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Vaginal and anal tearing/fissures

For the last 6 months I have been getting tearing (look like paper cuts) in my vaginal area (1/4 to 1/2 inch long). I get the tears at least once or twice a week and they last from 2-4 days, go away for a few days and then come back. They continue to occur in the same locations;
1. Inside the vaginal lips on the sides almost always in the crease (between the labia minora and majora?)
2. Between the anus and vaginal opening (perineum)
3. Above the clitoris in the "hood" area.

This tearing is not related to intercourse since my husband and I are unable to do that due to the pain it causes me.  There is no real pain otherwise. I am getting some minor bleeding when I poop due to the tears in the anal area. The entire vaginal area is very itchy and if I scratch or rub the skin at all I often give myself one of these tears.  It seems as if the skin is very thin. There are no other symptoms that I am aware of.

I have had blood work and a biopsy done. Some of the things that I was tested for were; genital herpes, lichen sclerosus, lichen simplex chronicus, lichen planus, vulvar vestibulitis.  All results came back negative. The biopsy tested positive for "healing ulcers". My doctor does not seem to know what the problem is and is contacting a specialist in Lebanon, NH.

My Dr. prescribed an estrogen cream which did not seem to work. I have not been on any other medication for this. I am looking for some guidance as to what this condition may be and how to treat it. My husband & I want to get pregnant soon but I would like to resolve this issue first. Please help.
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Avatar universal
When you said you took Boric Acid Tablets, did you take them orally?
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Avatar universal
So sorry to find so many "sisters"! Wouldn't wish this on anyone. In my case I am 63, new widow, had chronically ill husband so haven't had sex in "forever." The worst part is that my main activity has always been foxhunting and training horses. (Great combination with the fissures, right!) I assumed my  problem was  rubbing from a seam in my breeches, and when you are out foxhunting for hours it doesn't seem too horrible until you stop galloping!

The last flare up was horrendous. I tried every conceivable cream, but it just escalated from fisures into blisters which seemed to spread! Well I knew it couldn't be STD, so I just kept trying to evaluate. (had not yet found this group) Although the fissures are, as we know, hard to understand, the worsening was clearly bad dermatitis; a reaction to all of the various experimenting with creams! So ladies, be careful experimenting, and maybe just try a new product in one spot. Just a thought.

The whole problem is getting more frequent and worse. I have a list of all of your ideas and will experiment! Clearly being post menopausal means I have dryness and thin skin. I thought this was an aging thing but see that most of you are young. Mine didn't really start until about 60...but that is when my husband started needing full time care so perhaps the stress factor plays in. There is a wonderful product called Crotch Guard for cyclists. It really helps any rubbing. But once things start spiraling down...lubrication doesn't do it! Thanks for sharing your experiences and ideas. Good luck, all!
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Avatar universal
I have a pretty long story, so I'll try to briefly sum it up.

Back in April I got the depo shot for the first and only time. Everything was good and fine, but I wasn't having any periods. I've never had a normal period to begin with, but it made me nervous not to have them. I asked my doctor to switch me back to the pill. the shot wore off at the same time I started the pill again (with in the same week). That was when things went spiraling down hill.

In late July I began hemorrhaging. I was passing blood clots about half the size of a new born. I had a D&C which made the bleeding stop for a day, and then I was back in the hospital. I had to have 7 blood transfusions to keep me alive. Apparently, the depo shot had caused my hormones to get way out of balance and caused the hemorrhaging. The doctor gave me two choices. 1. try the mirena IUD and hope it works (if it's taken out and I start bleeding again, it's off to option 2) 2. hysterectomy. I'm 21 and don't have any children yet, so that wasn't even an option to me. In fact, the suggestion it's self nearly killed me. I was functioning on less than half the blood my body needed to live and when my doctor suggested it, my heart rate peaked at 300 BPM lying down. So the Mirena it was.

I had my IUD inserted at the beginning of August. Since then I have had a wide variety of problems I hadn't experienced before. I've had crazy spotting and periods (which I've always had, but they should be "normal" now) passing black blood and clots regularly, BV, infections of every kind, strange bumps appearing and disappearing, pain, rashes all over my body, break outs all over my body, and of course the strange fissures along with pimple like things on the outer labia. I've been getting the fissures vaginally and anally. They are starting to get worse. It stings and burns almost all the time. I've been to my doctor more times than I can count this year, each time for a different issue. I've been tested for every STD imaginable and have tested negative for anything every single time. He's told me how badly my hormones are out of balance and it's just going to take some time for my body to get right again. It's been almost 6 months though....

