56 year old with ls

Hi, Kim,

I too, was diagnosed with LS after menopause...however, I'm not sure if it is completely accurate to say that we got it "due to" menopause. Also, while some find that hormones can be helpful, that certainly isn't the standard of care for LS.

Generally speaking, the current medical thinking seems to be that use of high potency steroids - for the rest of your life - is what is necessary to protect you from an increased risk of vulvar cancer. You'll see most, but not all, folks talk about "clobetasol", which is the high potency steroid most commonly prescribed. Please note, it is generally considered that it is better to get it in and ointment form, rather than cream, because people are more likely to have allergic and sensitivity reactions to components of the cream. But, there are MANY different steroid ointments and strengths available. I, for example, have never used clob and been using something called Betamethasone. If you google on steroid potency chart, you'll find any number of sites that have a chart showing classes of potency and the different steroids in each group

I think that you might be interested in learning a little bit about this. If you do a web search on the following words, you should be able to find a video that shows a scientist presenting her findings at a medical conference...watch the first 13 minutes or so, and it will give you a good background on why doctors consider steroids to be so important. Copy the following words and paste them into your browser search block: healthed Gayle Fischer Optimising Management of Lichen Sclerosus.

Hi Kim. we experience exactly the same things.

i use coconut oil after each time i go to the toilet. it does help as the LS they describe as sticky. When you use the oil it prevents the outer parts to become part of the inner labia. once its gone its gone. Mine is also 90% gone. I actually got to a gyni to late who gave me this advise.

I use Dovate cortizone to keep the LS under control.

all the best

Hi Kim,

I guess you have had a biopsy of the site/s?

Snappycat has given good advice here as we seem to getting different instructions from our gynecologists. The estrogen will help with plumping up and reducing atrophy of our parts, but won't help the inflammatory process that is going on under the surface of our skin down there. For that you need some kind of steroid, and yes, there are many kinds. In the US, the drug of choice seems to be clobetasol or a less potent one. Different name in the UK. You can get a compounded version (specially made without preservatives) if you are sensitive to the preservative. Same for estrogens. Some ladies find relief with borax or baking soda solutions (have to look up how to make that at home) and yes, the coconut oil can keep things separated so that they don't stick together and fuse. There are 2 main causes proposed in the literature. One is the autoimmune problem that so many are experiencing in our world laden with stress and chemical in the air and food. The second is a type of lyme infection called Borellia for which you can get tested. Knowing what is going on may help us all solve it. I say "us all" because we seem to be the ones doing the investigative work, not the doctors. It is also important to remove as much of the sugar from your diet as you can and eat as healthy as possible. Same for stress removal. And, very important- remember not to beat yourself up because you did not cause this and you have to be kind to yourself as much as possible from here on out. Best wishes and hang in . Don't give up. Ever.