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Why does my skin at the base of my vaginal opening tear after intercourse?

Hello,

I am 20 years old and last year I was very sexually active with a boyfriend. We were sexually active for several months, then suddenly I started having extreme pain after sex. It was very painful to pee after having sex, there was an extremely intense burning sensation in my vagina. At all other times my vagina felt fine and peeing was no issue. After a little while of this I looked in the mirror and noticed several paper-like cuts or fissures on my labia, clitoral hood, perineum, and at the base of my vagina and along the sides (in between the labia folds). I was treated for yeast infection and BV but the treatments were not helpful. The cuts did not go away for months and eventually it became impossible to have sex because the skin at the base of my vaginal opening tears open. It takes a day or two for it to close up. The issue is not a problem of lack of lubrication.

I stopped having sex for weeks at a time to allow the skin to heal, but to this day (1.5 years later), no matter how long since the last time I had sex (by now it's been over a year since the last time I had sex) the skin will tear right open as soon as I try to have sex. This has caused major problems in my relationships.

Another thing, I also get ulcers in my mouth, especially during times of stress and when I am sick. My dermatologist said these are aphthous ulcers. She believed the ulcers and vaginal fissures are related. As an experiment, I reduced my gluten intake and this has seemed to greatly help stop the ulcers from forming. Not sure if it is sill related to my vaginal problems because the gluten reduction has had no effect on the fissures.

I take lo loestrin fe birth control pill and have been taking it for 4 years. For a short period of time I switched to Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo, then back to Lo Loestrin fe.
Also I have been tested for every STD my obgyn could think of and negative for all.

Very confused about this and desperate for any suggestions!
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973741 tn?1342342773
COMMUNITY LEADER
Have a yeast infection can make the whole area sensitive and prone to what you describe.  Once that is treated and cleared up, what about a bit of vasoline on the area to let it heal and keep it safe from friction?
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I was tested multiple times over the past year for a yeast infection, it was negative and the dr still treated me for yeast infection anyway, and unfortunately that did not solve the problem :(
Avatar universal
I had something similar once for years.  Turns out it was hormonal.  The skin can thin out down there when our hormones are out of balance.  My gynecologist had to take me off of birth control to fix it.  Anytime I got back on birth control it happened.  Maybe talk to your gynecologist about it.
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6 Comments
Hey, thanks so much for providing that information!  That's really helpful!
Yes!! I just went to the obgyn last week and asked her about this and she took me off the birth control, I hope this helps. Thank you so much for this information! Have you been using any other form of birth control that's non hormonal and found success with that not causing the skin issue? Such as a copper IUD?
I haven't been on birth control for years.  I had been successfully managing it naturally.  I did find the higher estrogen dose pill I would take  had less side effects for the tearing.  No tears since I've been off.  Sadly though I may have to get back on as I just was treated for sever endometriosis..bleh.  I will probably request a higher dose pill.  I hope you get some relief.
Again, PPanther23, can't thank you enough for providing this valuable information!  Hope you stick around to help with some of these ladies.  :>))))
Thanks specialmom.  I'll try to help here and there when I can.  
Thank you PPanther23 for the information, it is more than helpful. My obgyn said she wasn't sure if it was the estrogen or the progestin in the pill that was causing this so in a few months she may put me on some form of birth control that is not a combination pill. Not sure, but it is good to know that the higher estrogen pills seemed to have less of a tearing side effect for you. I hope you find relief for your endometriosis, that is tough :/ Thank you again for your responses, I really appreciate it.
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