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painful vein on labia

I have a vein on the outside of the labia.  It is tender to the touch and am worried as to what it can be.  I had thrush and  it had bled with itching.  The cut is at the start of the raised vein.  Could it be as simple as an infection?  I have had it for a couple of weeks now and the swelling hasnt receeded.  
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Avatar universal
First of all, let me say most people do not have enlarged veins in the vaginal area. How old are you? If you are a senior or have a lot of problems with varicous veins in your legs, or if you have had problems with hemroids,  than that could be why you have an enlarged vein on your labia. It concerns me that it is tender to the touch. Inflammation in the veins is called vasculitis. If you are not very old, this is a very unsual symptom particularly where it is located. How did the cut develop? Did you cut yourself, or did this develop on it's own. Have you ever had any other cuts before? No matter what, you have to see a doctor. It could easily become infected and with a vein in the area that infection could easily spread to your blood stream.

I would like to tell you my story. I am 32 years. At age 15 I thought I had gotten herpes simplex from a toilet seat. For 10 years after that my doctors told me that was what I had even though all my tests for it were negative. A new blood test they developed recently finally proved I never had it.

An autoimmune disease called Behcet's Syndrome's initial symptoms closely resemble the herpes virus, causing vaginal sores, cuts, fissures, folliculitis and or inflammation in the genital area. Other symptoms develop many years later. It is different in everyone who has it. . Your immune system is in over drive. It is an autoimmune disorder caused by enviromental damage to your immune system.  It could get better or worse, depending on how well you take care of yourselves and how well you are treated.

My symptoms started at age fifteen with itching, inflammation, then folliculitis (ingrown hairs), then cuts all over the vagina from time to time. It is different for everyone who has it. Some people just have inflammation where others may get cuts, or sores aswell. Folliculitis is a type of acne and is very common in Behcet's and occurs during or before a "flare" and can be on the face or anywhere. Chronic yeast infections and BV come hand and hand with Behcet's because it is a immune system disorder that weakens the immune system because the immune system is working in over drive. You are now allergic to more things. It is not contagious and it doesn't run in families. Researchers around the world think it is triggered by strep throat or from other enviromental causes. It has been proven to not be genetic. Gential to Gential contact will cause a reaction "flare" in these people, so will a common illness, injury, or stress. It is very important for people who have this to rest often, use condoms, and take good care of themselves to avoid flares. They will also need medication like steriods and or immune suppressants, depending on their case.  Someone who needs a lot of medication to start, might not need that much with a little time. Common symptoms later in the disease, if it goes untreated, are digestive symptoms, bowel inflammation, possible bladder inflammation that feels like a bladder infection, arthritis, fibromyalga, and very late in the disease serious eye inflammation and possibly central nervous system involvement. People rarely die from this illness, the main thing a person has to be worried about is quality of life. That why you want to be proactive, not scared. This disease can be managed if properly treated.

For about ten years I had the gential symptoms and was sure it was herpes. My doctors said there was nothing else it could be evenn though all my cultures came back negative and never mentioned it again. None of the medication for herpes had ever helped me and I also noticed my husband never got sick from me. The inflammation was the worst and I was using hydrocortisone on my own by then for some relief.

I started having other symptoms like irritable bowel syndrome and fatigue. Then after I had two children my symptoms got a lot worse. FIbromyalga, Interstitial Cystitis, Epi-scleritis (inflammation of the small blood vessels in my eyes), and things like that. My immune system was attacking my body. It took years before I had enough symptoms and saw enough doctors to start getting it treated. They are still not totally sure what is wrong with me. There is a lot of misconceptions about these things because they are thought to be rare. The truth is that they are just highly under treated in the United States. They think I have something called Behcet's Syndrome, the world's oldest known disease. It is an autoimmune disease that can be very mild or more severe. It is hard to tell what it is unless you are able to get enough of the symptoms well documented and you have just the right symptoms even though your symptoms might be totally different than everyone else's symptoms. The stress in your life plays a big role in how bad your flares will be.

There are no tests that can tell if you have Behcet's. It is based on symptoms only. Vaginal symptoms that look like herpes (herpes causes inflammation, cuts, or sores), canker sores in the mouth at least three times per year, and inflammation in the blood vessels in the eyes. It can take years for enough of the symptoms to show up and they usually don't show up at the same time. You really need to fight for answers. Go to the American Behcet's Association for more information, but remember when you are there, those are the worst cases, most people with Behcet's don't have it that severe and do well with treatment.


