Vaginal tearing and painful swelling

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-02-2004
Vaginal tearing and painful swelling
15
Tue, 11-02-2004 - 10:26am
Hello,

I have a most embarrassing question pertaining to my subject at hand. First, I will make a long story short...As of late, sexual encounters have become painful. I wind up with a tear at the lower part of the vaginal opening (near the perineum) and painful swelling that is vaginal and perineal. And this swelling of the perineum is kind of like a skin fold that is raw to the touch. It has gotten painful to urinate and to sit for long periods of time.

I would like to know if anyone else has experienced such or similar problems and would have any advice to help me out. I have no problems going to see my OB/GYN doctor, I am just searching for some help.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me. :)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Tue, 11-02-2004 - 12:13pm
Hi forsbergsgirl21, welcome!

Are you well lubricated during IC? If your natural lube is in short supply try a good water base intimate lube like Astroglide or K-Y Liquid or a silicone base lube like Eros Body Glide. If you are using a latex barrier stay away from oil base lubes such as Vaseline as they can destroy latex. Are you on a low estrogen or high progestin hormonal contraceptive? Sometimes vaginal tissue can tear and become more sensitive from the drying effects of birth control hormones that aren't right for you. This sort of thing can show up in just a few weeks or it can take months to occur in some women. If that’s what’s happening you might benefit from a switch to a BCP with an entirely different progestin. If your problem is occurring regardless of how much lube you’re using then if I were you I'd see my doctor about the condition and see what s/he says. Let us know how you’re doing, ok?

Good luck,

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-02-2004
Tue, 11-02-2004 - 4:01pm
Jill,

Thank you very much first off for a direction to lead me in.

Lubrication is not the issue as I use it everytime. I am on the Depo shot due to the convience of it, my battle with hypertension and my lack of a normal schedule(being a firefighter) to keep taking the pill everyday the same time or remember to take it every 4 months or whatever the schedule is for the Seasonale. (It is hard to tell a patient or a burning building can you wait to have your emergency another time or day.) I had tried the Ortho-Evra Patches but I guess my skin type and the patch's adhesive are not compatible as I was constantly getting the emergency patch way too often to be comfortable with it. I have thought of the ring, diaphram or the IUD but I don't like the idea of something having the potential to come dislodged and may cause infections if not taken care of.

I am heading to the infamous girlie doctor this week and hopefully we can figure things out.

I will keep you posted on this ordeal and again I thank you dearly.

Tricia

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-30-2003
Wed, 11-03-2004 - 11:20pm
I have similar symptoms to you actually, the tearing and swelling, even in the exact same place you described! What a coincedence to see it on the board like three days after I noticed it on myself. Anyways, I've just been trying to see how long it takes to go away and if itll heal on its own. I was going o the gyno if it didn't clear up. Let me know how it goes with you! (Good luck)
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-02-2004
Sat, 11-06-2004 - 7:17pm
I went to the gyno on Friday afternoon and I have inconclusive results at this time as I have to wait for tests to come back by Monday or Tuesday. I was given 2 options of what may be wrong and one of them truly freaks me out. Option number 1: a vulvar yeast infection. Or Option number 2 (the one that freaks me out): Genital Herpes. I say it freaks me out as I always was careful and cautious. (Latex, Non-Latex and any other kind of protection possible.) I joke around with my boyfriend who is a paramedic and has seen some icky stuff out there saying I have never prayed so hard for a yeast infection in my life! Granted, he is über supportive no matter what the out come and that is a major help in all of this.

So, to you laker sweetie, I would recommend going to the gyno as soon as you can, because if it is the option number 2, and the sores/cuts/cracks etc, start to heal up they can come out with a false negative result on any of the tests the doc may do. I recomend this so that you have an answer instead of a lot of what if's over your head. And if you get a good result of you just got a little tear, my gyno suggests hydrocortisone cream (found in the area of the neosporins and such) on the tear for 5 days and it should heal up pretty well. But, as I can only suggest this rapid gyno visit to you, it is up to you to decide what you'd like to do.

