LS: When do you have intercourse if you are not totally in remission?

Posted , 8 users are following.

I have read a lot about LS. Some on here go into remission but there are many who never do. This question is for them:

When do you have intercourse and do you just learn to manage the swelling etc. afterward? Do you fear it will make your LS worse?

Professional medical sites suggest that women (and men like me) can have sex but to expect it to be painful or uncomfortable. When I do have sex, it is now more pleasure than pain but it swells badly afterward before going down.

Thoughts on this issue? Or do most of you just give up intercourse? (The problem for me is I can't feel oral or manual sex but only intercourse so it is a dilemma).

0 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • Posted

    This article by a woman suggests that LS sex will come with lots of pain but she does it nonetheless! Crazy.

    "How to Improve Your Sex Life When You Have Lichen Sclerosus" mintgreenliving

  • Posted

    Hi , I am in my second year of LS and no remission .

    Although when i am not do sore i have intercourse and have exactly the same reaction as you . Also no oral sex as i have lost sensation and it makes me sore. The issue for me is i am embarrassed about the way i look down there as its mostly red and inflamed .

    • Posted

      Thanks for sharing .

      So , is there any pleasure ? Or do you do it for your partner ?

      Does it swell terribly afterwards ?

    • Posted

      Hi ,yes swelling is bad but i douce afterwards with bicarb and lavender oil . It is ok the day after . I do it because i refuse to allow Ls to take away all my woman hood .I Do get pleasure as once past the outside everything else is still good xx

    • Posted

      yes same, its just the opening that can hurt or tear it not lubed up.

  • Posted

    I don't anymore, which is very sad.

    Last time was probably 5+ years ago and I feel so guilty about it because of my OH, even though he is very understanding . However, I know how painful it would be and just cannot face it.

  • Posted

    I was diagnosed in May and am treating with clobetasol right now. I'm not in remission... I have not stopped having intercourse. I guess I'm lucky (so far!) that it's not painful for me - and I don't have swelling after. What I have noticed - is that I don't have the sensitivity that I used to have, so that's extremely frustrating for me. I wonder if that sensitivity will ever come back?I pray that my LS doesn't get worse - to the point I can't have intercourse.

    As for sex making LS worse.... I've read that its good to have sex if you can (but right now I cant remember "why" it's good for LS. 😄 )

  • Posted

    The question is why is the swelling occurring after sex? In LS the skin matrix has broken down. Apparently the inflammatory process worsens with friction and that is why it swells. At least that's my theory. If it doesn't hurt you are lucky, I'd say.

  • Posted

    As long as I don't have any cuts, I have sex. I put clob on after if I am swollen and sore. I dont let my partner touch my clitoris anymore 😦 but we have found positions that work for me. We go through a lot of KY lol In my early 30s.

  • Posted

    That's great to hear !

    I recently discovered that putting ice (wrapped in cloth ) stops swelling . 😃

  • Posted

    When people say they have "cuts , " what does that mean ? Bleeding ?

    • Posted

      The cuts I get don't bleed... they're like small paper cuts. 😦 They burn and are uncomfortable.

    • Posted

      JJ, once again you are leading the way with taking the LS discussion into new areas that I have not seen discussed on this Forum, such as the real practicalities of having sex, or manually derived pleasures certainly, as an LS sufferer.

      So yes, as with this current post, Ladies with LS get a number of very typical issues such as skin cuts where the skin simply parts, and this can feel like a very sharp paper cut, and no there is no bleeding with this unless the area is further irritated by considerable movement, such as during rough sex, for example.

      I did suffer these early on in my LS treatment regime, they were on the main shaft of my penis not in an area in which I thought LS had infected. When I got my Clobetasol application correct the paper cuts disappeared and never returned.

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