An autoimmune disease called Behcet's Syndrome's initial symptoms closely resemble the herpes virus, causing vaginal sores, cuts, fissures, folliculitis and or inflammation in the genital area. Other symptoms develop many years later. It is different in everyone who has it. . Your immune system is in over drive. It is an autoimmune disorder caused by enviromental damage to your immune system.  It could get better or worse, depending on how well you take care of yourselves and how well you are treated.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My symptoms started at age fifteen with itching, inflammation, then folliculitis (ingrown hairs), then cuts all over the vagina from time to time. It is different for everyone who has it. Some people just have inflammation where others may get cuts, or sores aswell. Folliculitis is a type of acne and is very common in Behcet's and occurs during or before a "flare" and can be on the face or anywhere. Chronic yeast infections and BV come hand and hand with Behcet's because it is a immune system disorder that weakens the immune system because the immune system is working in over drive. You are now allergic to more things. It is not contagious and it doesn't run in families. Researchers around the world think it is triggered by strep throat or from other enviromental causes. It has been proven to not be genetic. Gential to Gential contact will cause a reaction "flare" in these people, so will a common illness, injury, or stress. It is very important for people who have this to rest often, use condoms, and take good care of themselves to avoid flares. They will also need medication like steriods and or immune suppressants, depending on their case.  Someone who needs a lot of medication to start, might not need that much with a little time. Common symptoms later in the disease, if it goes untreated, are digestive symptoms, bowel inflammation, possible bladder inflammation that feels like a bladder infection, arthritis, fibromyalga, and very late in the disease serious eye inflammation and possibly central nervous system involvement. People rarely die from this illness, the main thing a person has to be worried about is quality of life. That why you want to be proactive, not scared. This disease can be managed if properly treated.

For about ten years I had the gential symptoms and was sure it was herpes. My doctors said there was nothing else it could be wvwn though all my cultures came back negative and never mentioned it again. None of the medication for herpes had ever helped me and I also noticed my husband never got sick from me. The inflammation was the worst and I was using hydrocortisone on my own by then for some relief.

I started having other symptoms like irritable bowel syndrome and fatigue. Then after I had two children my symptoms got a lot worse. FIbromyalga, Interstitial Cystitis, Epi-scleritis (inflammation of the small blood vessels in my eyes), and things like that. My immune system was attacking my body. It took years before I had enough symptoms and saw enough doctors to start getting it treated. They are still not totally sure what is wrong with me. There is a lot of misconceptions about these things because they are thought to be rare. The truth is that they are just highly under treated in the United States. They think I have something called Behcet's Syndrome, the world's oldest known disease. It is an autoimmune disease that can be very mild or more severe. It is hard to tell what it is unless you are able to get enough of the symptoms well documented and you have just the right symptoms even though your symptoms might be totally different than everyone else's symptoms. The stress in your life plays a big role in how bad your flares will be.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
There are no tests that can tell if you have Behcet's. It is based on symptoms only. Vaginal symptoms that look like herpes (herpes causes inflammation, cuts, or sores), canker sores in the mouth at least three times per year, and inflammation in the blood vessels in the eyes. It can take years for enough of the symptoms to show up and they usually don't show up at the same time. You really need to fight for answers. Go to the American Behcet's Association for more information, but remember when you are there, those are the worst cases, most people with Behcet's don't have it that severe and do well with treatment.


