Torn hymen?

[woodgrained.livejournal.com]

I think I may have torn my partial hymen after recently doing a lot of bike-riding, but I'm not sure.

I had been riding for probably two miles, and when I got off the bike and started walking, I felt some serious discomfort around my vaginal opening and it stung a lot. The feeling went away after about two hours. I got a mirror and checked myself out when I could, and it seems like it has torn more, but I wonder if I'm just imagining things, since I don't regularly examine my vagina.
The thing that makes me skeptical is that there was no blood. Should there be blood if my hymen was torn?

Thanks in advance for any replies, I just want to know what's going ooooon!

Thank you

[midnightsphinx.livejournal.com]

thank you all for your support. I realize this not only had to do with his actions, but I feel I have self estem issues that lead to putting myself in dangerous situations which can lead to being taken advantage of.

I will be working this out with my therapist. Although things like this can be hard to tell without feeling embarrassed :P

In general I think I have a very unhealthy attitude about sex. I am not talking about this situation (which I DID NOT consent to) but even when I do consent to sex with a guy, i sometimes feel outside my body or like I don't even enjoy it. I just want to FEEL something. I want to feel wanted, I guess. If even for that moment. Can anyone relate?

A Quick Note ...

[jennifer0246.livejournal.com]

Hello, all!

Just posting to let you know that in case you've noticed the formatting and style changes, we have too! It would appear that there was some glitchiness on lj last night/this morning -- to fix the glitchiness, log out, clear your browser cache, and log back in. All should be well (and appear normal) thereafter.

Jen
for the VP Team
contact_vp

Unusually light periods

[diamondxavenue.livejournal.com]

I went off HBC in May after using it sporadically for about 8 months (maybe 2 months on, two off, so on) and have been off ever since. But starting from July, my periods have been very, very, very light. I used to get the full-on, soaked pad, leaky type of periods. Now it's a couple blobs of dark red-brown goo, a pad that's barely touched and no cramping. There are only a few reasons I can think of: 1) going off HBC, 2) having taken a lot of Chinese medicine over the summer, which actually changes your internal balances (it helped a lot with bloating and gas), or 3) increased exercise over the summer, even though I haven't been exercising since I returned to school.

Has anyone been through anything similar? I have no idea if this is normal.

First aid for the vag

[hadespuppy.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I've seen this issue addressed before, but I can't find it in the tags.  My boy was a little on the vigorous side this morning, and now I have a tear near the south end of my vaginal entrance.  I know it will heal pretty well on it's own, especially if I abstain until it does (which I would anyway, it's kinda ouchie at the moment :P)
My question was if I should put some polysporin on it to prevent infection, or would that mess up the natural flora?  And is there anything else I can do to help it heal, or should I just let my body do it's thing?

learning to have PIV sex and resulting soreness

[womdigo.livejournal.com]

Hey there - more questions from me as I get to know my vagina better and better...

I am starting to have intercourse with my boyfriend. For background I have never had PIV sex before, but he has. So far we can only get him part way inside of me. We are both enjoying the process but I think we got a little over eager this morning and I have been quite sore today. I think we just didn't wait for me to be lubed up enough so keeping some additional lube on hand will be something I need to do and it will be going on the grocery list (suggestions welcome). But in the mean time is there anything I can do to ease the soreness? Sitting seems to be fine but standing and walking around it is uncomfortable enough to be distracting. (and then of course when I notice my soreness I end up thinking about sexual activity - so then I'm double distracted - does anyone els have this problem??) I don't think there are any tears, and no sharp pain, just soreness. Just a cool compress maybe? I'm really enjoying the penetration we are able to do (even if it is a bit of a pleasure/pain mix) and don't want to have to worry about being sore for the rest of the day.
Also any suggestions for helping my vagina along in allowing a penis inside of it? He describes me as quite "tight" and I'm really not in the habit of putting things in my vagina. I avoid using tampons b/c although I can now get them in removing them always seems to be an incredibly painful experience. When I masturbate it involves a lot of indirect clit stimulation and not really anything inside the vagina. I just started using insteads and those go in and out without a problem (hmm, I just finished three days of using insteads - wonder if that could be adding to the soreness) and he's fingered me before but the most we got up to was 2 of his fingers and that was a rather intense feeling of fullness. I am enjoying the penetration but would like it to be a bit easier - but I'm guessing that mostly takes time?

I swear I saw a similar post a while back but wasn't able to locate it.

