Vaginal dryness at 17
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi everyone, I'm 17 and i've been experiencing vaginal dryness for 3 days now. I've had my period last week i kept myself clean, changed my pad each day, used clean pads, and i had no problem down there till i showered when my period ended, 4 days ago. I didnt use any products down there i just cleaned myself with water, well too much water. The next morning it started getting itchy and here i am now with a dry and ichy vagina. It is LITERALLY dry like no discharge at all, the skin is so dry and soft like the skin covering the rest of my body which is so weird for a vagina, and it gets so itchy when i walk. I tried to look through internet but i found nothing that described my case well. Can this be caused by some hormonal change since i'm 17 and growing? I'm so confused and i want to stop this real soon, what should i do?
1 like, 14 replies
susan556 malek.
Posted
Hi Malek you dont say whether you are sexually active or not? you didn't use anything but water but did you use any talc afterwards? could be you have developed vaginal thrush which can make you feel dry and itchy, I once had your symptoms with soreness as well, Dr said everything looked very healthy and in fact there was hardly anything there to take a swab with but the results came back severe growth of yeast infection eg thrush so goes to show you. I very much doubt it was the shower that has affected you, could be hormonal, Are you on the contraceptive pill at all? Do you wear cotton undies and has your mum if your still living at home changed her washing powder or fabric conditioner at all. If it continues you may have to get checked out with your gp.. I do sympathise with you though, nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable when you walk, this is how thrush made me feel.
Sue
malek. susan556
Posted
Last time i had sex was in 3 weeks or so, so i dont think its the reason at all. And no i didnt use talc nor contraceptive pill. For undies, i wasnt wearing cotton ones when i started showing this 'reaction' but i changed them anyway, and no same products same everything. Its 3 am now and i woke up since it got very itchy down there, it is SO annoying i dont know how to stop it, though i wouldnt choose to visit the doctor since mom would be with me and she might find out that her daughter is not a virgin which would SURELY ruin my life much more than this intense itching xD So i would be really happy if i find a way to stop it on my own
Thank you sue i appreciate your reply and your sympathy
susan556 malek.
Posted
Oh dear you are in a predicament with your mum not knowing your not a virgin, id like to think the dr would be careful as to ask you about this in front of your mum but i see what you mean, its a bit risky!
Meanwhile keep of sugary stuff as this feeds the thrush infection and helps it flourish even more. and as mentioned as well your boyfriend may well have it if it is thrush and give it back to you so he to needs to use the canesten cream as well.
Only way to be 100% sure is to have a swab im afraid . There are test kits you can buy and test yourself at home, sure they are now available in the chemist too.
Sue
Suki_girl malek.
Posted
I was also going to suggest thrush. The itchiness fits and there isn't always discharge with thrush. You need to go to the doctor to get a swab done to test if it is thrush. If you don't want to do that you could try thrush treatment, the oral canestan tablet is good.
malek. Suki_girl
Posted
Also i thought maybe im itchy because im completely dry (usually im VERY wet and now im dry all of a sudden)? I dont know , and i dont know what caused this itchiness and dryiness thing in the first place
Suki_girl malek.
Posted
malek. Suki_girl
Posted
Then i highly think that shooting toooo much water inside my vagina caused it. Its really logical when you think about, water's pH higher than the vaginal pH which will lead to a higher vaginal
malek.
Posted
pH and then ... this whole itchy dry thing, i've aaalways done this before and never reacted to it, well i always got a lot more dry after doing this (and usually im really wet) then i start going back to being wet day after day but no itching at all.
I showed this reaction the next day after my shower so yeah another proof.
Now the thing is how am i going to stop this itchiness and dryness? It really annoys me when im home let only when i go outside (and i spend the whole day at school so yeah)
Suki_girl malek.
Posted
All the itchiness sounds like thrush to me. You have to buy and take a fluconazole tablet as soon as possible. It won't go away on its own. It will probably get worse and start to make you sore.
Like you said, probably too much water use. The skin is slightly acidic (ph 5.5), tap water is less acidic (6.5-9.5) and apparently after showering it takes the skin 2 hours to get back to its natural acidity level. The vagina is very acidic (3.8-4.5), so shooting water up there is not a good idea. I don't use water on there, I wipe with pure raw organiccold pressed coconut oil (coconut oil also has antibacterial and antifungal properties). I use water and a very mild feminine ph balanced wash only on the outside of my outer labia.
