vaginal pain...
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| Sat, 06-09-2007 - 9:20pm |
Hi all, I am a new poster to this board, and I have a question that I would really appreciate some help with.
A few weeks ago, I started having sex with my boyfriend. I experienced some pain, afterwards and symptoms that seemed to be indicating I had a UTI. (Burning sensation during urinating.) My dr. prescribed me antibiotics (Bactrum), and after the first dose, the symptoms dissipated, leading me to believe that I might not have had a UTI because I know that antibiotics usually neeed 24 hours in the system to be effective.
Anyway, things subsided, and my boyfriend and I started having sex again. I just had my period this week (Monday - Thursday, complete with cramping and lower back pain, as usual). However, now I seem to have a burning sensation not when I urinate, but just around my vaginal area. It's not a sharp pain, just a discomfort. Nothing is red or inflamed, and I don't have any weird discharge. (Sorry if this is TMI.) The only thing that seems to be accompanying this sensation (kind of burning/itchy) is some dryness. Has anybody ever experienced something similar to this? Do you have any thoughts and/or recommendations about what this might be? My partner has been tested for STDs and is 100% clean, as am I.

Hi fsb567, welcome to the Sexual Health board!
Jill
You might have a condition called vulvar vestibulitis or vulvodynia. (They're very close to the same thing; you might say that vulvar vestibulitis is a subset of vulvodynia.) Your symptoms sound very similar to my own. There are vaginal moisturizers you can get at the drugstore if dryness is an issue, as well as lubricants. Have you seen a gynecologist? There are things that can be done to help the pain and burning and hopefully a decent gynecologist will be able to go over them with you.
Some things you can do on your own include not using products that are seented or perfumed -- this would include soaps, laundry detergents, menstrual products, etc. My doctor recommended using Dove unscented soap and don't use "Always" pads because they are coated with something that can cause irritation. Wear cotton underwear rather than synthetics, and if you have to wear pantyhose try to find the kind with a cotton crotch. Make sure you don't wear any tight pants; I've discovered that just waering jeans can cause pain for me.