vaginapagina | Dryness

For a long time now (probably towards a year, at fluctuating levels?), I've noticed a lot of dryness around my vulva area. It's increasing somewhat.

The areas spray painted red are areas where I have seen these red/sore dry spots in the past. Not everywhere across there at once, and it's not quite THAT noticeable. :P It also appears in some parts of the front of my vulva.

Now, I've been checked for STDS regularly, and I came out entirely free. My doctor noticed the dryness and thought it might be a yeast infection of some kind, but this did not turn out to be the case either.

Getting lubricated and wet isn't a problem at all for me in sex. The area with the problem is the external region - along the sides, mostly.

I also have been known to have problems with eczema and psoriasis along my legs in the past (including now). It seems that the lower half of my body is just exceptionally dry.

This doesn't really interfere with my sex life all or cause any sort of constant displeasure - it's just dry skin - but it does make me resistant to shaving/etc, and I'd just rather not have to deal with it on the whole.

Does any one know what this might be? Or how I could 'fix' it, or at least alleviate it temporarily?

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If a doctor's already determined it's not an external yeast infection (jock itch for female-bodied folks), I'd start looking at what things you let touch you there. Do you wear synthetic underwear/pants daily? What kind of soaps and laundry detergents do you use? Do you use shave gel when you shave, and if so, is it scented? Alternatively have you tried not shaving for a while to see if that's causing it?

My next questions would be about if you wear disposable pads/pantyliners. They contain fragrances, super-absorbent gels, and air-tight plastic barriers that can trigger allergic reactions as well as exacerbate existing eczema or psoriasis. I used to get an irritation like that but I haven't seen any sign of it since switching to alternative menstrual products.

I wear a fair mix of, I guess, silkier panties, and cotton ones.

I'm a cheap one and I don't get shaving cream - instead I follow that ol' conditioner recommendation.
Yeah. I didn't shave for a good 6 months and still had this going on. :/

The other products I've all swapped brands and 'styles' around within the past year or so that this has been a problem, but nothing has changed.

I do use pads. Could that cause a problem for the entire month, even well after my period has ended and I'm not using them anymore?

Did you continue to use conditioner down there when you weren't shaving? I find that stuff makes the psoriasis on my scalp flare up if it gets onto my skin, so it's my understanding that it can be an irritant that leads to dryer skin.

As for the pads, I actually switched because it was taking longer for the rash to go away than the time between periods, so it became effectively constant even though it did improve a bit in between. Do you notice it get worse at any point in your cycle?

Nope, I only used it when shaving.

I guess I haven't paid very much attention to any patterns throughout my cycle.

Right now it's a moderate-to-high sort of thing, as it is with the rest of my skin that gets dry. It's worse than it was last week, I'd say. It's 2 and a half weeks into my cycle.

Hmmm. Unless anything on www.ecomenses.com catches your eye (well, it certainly helped me), I'd say set aside the silky panties and keep a little journal of the condition of it to see if you can find any triggers. If you have a history of eczema or psoriasis, you're probably aware that seemingly random things can cause systemic flare-ups. You might want to mention it to whatever doctor's been treating your eczema and psoriasis, if you've got one. Hopefully someone else will have some better ideas!

My treatment to my eczema and psoriasis has essentially consisted of "So... you have it.... and will continue to have it... And you ought to just deal with that. Sorry. :(" so I guess I'm a little lost in general on the matter.

I'd be willing to try some of the options there, but at the moment I'm really strapped for cash and counting my pennies - including for more doctor visits. :/

I'll keep to the cotton for a while and see if that helps.

Thank you for all your advice!

Woah, that sucks about the lack of treatment! (Also sucks about the financial troubles. . . though reusable menstrual products definitely save money in the long run.) I also have both eczema and psoriasis, and I've been on a dozen topical steroids for it over the years. If nothing else, at least some OTC hydrocortisone should help if it's itching. There are also some heavy-duty moisturizers out there that might generally be useful, though most aren't appropriate for the vulva. /-:

My variation is mostly mild with only the occasional rare "oh god oh god" situation.

I get a lot of skin problems, and the only one I can remember getting treated for is when I had something that was kind of like having an allergy to the sun and looked like ringworm.

I'll definitely look into everything you've suggested!

I try and lotion my legs with shea butter and the like on a sort-of daily basis, but it doesn't seem to do anything no matter how steady I go. :/

you should try undies that are elastic-free, i sometimes get really terrible irritation in the creases from underwear with elastic. They have the added benefit of being really super comfy. I think Hanes makes elastic-free undies.

I'll look for some!

Thank you!

i've had psoriasis flares in that region. my gyno told me to use over the counter hydrocortisone twice a day as it was a mild case. that seem to help a lot! especially if it cracks and bleeds >_

Edited 2010-04-08 18:55 (UTC)

Man, now that I've gotten that recommendation twice I'll DEFINITELY have to look into it! Thank you!

Dryness

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