I also don't want you or others with similar problems to freak out as much as I lead on. I am only freaked because of the fact that I am taking the worst case senario and running with it. I may not have the worst, I may have the lesser of the 2 evils (if you will). I don't want others to take the path I have of thinking negative. Then again, it is part of human nature to have doubts and fears. But I want others to learn from my doubts and fears as I am learning too. :)

But, I will keep you posted on what my outcome may be...a support network is a great thing to have and I believe in giving in more than taking. So, any information/support I can give I will gladly do so to help out others in this cyberspace.

Tricia

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-30-2003
Sun, 11-07-2004 - 1:33am
That is shocking and scary! I hope you're ok and not too worries yet... don't jump to concklusions. I wish you the best of luck.

I should go see a gyno soon. Your message makes me realize the importance of correct diagnosis. However I'm not worried about herpes because I was a virgin when I first expirienced this (no previous sexual contact at all) and my boyfriend who had one other partner had been tested for sexually transmitted diseases when we first began fooling around (not having sex, just fooling around -I'm paranoid-) Maybe I'm just convincing myself that I'm ok though :( So I should go see a gyno.

Good luck. Try not to worry too much, though I know thats extremely hard. No matter what happens you are still the same person, as lovable as before. Good luck.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Sun, 11-07-2004 - 11:47am
Hi Tricia,

We're all sending good vibes your way and praying you 'just' have a YI. I'm keeping you in my prayers. Hang in there girl!

Hugs,

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-02-2004
Fri, 11-12-2004 - 12:38pm
All right...I finally got my results back and I have been informed that I was positive for the herpes virus. I am clearly and obviously not thrilled about such news. (I think I have temporarily invested stock in Kleenex as I have cried my hardest in a long time.) I know it isn't the end of the world, but it is more frustrating because I thought I was careful enough. I thought I played it safe as safe could be. I wouldn't have IC without a condom unless I was committed a year or so into the relationship.(That would be with the current boyfriend and one other.) I figured my odds would be good and well enough in a naive sort of way with this (as the ex-boyfriend called it) "Howard Hughes approach to sex"(basically it was male and female condoms for the first 6 months then either or the last 6 months for all sexual encounters). But as I am learning, so many people have this and don't even know it. I guess I should have paid attention more closely to the 1 in 6 people have this and about 90% don't know they have it statistic. Why and when did sex become so complicated and engrossed with so many underlying risks?

I guess I am in the denial to anger to somewhat irrational thinking stage of my journey to what one could call recovery, but recovery to accept and go forth and live. So, I apologise for what may seem like ramblings of a frustrated and currently semi-depressed (but for the moment) woman.

I do want to say thank you to Jill, Laker Sweetie and anyone who even read my posting out of curiosity, your thoughts and prayers, comments and insights do make this an easier pill to swallow (no pun intended). I will continue to pop up on these message boards as it gives me an outlet to vent, cry, laugh, etc, and of course, an opportunity to do the first thing I loved to do, help others.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Tricia

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Fri, 11-12-2004 - 3:20pm
Hi Tricia,

Oh Hon, I’m sorry! If you would like support and have specific questions about Herpes the ladies on the STD Board at http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=iv-bhsexdisease&nav=start are very knowledgeable and I’m sure can help. I’m sorry it turned out the way it has. I know you'll come back strong. Thank you for the update. Come back and see us, ok?

(((HUGS)))

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-30-2003
Sun, 11-14-2004 - 8:37pm
Aw I'm sorry to hear you didn't get the news you wanted... Try to remember this isnt the end of the world. If one in six people do have herpes then obviously you are not alone or a freak or anything like that. You've scared me for sure, I'm making an appointment with my doctor now too! As unlikely as it is, it was obviously unexpected for you too and I woudl rather know... I think... this requires me to get over my fear of doctors!

Anyways... please feel better and remember youre not alone. Millions of people live normal lives with herpes.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-10-2003
Wed, 11-17-2004 - 9:39pm

good luck:(
i just wanted to say incase other people are reading this post and think they now have herpes to get it checked out but not to jump to conclusions yet! When she first posted, aside from actual tears I identified with her symptoms... but I've been living in the doctor's office and it turns out i don't have herpes (or clamidia...out of the blue the doctor said 'well, you don't have clamidia'...the randomness made me giggle a little) Although they're still searching for a cause for my quite similar problem they've ruled out STDs... i just wanted to point that out to calm anyone who has convinced themsleves they definitley have it too... although you should get it checked out!

my heart goes out to you!!

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