I'm really glad this resource is available - thank you all so much in advance.

Experience with gentian violet + plus random question.

[empathyloves.livejournal.com]

So, I've had this yeast infection I couldn't kick for a while and decided to try gentian violet. Went to the drug store bought some, did the whole soaking it in tampon thing and stuck it in. It was nice, warm fuzzy feeling (haha), but now I feel like I'm dying. Literally. I'm nauseous and I just don't feel good, or right for that matter. So, my question is this, has anyone ever felt this way after using it? Or am I just going insane? And also, if you have a yeast infection while you're pregnant is it okay to use gentian violet?

Friggin' Rad HPV Vaccine Article

[josiethefiend.livejournal.com]

I found this really fascinating. It's got some good info on the virus itself, as well as the story on how the vaccine came to be. For example, I had no idea that it was developed by two women. Pretty neat huh?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw09232007/2003889058_pacificplaura23.html

Next time it comes up and someone's clueless about the virus, this is probobly the article I'll point them to to help them out.

Unbiased anti-Gardasil information?

[rumandtealeaves.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to find unbiased information pertaining to the Gardasil vaccine. I have HPV so I am obviously completely for it (in theory), but I do like to educate myself fully. I keep hearing about these "side-effects" and even "fatalities" but can't seem to find any credible information to support either. I'm especially concerned with the fatalities part, as most of the side-effects mentioned seem fairly harmless and worth it compared to having either type of HPV, coming from someone who has had both. Any credible links would be appreciated. Opinions are welcome, too, but I'm specifically looking for sources.

New to Mercilon - a few questions on the early days.

[kataclysmic.livejournal.com]

I started taking oral birth control (Mercilon - desogestrel/ethinylesradiol) last Saturday, on the first day of my period as I was instructed. The previous Monday, I'd taken EHC, owing to a split condom.

Both the nurse who prescribed the Mercilon, and the pharmacist who gave me EHC told me they could either result in heavier periods, lighter periods, and spotting etc.

My period was runnier than I'm used to, and only lasted four days, however, I have been spotting for another four days since.

I've also developed a yeast infection - something I read is quite normal with HBC. However, when I bought Canesten earlier today to ease the symptoms, I read that if the YI is accompanied by a blood stained discharge, I should seek medical advice.

I had assumed that both the spotting and the YI were results of starting HBC and my hormones being freshly out of whack, rather than being related.

On top of all this, for the past few days I've just been feeling a bit queasy in general, though never actually sick.

Work is a pain in the ass of late, so getting time off to see the nurse would prove difficult, so I thought I'd run through it here. I realise this is a case of "am I normal?" and for the most part, I'm assuming yes, but I'd appreciate any input just to be on the safe side.

Are these symptoms things other people have also suffered early on in taking HBC, or is it worth getting checked out?

HELPHELPHELP

[https://users.livejournal.com/-el1zabeth-/]

I have a horrible, horrible ingrown in my pubic region. I need serious assistance.


Anyway, here's the background story: My boyfriend moved across the country 6 weeks ago, and he is coming to visit me in 2 weeks. I am usually one to shave my pubic region bare when I'm sexually active, but since he has been gone I have not even touched anything down there. I was hoping on letting it all grow out and then doing a nice clean shave or wax before he comes (I'm prone to ingrowns, so I was assuming that letting my skin rest for 6 weeks would be glorious). Usually, my ingrowns work themselves out with a little help from topical creams and exfoliants. After I use those, I can get at them with tweezers or even my fingers. They typically develop into pimple-like ingrowns beforehand.

Here's the problem: I got a few ingrown hairs, as usual, last time I shaved (again 6 weeks ago). One in particular was a bit tough to get rid of. I finally plucked it out after much struggle- or so I thought. Since I haven't been shaving or trimming at all, my pubic hair has gotten rather long and thick, and I can't easily see ingrowns the way I can when I'm in a grooming routine. I periodically check out my skin down there just to make sure I'm in good shape. I've had a red spot around the follicle that I plucked since I plucked it (probably about 4 weeks ago). It didn't really bother me at first because my skin is very sensitive and sometimes remains irritated for a long time. However, today I discovered what feels like a large cyst under the area where I had this ingrown. I'm assuming its the same follicle, and that the hair has been growing in so deep that the pus has developed deep below the surface. I'm talking really deep, like I cannot tell from just looking that there is a problem. It is a huge lump under layers of skin. This is really disappointing to me, because my boyfriend is coming in two weeks, and it seems like this may be a bigger issue than just putting on some topical cure. I think when I plucked the hair, I actually broke off just the top, causing the rest of the hair to coil under even further and continue to grow down into my skin. Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm really annoyed by this. I'm hoping I won't have to bring this to a dermatologist, because I don't know any in my school's area, and it's a pain to go through the referral process. Obviously, if it turns out I can't remedy this on my own, I will seek medical help. I'm really hopeful that one of you has had a similar problem. Sorry for the epic tale, and thanks in advance for your help!!!

