I can't believe there are 16 pages to this thread spanning over 7 years of us ladies suffering over the same problem! And I was frustrated that there was no one solution but realized that is unrealistic. No two people are the same and everyone will find a solution specific to their own symptoms. I'm so grateful everyone has shared their stories of suffering, treatment, and resolution of the problem! I hope the bit of information I provide will help some of you ladies out!
I am 24 and with my boyfriend for 6 months now. He is the same age and we are each others' first sexual partners. I was (and still kind of am) afraid of having sexual intercourse for the first time so we started off slow with him just fingering me. The first couple of times I would start feeling a burning feeling near the opening of my vagina. I thought maybe it was because it was the first time so naturally it would hurt and we should just continue to take it slow. But we continued every so often for the next few weeks and I would still get the burning feeling! So we did a bunch of Googling and researched what could possibly be the problem. Well, my main problem was that I was afraid to go to the doctor! I'm a bit of a hypochondriac and I have this fear of possibly finding out that it's something horrible! So I procrastinated on going to the doctor and we continued trying fingering and I continued feeling the burning, and this lasted a couple months. This entire time I felt really depressed because even though I knew this wasn't my fault I felt like I was disappointing my boyfriend or failing by not being able to be intimate with him. But he constantly reminded me this was silly and was and continues to be so supportive of me :)
Well, finally my boyfriend decided to "examine" the area that was burning. He just felt around until I said I felt the burning and he told me that he felt small bumps on the sides, inside and near the opening of my vagina. This made me freak out a little and gave me some motivation to finally go to the doctor. I still procrastinated for a couple weeks but finally saw my family doctor and told her my symptoms. At this point I was wondering if it was a possible bacterial infection. She took a swab and a week later I found out the swab came back negative and was told to make another appointment if I still had symptoms. I was certain I would still have symptoms. To verify this my boyfriend did another "examination". THis time he took a look with his own eyes and told me there were tiny bumps on the sides of my vaginal opening, as he had felt before. He described them as not discoloured but they looked clear. Clear made me think they were fluid filled which sounded like cysts to me. We did more Google research on vaginal cysts and my symptoms seemed to match with Bartholin's gland cysts.
I went to my doctor 2 days ago and told her about our latest discoveries. She took a look herself and told me they were not Bartholin's glad cysts, which would be located near the vaginal opening but in the 4:00 and 7:00 positions where the Bartholin's glands are. My bumps are more in the 3:00 and 9:00 positions. She told me the bumps are normal vaginal tissue. There are many glands in that area and they somtimes get blocked. Her solution for now is for me to take a sitz bath with epsom salts twice a day. This is a warm bath covering up to the hips with about a cup of epsom salt dissolved in it. Soak for 20-30 minutes. I did my first soak this morning and something has changed....I have also been having a lot of vaginal discharge lately....nothing my doctor seemed concerned about. But after the bath, all day I have had no vaginal discharge anymore. I would say the sitz bath is doing something right!
I have also been referred to a specialist in vaginal discomfort & vaginal pain. I am quite happy that I seem to be on my way to a full recovery! And will be able to have sex with my boyfriend soon ;)
I hope this helps out any ladies who are having the same symptoms as me. Maybe this will give you some reassurance that there may be a simple solution to this problem. Just don't be afraid to go to the doctor. You have the support of every person in this discussion, and as I've read, many of you have such supportive partners! Just be specific about your symptoms and demand answers from your doctor! We don't have to endure this pain for the rest of our lives!
Wow! I just stumbled upon this and it's kind of a relief to see that I am not the only one suffering from this awful pain. I am a mother of five and just in the past two years, my husband and I's sex life has just plummeted! Of course he thinks I find him unattractive and I simply don't want to have sex with him, which couldn't be further from the truth! Anyhow.. I am HPV positive and although they say there are no symptoms I am beginning to wonder if that is what could be causing all of this pain and anguish. If so, I guess I am screwed and there is no hope for me. Let's just hope that HPV is not the culprit. If I find anything new, I will come back and share. Thanks :)
Well, I am a 54 year old vibrant woman who has had a very active sex life with multiple partners since I was 16 and now, all of a sudden, I am getting that burning acid feeling inside my vagina during sex. It is intermittent and I have been tested for stds and yeast infection and nothing. And sometimes adding lube is a big no no because that burns like hell. Does anyone have any holistic suggestions? Oh and I am in perimenopause as well. I have tried eating yogurt twice a day and sometimes I will even try taking an ibprofen thinking it will reduce the inflammation. Come on medical field - help us out!!!
I have the same problem. Haven't had sex in 6 years (sick boyfriend who passed way last year) and have had sex with two different guys. Thought it might be a yeast infection the first time it happened so I got some medicine and treated myself. Last night, same thing. A burning inside. Now today there is a little bloody discharge. Not good. Any ideas of what it might be? Had a pap smear a couple of months ago and everything was fine. I'm stumped. Any help would be appreciated.
ive had the same thing too. I have also been to the doctor. I have been on multiple creams and antibiotics. I have been tested for every known std and bacterial infection. Time and time again they cant find anything wrong. Does anyone else know what it is? I even bleed sometimes after trying to have sex and I experience some occasional itching on the right side of my outer vagina.
I'm not even going to bother posting my symptoms because EVERY single one of them has been mentioned.
I'm going to go to my gyno, discuss my symptoms and bring up all of the conditions that have been mentioned here and get back to you all!!It's RIDICULOUS that so many of us have this and don't have a solid answer...
Although it might not be appropriate, there might be something dirty in your vagina. You might have some STDs and some of the symptoms of those are burning sensation.....
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I just discovered I'm experiencing this, got so scare and sad and found the information above, the last time I tried to have sex, I felt I was been penetrated by a cactus.
What are kegels?!!