Swelling in upper labia minora

[iojd24]

Not sure I am posting in the correct area. I have had a painful swelling in the upper right side of my labia minora. It is very swollen and painful. I have done a search, but the only thing I find is for a Bartholin gland cyst and my husband doesn't think it looks the same as my swelling is on the same part only on the upper portion of the labia minora. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I have soaked in a bath and taken advil, but it is still hurting to walk or sit in certain positions. Thanks!

[Jess8891]

If it's more blood than puss, & the puss is more clear it could be Staph.  I work in surgery & have seen a lot of Staph, especially from Labial &/or Bartholin Cysts, etc.  The best thing to do, if it's intolerable & keeps recurring is to go see a physician & have them numb it, lance it, & culture some of the fluid.  While you're waiting on the results, the doctor should put you on antibiotics in case it is Staph, therefore hopefully killing the infectious bacteria.

[Kmontana]

I had the same thing, except on the left side. It was pAinful and swollen for 2-3 days, I waited until a white head appeared, and then I popped it, a ton of puss and blood came out, the first initial "popping" of the "abscess" hurt but since then its not painful to wipe, sit, or walk...im keeping it clean with hibiclens from walmart and not messing with it, I also have MRSA, so I'm pretty sure that's what mine was, if you want to be 100% sure, have a PA at the hospital drain it and take a culture of the drainage...hope this helps

[Perth76]

I have was reading on the net that the bartlholin gland cyst can be caused from an STD, is this  true?

[Baylee101]

The top left side of my outter vagina lip is red and swollen I haven't noticed any irritations such as burning etc but when I went to have a look and a feel of it the skin broke causing minor bleeding ??? Any thoughts on what this could be and what has caused it  I am booked into see my doctor but not for two weeks help

[healthygirl466]

I have had these for years and have also had them checked by my gyno who insists that they are not herpes.  However they are spreadable as you mentioned so I never have intercourse until they are completely gone because they are too painful and I don't want to spread anything.  I think that from the posts that I have read that they are relatively common, and diet and hygiene are important, but don't prevent them.  They seem to be a way of the body releasing impurities.  I think that many physicians misdiagnose and prescribe creams, but hot baths seem to be the best way that I have  found them to come to the point where they burst and go away.  Keeping clean and washing my hands after touching there and wearing cotton underwear also help. They are not pleasant.

[heyohhhh]

I know this is an old discussion but I wanted to post anyway because I've had these probably 15 times over the last 13 years.  I am 33 years old and the first one came when I was 20.  I wasn't even sexually active then, so I was sure it wasn't an STD but got checked anyway.  I've had several of them examined by three different doctors, and all three said they were the result of bacteria getting under the skin somehow.  My obstetrician told me a Bartholyn's cyst is lower down and more toward the inside; these abscesses are outside the actual vaginal opening, and can be higher up or lower down on the labia.  Most of them are on the labia minora (the little labia), but they can appear on the inside of the labia majora.  It feels like a pea or a bb on the inside of the tissue, deep inside, and it's painful.

Here's what I've noticed about them.  This is just my personal experience, but pretty consistent with each one of these I've dealt with--

--They are slow to come to a head.  Sometimes it can be two weeks from the time you first feel something happening and the time it finally comes to a head and opens up.
--Hot compresses can speed this process up.  Put a cloth under very hot water and hold it on the abscess.  Do that a couple times a day but don't overdo it and irritate your skin or burn yourself with hot water.
--Once it finally comes to a head, it will open up and drain pus and blood.  It's disgusting, but once this happens it will heal quickly.
--Sometimes one will drain, you'll think it's gone, and then it doesn't go away because there's still stuff that needs to come out.  Use a hot compress so it'll come to another head and you can get the rest of it out.  
--It's important to clean yourself really well once it starts draining because you don't want the infection to get into a new site and cause a new abscess, but don't use antibacterial soap or any harsh soap down there or you could cause BV or a yeast infection.  (I did that too.  Yay.)
--I've noticed that I get them more when my diet is high in sugar and carbs.  Looking back, when I had them more frequently it was during a time when my diet wasn't great.  In fact, I was on a low sugar diet for two years and didn't have one the entire two years.  The last time I had one was the first day I started back on the low sugar diet.  The day before I started the diet, I binged on sweets, then suddenly had an abscess.  This one didn't take as long to resolve and wasn't as painful or large and didn't contain as much nasty stuff as most of the previous ones.  It's mostly a hunch, but I think it's because my sugar intake went down to next to nothing just as the abscess was forming.  There is some medical research on high sugar intake and the frequency of these.  You can Google it if you want more info.  

It has nothing to do with hygiene!  Everyone has bacteria on their body and sometimes it gets to places it shouldn't be.  If you're worried you have an STD you should certainly get checked out, but assuming we're talking about the same thing, it's not sexually transmitted.  I just thought I'd share my experience since this page is still searchable and these things can be disturbing.