X-posted

Vaginal Orgasms

[123berries.livejournal.com]

Women, who here can orgasm from penetration alone, NOT including a gspot/ejaculation orgasm?

Just wondering if it's really as rare as people make it out to be. Thanks.

Vegetable capsules for boric acid treatment bad

[ms-octopus-lady.livejournal.com]

Hey ya'll.

So I've bot BV and I'm going to try to use the boric acid method. I went to Longs Drug Store today, but I couldn't find a applicator for spermicide jelly without having to buy the jelly with it. I then looked for empty 00-sized capsules to no avail. So I went online and found these. They're made out of "vegetable," not gelatin, like the guide I found in vulvapedia suggested. Does anyone know if it these "vegetable" capsules would affect my vagina in any negative way?

Thanks.

HBC in-between relationships.

[ze-newie.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this for a while, basically since I started HBC last year. For those of you who use HBC (primarily thinking the pill here, but other forms too) for birth control, do you continue using it regularly when you're between relationships? Obviously there are lots of reasons to stay on, especially if you use it for its other benefits, or if you participate in casual sex. I'm in a serious relationship right now, and there's no foreseeable end to it at the moment, but I'm curious as to what the majority of HBC users do when they get out of a serious relationship. Personally, I'd probably stay on it, just because I like the way it makes my 'period' come like clockwork & because it seems like a bit of a hassle to have to go on & off it repeatedly. But I'd like to know what everybody else does/thinks.

Cervical abnormalities - worried

[estrellafugaz85.livejournal.com]

Hey guys,
I've been stressing so much the last few days about my recent colposcopy. I posted here a little while back about bleeding after sex and seeing a doctor about it. I had read that it was a sign of cancer so of course I was worried and went to get a pap smear. I had had 3 previous pap smears at home in Ireland which came back 'inflammatory', which meant it wasn't known if they were normal or abnormal, and I was booked in for a colposcopy this month. I decided to go get a pap smear done in America to make sure the bleeding wasn't cancer/HPV related. I was very happy when I called the office and they told me my pap smear was normal. I thought 'great, at least I don't have to worry about abnormalities there', and assumed the doctor was correct in telling me it was nothing too serious, just an overgrowth of bacteria.

When I got back to Ireland, I received a letter from my doctor about my colposcopy. As far as I was concerned, this was just for peace of mind since my last pap smear came back normal. So I was very shocked when the doctor told me I appeared to have HPV and mild abnormalities on the cervix. He did not take a biopsy, he took some swabs for infections, but the actual diagnosis I think he made visually? He told me to come back in 6 months to see if the abnormalities had worsened, in which case he would have to operate. This has all come as a bit of a shock to me, as I was assured that everything was fine and that if anything was wrong, it would take years to become anything serious. The doctors at the student health clinic of my college refuse to even do pap smears on girls under 25 because there is such a low chance of anything being wrong. I just don't get it.

The doctor did say mild abnormalities like mine often go away on their own. How likely is this? Bearing in mind that I would have been infected with HPV about 18 months ago. If they were going to get better wouldn't they have done so already? Or am I overthinking this? Would eating well and getting plenty of sleep (hopefully boosting my immune system) do any good? My immune system is terrible and I catch every virus going - I have a bowel disorder so I don't absorb nutrients properly.
Is the fact I had a normal pap a good sign or does it just mean the lab messed up? If they do get worse, is the treatment effective?
What on earth could be causing the bleeding after sex? I've been tested for chlamydia and gonohhrea (sp) and they were negative. I've never had unprotected sex anyway. Is it likely to really be an overgrowth of bacteria? I need to ask my dr to prescribe a cream for that.

I hope I'm not being too annoying with all my questions, I'd really appreciate some opinions on this matter as I know many of you have had abnormalities and treatments. I just want to stop freaking out so badly!!