I don't have an offical Behcet's Syndrome diagnosis yet is because I have yet to have any serious organ damage documented, which can actually be really hard to do. Not everyone has to wait as long as I have been waiting. A lot of the time small damage from tissue and blood vessel inflammation can not be seen by any tests. Often, surgery is required for them to find vasculitis. That is how they found vasculitis in me during surgery looking for endometriosis. If it wasn't for that I wouldn't still be waiting to start treatment. I am lucky because my symptoms have not been as serious as some, but it has also been a big problem because I have been suffering greatly and not gotten the help I needed many times. Most of my symptoms cannot be seen and it's been very hard to prove that something is wrong.  I have had to fight back against people thinking this was all in my mind. I have had to find a medical cause for my symptoms on my own and a lot of time was wasted because it came on over a long period of time. Only one of the hundreds of doctors I've seen had ever even heard of Behcet's Syndrome, he was a GI doctor. They do not look for it. One doctor, my Rheumatologist, told me he didn't even believe it existed. This disease is very real. It's treated all over the world, but most American doctors no nothing about it. They do not know the symptoms or how to treat it. They rely on old information and still think it only happens to people in the middle east even though research has shown it happens because something has damaged the immune system and not because of your genes. It does not run in families and it is not always a text book case. You would think it would show up on MRI's, but often with Behcet't it's the very smallest blood vessels involved, and those don't show up most of the time. It takes a big incident for them to see it and prove that you have it . American doctors don't want to be liable for treating anything until they have enough medical proof to be sure that you require the treatment. It is not easy to get that far. For us, it is more important to get the treatment before something bad happens, not afterwards. I have all the symptoms and I am being treated with immune suppressants and I have had several doctors diagnosis my symptoms as Behcet's Syndrome, but with this disease the ultimate decision is up to the Rheumatologist. My rheumatologist says it shouldn't matter if I have an official diagnosis as long as it is being treated. He says he is more concerned right now that I will lose my ability to qualify for insurance once I have a diagnosis. One thing to look for as far as tests are concern would be a a slighly high white blood cell count...your nerophils mainly, but others white cells also. It could mean just that you aren't feeling well at the time to have it be a little high, but if you can gather your records and show that you have an on going problem with a high white blood cell count, that would be a first step in showing your doctors something is not normal.

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Avatar universal

One more thing....I've seen over twenty GYN's as well as other doctors and I did my own research on the possible causes for the inflammation and for the cuts some people with Behcet's Syndrome get. I can tell you from what I have learned  that these symptoms are not caused by any type of HPV. They also would not be caused by Herpes 1 in people with no other apparent serious health problems like HIV. Bacterial Vaginosis and Yeast Infections may cause inflammation and small cracks in the folds of the skin, they do not cause cuts in center areas of the skin, and they heal without reoccurance once the infection is treated. An anal fissure can sometimes occur in the center area of the pernium (between the front and back) because of straining or constipation. Unless you have developed more than one cut at a time at some point, or have developed cuts in different areas of the genitals other than the pernium, a pernium cut may just be a fissure. An anal fissure would be a single cut that keeps happening in the same place over and over again on in the center of the pernium. An anal fissure is caused by repeatedly tearing open the thin skin in that area from straining. Not like the small cuts that just happen for no reason the way they happen with the Herpes Simplex Virus and Behcet's Syndrome. I have one cut the comes back over and over again on my pernium area, but I also get cuts in other areas from time to time aswell along with severe inflammation. All of my hormone levels are normal. Those are the only things I've found that could be the possible causes for these symptoms. Just having the inflammation is a symptom, not everyone get's the little cuts. Not everyone get's full blown Behcet's either. If you take good care of yourself, you can do really well.


I wanted to add I have herpes 1. Just about everyone has it. It should not be causing your symptoms unless something is wrong with your immune system. I had the new herpes blood test that showed I have herpes 1 but not herpes 2. We started doing culture after culture of my cuts trying to see if it was herpes 1. I have never had a culture come back positive for anything. It took a long time to prove it, but we have finally established my cuts are not caused by herpes 1. Herpes 1 is much milder than herpes 2 and should not be causing ongoing vaginal symptoms. If it is, it still says something is wrong with your immune system. The white blood cells were the only thing they could find abnormal with my tests. They found them in my blood and in my cultures every time I wasn't feeling good. For years they would say, well that's because you're not feeling well today. Until I gathered 15 years of records showing that I am not feeling well on a regular basis, that was the first clue.


I am determined to tell as many people about this disease as I can. Look around on this message board and you will be floored with how many woman are having these symptoms and have not gotten any real answers from anyone. It makes me sick. It is really all about money. This disease pushes doctors out of their comfort zone, it forces them to  work harder than they are use to doing, harder than a lot of them really are will to work. Infact, they have designed a system to help them avoid people like you. They will send you to specialist after specialist making money off your insurance company hoping eventually you will just give up and quit faking it. It is the idiology that nothing bad happens to good people. That you just need to toughen up and quit complaining because you look normal and your tests are fine. It would cost a lot of money to treat us, so they ignore it and only treat those who are on deaths door and tell them they couldn't have known what it was because it's so rare. The justify it to themselves by pointing out there has are full treating the things they do know about. I think it's time we send these doctors back to school and up the patients right to sue doctors that doctor meet our expectations. Why should anyone need to settle for less. I believe any halfway intellegent person would have been able to put together what has been happening to us a long time ago if they were at all interested in finding out.

