How to treat irritation?

Thanks....for the advice ladies. The emu oil works most of the time. I have been rinising with warm water after I urinate. I have been applying virgin organic coconut oil. It's been helping but as you mentioned the healing is very slow. I was officially diagnosed with LS on 6/13.  My previous experience with LS was  prior to diagnosis two years ago  and at the time I was just itchy. This time it's painful, splitting skin and feels like things are crawling all over my skin.

Oh, Willie, that's LS in a nutshell. It doesn't so much heal as scar. And it doesn't do that till it's good and ready, sometimes for no apparent reason. I feel the two things I can do to help prevent flares is stay calm and avoid massive amounts of sugar.

I have a friend who just had a bit of basal cell cancer cut out of her face. The doctor and our nurse friend keep harping on how important it is NOT TO LET IT DRY OUT, (she's got antibiotic-laced Vaseline, but the nurse friend said her herbal oil ointment is fine instead, unless it gets infected) or it can't grow the new cells that will close the wound. I think this is why keeping our vulva greased up all the time is so important.

That is strange.  I recently had a serious burn on my wrist which became infected.  I had been keeping it dry as was the normal way to treat a burn and it formed a thick crust which kept splitting due to the movement of my wrist.  I am diabetic which means infection easily sets in as the high sugar levels in my blood feed the infection.  I went to surgery and a nurse told me to keep it covered and gave me wet dressings to use.  She said it is now believed that wounds should be kept wet to prevent the scabbing and scarring is greatly reduced by doing this.  Food for thought with us LS sufferers.  I know some are irritated by not drying the area but I have found that my LS is definately better when I keep the area constantly moisturised with epaderm, not wet but moisturised and protected by a film of epaderm.  If I allow it to be dry and unmoisturised it seems to crack and flare again.

actually thats a good point Kate! i think i'd like to revise my earlier comment Willie because whilst coconut oil is brilliant for insect bites, inflammation, skin moisturising, and cooking instead of olive oil, (given it remains stable at high heat in stir fries and with bacon and eggs), its also anti bacterial and anti viral. So for this reason coconut oil might not be the best application to the vagina and vulval areas....because it could potentially affect the bacterial biome and cause die off of good bacteria...which the swab you applied may have initiated setting up that irritation.

i wonder if applying yoghurt or the contents of a probiotic capsule might do the trick instead? how are you by the way?