Scarleteen

Dear Scarleteen,

I don't know the exact cause of any of this - all I know is that I WANT IT TO GO AWAY!

This may have been from failing to change my underwear, which sounds juvenile, but I stayed out for almost two days without going home and forgot to pack clean underwear, which possibly caused irritation.

This started with a raw/chaffed spot on my labia minora, which I thought maybe came from biking around (rubbing against the saddle). I've experienced it before and it's only painful to the touch, and went away in a few days.

But I think when I wore those underwear for too long I really pushed it, especially when I had that raw spot exposed.

Now for the past two days my labia minora has gotton swollen, is burning, and is painful to the touch. My clitoris is extremely sensitive at the moment and painful to touch. It's also itchy down there but it is too sensitive to itch at all.

Basically I'm in hell. It hurts when pants touch it and it hurts when my legs brush against my labia minora, I feel like I have to walk with my legs slightly apart. The only time I'm slightly comfortable is laying in bed in loose clothes with my legs apart, even then I'm squirming around from the painful burning tingling sensation.

I thought maybe it was a yeast infection so I started applying coconut oil to the area gently which gave me temporary relief but isn't seeming to do anything.

Another important factor:

I've been very sick the past two weeks with what seemed to start as a cold but is now turning into either walking pneumonia or bronchitis. My immune system is very down low right now. I've been very mucus-filled and congested. I've been breathing out of my mouth a lot, causing chapped lips and now they're gettin pussy and scabby because my body isn't letting my chapped lips heal (I've been using chapstick).

Basically I'm a mess right now and this pain in my genitals is just the icing on the cake.

I don't have insurance at the moment. I just moved out and my dad is letting me stay on his insurance, but is currently in the process of switching insurance.

My roommate and I are going to the ER together on Monday. She doesn't know about my genital issues but we're mainly going to get antibiotics and get me treated so I can finally get over this illness that has been following me. Should I bring up my inflammation and pain down there if it hasn't gone away? Can they help me?

Thank you for your help.

PS: Once the coconut oil dries up all the way, I should mention I'm very dry down there.

I'm so sorry to hear you're in pain both from this issue and from the illness you've been fighting. If you weren't already planning on going to the ER I'd definitely say this is important to talk to a doctor about as soon as possible; since you already have that plan in place I do definitely recommend you bring this up with whoever you see there.
Have you looked into possibly going to an urgent care center or other walk-in clinic nearby, if there is one, instead of an ER? That may very well be less costly and you may also be seen more quickly since triage at the ER will take heart attack/broken limb level emergencies first.

Thanks for the reply,

I'm really confused as to where else I would go besides the ER and I'm too impatient to find anywhere else, I really just need to be seen.

Do you think my illness lowering my immune system is letting this happen? I've never experienced this before.

Is there anything I can do to ease the symptoms until I can be seen? They're driving me a little crazy.

Hey Fender909! I would second Mo's suggestion to go to a walk-in clinic (we can help find one near you if you're having trouble with that) but if you'd rather go to the ER, that will absolutely work too!

It's certainly possible that your lowered immune system is making you more susceptible/making whatever it is hang around longer, although we're not doctors so we can't say anything for sure.

To ease symptoms, I would suggest you keep applying the coconut oil, and perhaps take over-the-counter anti-inflammatories (like ibuprofen) to reduce the swelling a bit. You can also try applying some over-the-counter itch-relief cream for genitals. Definitely stick to wearing loose, cotton underwear and bottoms, and reduce movement as much as possible so as to minimize irritation. I'm really sorry to hear you're going through all this pain right now!

I went to a walk-in clinic today and was seen for my illness. I'm not contagious but I have severe allergies and congestion/asthma.

I described the issues I'm having on my labia and around my vaginal opening and the doctor simply told me to go to the store and buy a 7-day treatment for yeast infections.

Is it strange that she didn't want to look at the issue at all before telling me the remedy? Or was my description likely enough for her?

Anyway, I bought a 7-day treatment with the applicators that you use inside of your vagina. It says that you can also use the ointment on your vulva and labia to ease the symptoms. So far I've applied it only outside a couple times and plan on inserting it before I go to bed.

I'm a little worried about using the applicator. I've used tampons before, but the skin around my vaginal opening is VERY sensitive and burns badly when touched, I'm scared inserting anything will be excruciating.

This is my first time dealing with this kind of infection!

Yeast infections are not uncommon for people with vaginas so I am guessing it should not be that hard for health care providers to diagnose them. The applicators that come with these treatments are very easy to use and designed to not hurt when inserted so as long as you are gentle and relaxed when using it it should be fine. I am sorry you are dealing with this pain but I hope it gets better soon!

In adittion to the topic medicine and as someone who regularly fights against this I would recommend to cut as much as you can your ingestion of sugars in your food (yeast infections love sugar so it helps them to stick to your system) and add some cranberry juice to your diet. Yeast cannot survice in acidic enviroments so that's why people with vaginas use this as a supplement sometimes.