One thing I know is woman with Behcet's have a lot of problem's with their periods. Their periods often bring on flares. They can have inflammation in their uterus which leads to extra period cramps and may lead to heavier bleeding.

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Avatar universal
I mentioned to you that I had surgery looking for endometriosis. I was given many different types of birht control when they thought that was what I had. From talking to other woman with Behcet's and from what I experienced, all of the different birth control medications I took made symptoms a lot worse. I do not know why exactly, but I have not come across any women with Behcet's who did not have some problems with these drugs. I took depro, a lot of woman have problems with that, but I also tried an assortment of different pills that al caused my flares to get really bad. When I would come off of them I got better. The last thing I tried was the Mirena IUD. I would recommend this to other woman, but not to woman with my problem. My GYN didn't realize how inflamed my uterus was, he thought is would help everything get better, and for most woman, I bet it would, but not for me. It was pure agony.  I keep waiting and hoping the pain would go away, that it just needed to settle, but it never did, I had to have it removed. I believe the Nuva Ring, just like the Mirena, has a small amount of hormones in it. This might be the problem, it seems even a little bit of these hormones can trigger a flare. As long as all of your hormone levels are normal you should avoid them at all costs. With Behcet's you are at risk of vascular inflammation which can lead to things like strokes, so horomone suppliments of any kind are a really bad thing for people with this problem.


Don't just let your doctor tell you that you have a hormone problem just because that's what it looks like. Make sure they checked your homone levels. Also, see a dermotologist to make sure your acne is not actually folliculits which looks like teenage acne, but it's not.  

I know this a lot of information. I just want you to be aware of these things when you go to the doctors so you can get right to the point rather than beating around any bushes. Knowledge is always the key to sucess. Understanding what is might be, can help you rule these things out and get the right treatment for your problem.
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Avatar universal
O. M. G! !  I too have a cyst and searched the internet for information. I've gotten these periodically since I was a teen. Even had the painful vein once too! I've been diagnosed with Crohns Disease and Fibromyalgia and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. As a matter of fact I haven't had a yeast infection since I quit taking birth control 7 years ago.I can't even imagine what my many doctors are going to say when I tell them I think I have Behcet's! Oh how their eyes are gonna role! I've even had cancer and had my tumor removed that broke open and leaked a foul smelling pus! This "tumor" was in my foot but it was decided by a specialist and his students it was a VERY rare form of cancer called Epithiilioid Sarcoma that was known to grow in the lungs and LYMPH NODES! This "tumor" hurt like hell and itched too! I've had cysts in my breasts!  On my ovaries! And my girl parts! I've had cracks just show up. Anal fissures.
    I could  keep going on all night! I HAVE Behcets!! Oh and this past year my vision has been really blurry sometimes! I'm going to make an appointment with the eye doctor on Monday because that now concerns  me with what you've said! And the sad thing is they are gonna think I'm CrAzY because just like Fibromyalgia there is no test to prove it and my labs are "fine"!!  Thanks for you good info! I'll be going to the website you suggested to study and print the info to hand to my doctors! (They will still deny it!) But at least I tried!!! I just can't get over how much of my medical history it links together!!! Smh!  THANK YOU!!!!!!
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Avatar universal
Thank you so much for your detailed information on Bechcets' Syndrome.  I am a 68 year old lady who has small black veins (some are round (3mm) in my labia area.  I recently went to the emergency department because one of the veins ruptured and I had bright blood rushing down my leg.  Since I haven't had a period in over a decade, this was very frightening.  My Doctor has put me on permarin (hormone cream).  She said the skin (due to my age) is thinning and that is why I have the veins.  I am wondering if this is a correct diagnostic, since I often have BV and yeast infection, plus arthritis, and fibermyalia.(sp?).  You seem to know a lot about this subject.  Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated (I know you are  not a Doctor, but sometimes I find that my own research will often diagnose without being given another Flagg Antibiotic to treat the BV.  Thanks
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