Dont beat yourself up about it - thrush can happen quite easily in women. I get it if I get too hot. I hate hot summer days!
If your mum comes with you to the doctor, does she actually have to go in with you?
Anyway, go to the pharmacy asap and get yourself a couple of 150mg fluconazole tablet. If one doesn't clear you up completely, take another 3 days later.
In the mean time, don't have sex because that will aggravate it and give it to your boyfriend who can then reinfect you (unless you use a condom in which case he won't get it). But any rubbing of that area will make the thrush worse.
malek. Suki_girl
Posted
I'm putting too much effort to not scratch it, and obviously i fail i cant resist for too long so i just rub gently the sides. I went to the pharmacy today, the pharmacist gave me a cleansing gel 'asterane' on the box its written 'gentle cleansing case' its a box full of small liquid sachets i have to use around 3 or 4 of them a day, its not really limited. And a cream 'Fongicil' that i have to use 3 times a day. I dont know when these will be showing result, i used them one hour ago and the itching is still so intense.
Suki_girl malek.
Posted
Suki_girl malek.
Posted
I have had a tendency towards vaginal yeast infection sine my early 20's. So her are some rules to help avoid getting an infection and what to do if you have one:
Wear only cotton underwear washed in scent free laundry detergent and conditioner.
Never wear brand new underwear without washing it first.
Never douche.
Never use soap or other washes down there (even those that claim to be for the female intimate area have parfume in or are the wrong PH).
Don't get too hot.
If you get thrush don't have sex.
If you get thrush, treat your partner at the same time (with men they can have no symptoms but still be carrying the yeast infection)
Don't let your partner give you oral if they have just brushed their teeth or used mouthwash or drunk alcohol (get them to rinse out with water first).
Always have clean fingers when touching that area.
Use cotton unbleached sanitary towels and tampons.
As often as you can, go commando and let your private bits get some air.
Don't eat sugary food or artificial sweeteners - yeast feeds on anything sweet.
Eat unsweetened yogurt or take probiotics.
Other anti yeast infection suppliments include garlic, oregano oil, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon, caprylic acid (found in coconut oil).
Coconut oil is naturally antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal. You can apply this to the vulva and inside the vagina to moisturise and clean (use raw, organic, cold pressed, virgin coconut oil).
susan556 Suki_girl
Posted
Sue
Suki_girl susan556
Posted
Thank you! I must admit, it is a particular bugbear of mine that there is so much highly scented laundry detergent and conditioner around when it is known that perfume encourages yeast infections. Every since she was a baby my daughter had skin rashes caused by clothes that had been washed in scented detergent and conditioner, so I changed to unscented skin-kind products. It also annoys me how much scented bubble bath there is - one bath in that stuff and I'd get thrush. And scented body wash and body lotions ... and don't even get me started on the PH of these things designed for the skin. So much stuff intended for washing human skin contains SLS, which is actually a skin irritant! SLS is in washing products because it makes them foam - they work just as well if they don't foam, but people like their shampoo and face / body washes to foam. Glycerine is also a skin irritant - you can get glycerine suppositories for treating constipation which work by irritating the skin in the rectum. So why would you want to use anything containing SLS or glycerine on your vulva!?!?!? Even products that are intended for washing the "female intimate area" contain perfume, glycerine and SLS!!! And then there is sodium hydroxide which they add to products to adjust the PH - I have seen it in medical creams meant for treating vulva or vaginal problems. Sodium hydroxide is caustic soda!! Also known as lye. It is used to dissolve clogs in blocked drains and is ... yes the clue is in the name ... highly caustic!!! I once found a product meant as a vaginal moisturiser with all these claims about being natural and organic, etc and it contained sodium hydroxide. I emailed the manufacturer and asked why they would put caustic soda in it. They said it was necessary to get the correct PH value and there were other nasty chemicals in it that were preservatives which I also queried and they said it was better to have the preservatives in than for it to go off rapidly. Actually, I'd prefer something properly natural with a shorter use by date. It is possible not to use all these chemical nasties because there are products that are purely natural and skin kind. It just really annoys me when people claim their product is specially designed to be gentle for the female genitals and contains all those harmful chemicals.
We use too many harmful chemicals in everything - harmful to us and harmful to the environment. Thankfully I am not the only one who feels this way and there appears to be a bit of a backlash to this overuse of chemicals with people option to buy more natural products. You will have noticed that the famous manufactures of beauty and washing products are now offering natural, pure plant based products.
Rant for the day over....