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Strange looking labia minora

Posted , 18 users are following.

dani2590
dani2590

I'm wonderkng whether my labia minora is considered normal or whether it has drastically changed over the years and I haven't been aware as I've been asymptomatic and never looked.

The labia minora is considered to be the inner lips (the flaps of skin). I don't seem to have this, just two surfaces of skin on either side. One side you can see some of a lip but that's it. So basically I have two flat surfaces of skin on either side. This can't be normal. If so what happened to the lips. I don't see any seam or scar tissue burying the lips. It's as if they were never there and that's just how I've always been.

Does anyone else look remotely similar? I know we all look so different down there but I'm curious.

1 like, 42 replies

42 Replies

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  • hanny32508
    hanny32508 dani2590

    Posted

    I have been wondering the same: Did I ever have a labia minora?  Though just recently I think there must have been something.  
  • Morrell1951
    Morrell1951 dani2590

    Posted

    I suspect I was your age, Dani, when my labia minora whithered away. I recall a mortifying espisode (this is the seventies when watching movies like Deep Throat was sort of 'cool', yuck) when my husband took photos of my bits, which he described as 'pretty'. I believe he was somewhat of a connoisseur and what he meant was everything was very compact.

    We have to be diligent with treaments and looking in the mirror, so we don't get badly flared-up, raw and sticky – it's the sticky skin that can adhere to itself. I had an adhesion (a fold at the edge of my perineum) that made my vaginal introitus quite a bit narrower, but it was only held by a small bit of flesh which I broke when doing strteching (a good thing) and now it's healed open. The friction of intercourse can really irritate LS when it's flared, but using our fingers to keep the vaginal opening a decent size is  really worth doing.

    Keep an eye on the hood over your clitoris. Lots of women on here have had it zip shut in a matter of weeks or even days (I did, with a big abcess in the bargain). I think if you keep coconut oil on it, you should be able to avoid this.

    • dani2590
      dani2590 Morrell1951

      Posted

      Hi Morrell. Gosh that sounds like an awful experience. I know what you mean when you say compact. Neat or not much there is another way of describing it.

      Thanks for the advice. I try using tampons whilst on my period but have a lot of issues with that. Tampons are too abrasive and even that friction causes discomfort at the I trouts so unfortunately I'm resorting to pads. Lucky I don't get heavy periods. Can only imagine what having intercourse would do! Still holding off.

    • dani2590
      dani2590

      Posted

      Sorry that was suppose to say discomfort at the Introitus.
    • Morrell1951
      Morrell1951 debbiesettle

      Posted

      When we share our experience with LS here there is so much we don't know about each other's cases. LS can be very aggressive or very slow. Individuals can have really complicated sets of other disorders... but we support each other in this rotten, socally invisible disease.
    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 Morrell1951

      Posted

      So true Morrell. I have other stuff going on. This Friday I am having facial surgery done by a plastic surgeon for skin cancers. I have Crohns, osteoporosis, diabetes, arthritis, etc. I can only really deal with one issue at s time. At the moment, it is this Friday.
    • kathryn07219
      kathryn07219 kathleen65757

      Posted

      So sorry you are having such a tough time.  My late husband was a hospital consultant and he used to say that there are so many things that can go wrong with the body, right down to cell level, that it's a wonder that any of us function normally.  So true.  However, it sounds like the members of this forum have learnt to battle on regardless.  Hope all goes well on Friday.
    • dani2590
      dani2590 kathleen65757

      Posted

      Good luck with the facial surgery Kathleen. I totally agree with you when you say we can only really deal with one issue at a time.

      Morrell when you say more aggressive version does that manifest itself in more sudden changes in vulval scarring/architecture? Or is it related to severity/difficulty controlling symptoms or progression to SCC? Understandably it worries me if I may have a more aggressive version and what that might mean for me.

    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 dani2590

      Posted

      Thanks for that Dani!

      my LS has changed over time. At first there was no fusing but itchy and sore, etc. now I find the fusing is more the concern as the rest is well controlled! 

    • Morrell1951
      Morrell1951 dani2590

      Posted

      Sorry, Ive been away with my sick mother for days. Yes, the changes happen so fast you don't see them coming. Or we've had a few women on here who have huge areas covered with papery white skin or a deep fissure all the way up the butt crack. Really dire. If we have the classic figure 8 (around the vulva and anus) and our prescription keeps it under control, we really should be happy.
    • dani2590
      dani2590 Morrell1951

      Posted

      Hi Morrell. Hope your mother is ok. My mother has been unwell for almost 3 years now. That's definitely taken its toll on me and surprise surprise I was diagnosed with LS amongst all the stress!

  • Cyndi72
    Cyndi72 dani2590

    Posted

    I was told I had no labia minor by a urogynecologist a few years ago.  That was all she said.  No reason for it.  Much to my surprise, I looked, but it didn't look any different to me.  I just thought that was how I always looked.  Now, since I've been diagnosed with LS by my gyno, I can see where they must've been.  I'm kinda of angry that the first doctor said nothing upon noticing that about LS. 
    • Morrell1951
      Morrell1951 Cyndi72

      Posted

      Yeah, welcome to my world, Cyndi. There are too many doctors who just don't know about LS. Especially if we're post-menopausal, they diagnose atrophy and prescribe nothing. Anyway, you've come to the right place.
    • Cyndi72
      Cyndi72 Morrell1951

      Posted

      I'm in perimenopause but I feel like I've had LS for way longer than I was dx. At least my current gyno has heard of it, knows about it and was happy I did my own research, as well. That was encouraging.
    • Morrell1951
      Morrell1951 Cyndi72

      Posted

      I think I had it when I was 22 and was diagnosed 40 years later. We're lucky if we don't have the most aggressive version.
    • Cyndi72
      Cyndi72 Morrell1951

      Posted

      Agreed!  When I first even imagined I had this, I looked at pictures on Google and was mortified.  This is another of those inisidious diseases, for sure.  I feel for people who have the most aggressive version. 
    • judy02533
      judy02533 Cyndi72

      Posted

      If you keep using the Clob and lubs, will the labia minor continue to shrink or will it stop?  I have been using the Clob for 3 weeks and Emu Oil..  Everything down there seems to be getting worse.  I am very irritated, itch, and hurt. It is worse since using the Clob.  Now I am afraid that I will loose my labia minor.  There is already a little fusing. But if the Clob is making things worse then I don't know will happen.  Could I be using too much Clob or maybe not enough?

       

    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 judy02533

      Posted

      I am guessing you are using enough or regularly enough. While it is bad should be every day and you need to use enough to cover everywhere properly. 
    • Morrell1951
      Morrell1951 judy02533

      Posted

      Are you using more than a small pea-size glob of clob per day? Too much would definitely cause trouble.
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