This is really painful and pretty embarrassing. I'm not really sure what I should do. Let it heal by it's self, or go to my doctor...again.
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Avatar universal
I am going through all this too... the cuts inside the labia-minora , the small pimples on the labia majora, itching, burning when passing urine, etc. And like I read from what "murregirl" wrote, I've hemorrhoids & stress all along this and also fluctuations in my periods, which could be problems with estrogen levels.
And like "MParis" wrote, one skin specialist had told me there's some infection with my bartholin glands. I remember it now.

So after reading all these mails till date, I think my reasons for getting this cuts might be due to my estrogen levels & my stress factor. I should get the level checked for a precise conclusion. I also noticed that drinking lots of water helped prevent & heal the condition to a great extent. Maybe I should check my diet too.
Come on ladies, lets just deal with this once & for all. I am planning to give this issue some light by asking a friend of mine in the WHO, to do something about this. Hope all of you will back me up, if need be? Thanks.
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Avatar universal
hey ladies. I'd feel guilty if i didn't share this.

Here's my story. one night about a month ago i had unprotected sex, and the next morning i was pretty itchy in a particular spot on my labia majora, near my clitoral hood. the next day or so, i noticed a small cluster little pimples in that spot (about 5 of them) and all signs then pointed to herpes. I didn't get tested, because i'm seventeen, in college, and simply can't afford it right now. (don't worry, i'm searching for a clinic that offers student discounts, just haven't got around it with finals here and everything). anyways. a few days later, my labia minora and vulva became extremely itchy, ESPECIALLY my labia, and ESPECIALLY the crease where my labia minora meets my labia majora. I started the monistat treatment, because according to what i read online, it seemed like a yeast infection. This seemed to help at first, and the symptoms became less apparent.

About 4 days into treatment (out of 6), after some pretty vigorous scratching (there were times when i just couldnt handle it!) i noticed there were two cuts, one on the right crease between the labias, this one near the clitoral hood; and one on the left crease, more towards the vulva. they itched like CRAZY. and i immediately started searching the internet for relief.

meanwhile i used the cream that came with the monistat treatment (which didn't work), vagisil (which also didn't work), took some salt baths (which were irritating, burned, and didn't seem to make a difference otherwise), and one day i came across a post in a thread like this one, by a lady that said she applied ZEASORB-AF powder to the cuts, and it made them heal up. she did warn that it would burn like a *****. zeasorb is a treatment for jock itch, which is a fungal infection. it's not sold in many pharmacies, so i never got around to buying it, because i never found it. (you can buy it online)

i did try an antifungal cream, which helped sooth the itch a bit, but did nothing to heal the cuts.

as of about 5 days ago, the cuts became bigger, and there were a few more of them. two tiny ones on my clitoral hood even. I couldn't handle it anymore, so i went to a convenience store and found what i thought would be the closest thing to zeasorb, which was LAMISIL AT CONTINUOUS SPRAY. "effective relief of itching & burning" - for jock itch.

when i sprayed it on the cuts, (the day before yesterday) IT BURNED. oh goodness did it burn. i had to do small parts at a time, first one crease, then the other, then the clitoral hood. and had to wait for the burning to stop between each spray. what a process. but in my opinion, TOTALLY WORTH IT.
the directions say to use it once a day, but i reapplied a couple of times when i felt like i needed to. healing began within half a day. i knew because when i sprayed it again after about 12 hours, there was no burning, because the cut began to close up. it looked almost whitish. i'm guessing, since it worked, that maybe it's some sort of fungal infection?

unfortunately, it began to itch at some point, and i scratched some of them open again. (yesterday evening) so they opened up again. i had to go through the burning torture again. but again, after about 12 hours, the cuts are closed, and when i sprayed it this morning, it didn't burn at all. the key is not to scratch and irritate it, so it wont open up again, and has time to heal properly. I'm working on it. ice packs help with the itching, but other than that, i've been trying to do those kegel excercises, mentioned earlier in this forum. either it's in my head, or those DO help relieve some of the itching.

well, this lamisil is not for the faint of heart, but for those of you willing to do anything at this point, perhaps you should try it.
best of luck to everyone
-A
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Avatar universal
ok yall...my vagina really hurts and it's itching me really bad...i need to know what is going on..
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