LS?? Or something else??
Posted , 7 users are following.
From what I can tell based on photos I have taken in the past till now, it looks like my vulva is shrinking. Am i allowed to post photos? Not that i want pictures of my vagina on the internet, but I would love some clarity.
Below is a little background...
I am a 24 year old female. Not sexually active yet. I feel like im too young for LS but my hornones have never been great. My period is always irregular...anywhere from 4-7weeks between periods. Gone 3 months without one before.
About a year ago I started feeling pain down under and became obsessed with trying to figure out what was wrong. The first thing I notice was my skin seemed weaker and upon inspecting down there, I caused it to fissure. That alone took awhile to heal. I figured the pain was from the fissure, but once it was healed, I was still in discomfort. Some days more than others. Urinating never hurt. But working out and the friction from that hurt! I decided to go see a gyno. I had gone to my first gyno apt a little before this all started. General tests/pap and everything came back normal. Told this new gyno (i moved) what was going on. He took one look and said that the scaring looked like it could be scars healed from herpes. I was taken aback to say the least. I let him know that i had hsv1 (coldsores) since i was a baby. We did the full blood test. All hsv2 came back negative, recent exposure hsv1 came back negative, and long term hsv1 came back positive, as I expected. He told me those results supported it being hsv1 but down there. I tried to explain to him that didnt clarify since I was going to show positive for that regardless. He told me since it was all healed up, I didnt need any medicine and should be pain free soon. Last time i checked, i never had a hsv1 outbreak last 4 months.
Fast forward 6 months later and im still in pain. I even used my coldsore meds (valtrex) 2x day for 7 days to try to fix it in case he was right and I infected myself down there. But nothing has changed. Ive been experiencing pain for a year and I just dont know what it is or what to do. Please help!
0 likes, 19 replies
Guppy007 jess57570
Posted
Jess, I just cant get past the thought that you paid to see a gynecologist and he clearly didn't know about Lichen Sclerosus.
You can post photos if you would like to, but your description sounds very much like LS. As already mentioned LS is contracted by young girls and menopausal women. The good news is that you will have periods of remission . I would look for a vulva clinic if you can find one, or ring up some places and ask if they have experience of Lichen Sclerosus.
jess57570 Guppy007
Posted
Yea he was a little strange. He ended the appt with "are you happy"? I'm like you just told me I may have a disease, not really?
If you are okag with me messaging them to you, I would like to for your opinion. I know its a little strange request though!
That's a great idea. I am going to do that. Not going back to him, that's for sure.
Guppy007 jess57570
Posted
Hi Jess, yes, you can do that if you would like to. You are ultimately going to need a diagnosis and that means seeing someone that understands and recognizes LS. Some Specialists can even give you a visual diagnosis, but more often than not a biopsy is suggested if there are no obvious telltale signs of LS.