reassure myself!  My other half got a tiny cut because I wasnt wet enough and we had sex two or three times in a night which I dont think helped copupled with the above so we are laying off sex and mastubation fro a week!  

[StressedOut2628]

Well i feel better now knowing im not the only one ... im 21 and ive also had a boyfriend for the past 3 years .. we ended up taking a break for about 4 months and i got off my birth control not expecting to get back with him and being on BC for the last 3 years i figured ide give my body a break and stay off of it for a while .. well we got back together and now im getting these cuts we tried extra lube .. didnt work ... we tried having softer sex .. didnt work .. we both got tested for any std's .. thankfully negative .. and still little cuts, the only thing i can think of is going back on my BC because of a few posts above saying it might be a hormonal imbalance (minestrin 21) and drinking more water ... im juss still curious if there is anything over the counter i can used that is safe to help heal them or is there just vitamin E ??? .... FML!!!

[joot1]

Update --  I posted back in July and suffered with the persistent paper-cut like cuts for about 18 months before a doctor finally was able to help.  I had previously been told that it was NOT yeast, but the symptoms did improve somewhat with Diflucan, and worsened with some of the traditional yeast-promoting things (non-cotton underwear, drinking alcohol).  One GYN finally did find yeast on microscope, and discovered that the yeast persisted despite multiple doses of Diflucan.  We tried Terconazole again and that wiped out the yeast, and then addressed the cause of recurring sub-threshold yeast "infection" (overgrowth), which seems to be insufficient estrogen locally in the vagina.  Note that I have had full-blown yeast infections before, with many more symptoms like clumpy discharge, itching and redness, and these symptoms never appeared with my paper-cut problem.  This time I was given Vagifem, an estrogen pill that you insert vaginally, daily for a while and now tapering off.  This helped to lower my vaginal pH and improve the elasticity of skin.  Note that I am 31 years old - NOT menopausal - and the low dose of estradiol in the birth control I was using may have been contributing to the problem.  After 18 months of suffering, I have now been symptom free for going on 3 months.  My quality of life is greatly improved.  I hope that this information helps some of you out there.

[tuohdinlb]

I had the same problem, and it went on for a long time. I've been to the doctor a million times it seems. I recently found a special wash made by Vagisil, specifically for getting rid of odor(even though I didn't have an odor), and soothing the skin. I also purchased vagisil wipes. I've been using both daily, for about a week, and so far so good. My cuts have gone away, and it doesnt hurt when I have sex. I thought if it could work for me, it might work for some of you. In total, both items came to about $10, and I got them at Walmart. Hope it helps.

[Mariaprt]

Ladies,
Yesterday I was here reading some of the postinge because I had a small cut close to my inner lips and saw that someone said about putting salt with water will heal by the next day...... I did it yesterday and today my cut is gone and I have ZERO pain when I go to the bathroom..... I strongly suggest to try this, it really worked for me, I had a great relief!!

Thanks for posting the solution to my cuts, it was very frustrating!!!

[AshleyJoy]

I have the same problem.
You don't even know how worried I was that I had an STI.