NSFW: Red painful bumps?

Well I’ll need to see pictures to be sure ;) ...

I highly doubt you have to worry about STDs on this. I could be wrong but it just sounds like acne or an ingrown hair. You can look up photos of various STD caused “red bumps” on the internet (they have very graphic sex organ ones readily available) and compare to be sure. Some years ago I had a similar experience and it just turned out to be some kind of mild infection after shaving the area.

Especially if you’re in a monogamous relationship with your husband who has been tested and came back negative…. I’m pretty confident you’re in the clear. Maybe try some antibiotic cream or something?

Why not stop shaving and leave things as nature intended? The area is tender and there may be some ingrown hairs. Needing to use an antibiotic cream or a prescription regularly seems a bad idea. (Discharge also? Whoa.)

My father (as I bet many fathers did) used to make us laugh by saying that we bang our heads against a wall because it feels so good when it stops.

@gailcalled I don’t want to stop shaving because I don’t like the hair being there. I’ve been shaving for 6 years. I’ve stopped shaving until this issue goes away, but I’m not willing to stop altogether. It’s a preference.

Yes, yeast infections normally result in discharge. Normally I have what my doctor calls an “outside only” yeast infection – redness and itching only. If I do get discharge, I need a prescription. I know a few other young women that have this issue, so I don’t think it’s that out of the ordinary. My infections have little to nothing to do with shaving, according to my doctor.

@livelaughlove21 It could have been an infection (these bumps, not your normal yeast infections) that came from the tiny open wounds left by shaving. That’s what happened with me way back when I had similar symptoms. I would stick with the antibiotic cream and hold off on shaving til the issue improves. Maybe take better care to “sanitize” the tools or area when you shave in the future… but be aware this will probably always be a possibility if you shave the area.

@livelaughlove21: So be it. Of course, women who choose to shave their public hair are going to have this problem. Cause and effect.

@gailcalled Not all women that shave have these issues. And I was getting yeast infections before I started shaving. I know if I shave I’m susceptible to ingrown hairs, razor bumps, etc. – all of which I’ve had – but what worries me is that is wasn’t one bump, it was three over a 2-week period. I’m willing to deal with occasional ingrown hairs, I just want to know if this sounds like something else.

I agree, it sounds like shaving could be related to your recurring yeast infections. My doctor compared it to diaper rash—she said when the area becomes irritated, infections can take off.

This could be a new non-STD infection that is also related to the shaving. Staph can often cause painful bumps in that area.

But it goes without saying, none of us can diagnose you from here. Please go see your doctor.

Is it possible to call your OBGYN and ask her to clarify what she means by “Many young women have this issue”?. It may put your mind at ease. It is common though to have odd things there, and most are not serious, but irritating. But I only say this, as you have taken necessary steps to check it out.

Just from my personal experience, it sounds like ingrown hairs. Happens to me sometimes when I shave there. The best way I know to treat it is to buy some Calendula ointment/gel from a local health food store and apply it liberally immediately after shaving. Helps me a ton.

Maybe try using a hydrocortisone cream after shaving? I use it in the summer when I’m shaving higher, for bathing suit wearing purposes. Also I never shave against the direction of hair growth.

@ccrow I would be real careful about putting hydrocortisone on the lady parts. From WebMD “If you have itching of the outer female genitals with vaginal discharge, consult your doctor before using this product.” I would talk to a doctor before putting any kind of ointment on it.

The thing I suggest to do, as others have mentioned, is temporarily stop shaving until the bumps go away, and then give it a few more days. And honestly, I would see a doctor. The fact that you said you have one near your clitoris is alarming. You can’t possibly be shaving there for many reasons, so the fact that one manifested there is really cause for concern. I don’t think you can get an ingrown hair in that spot cause there isn’t hair there.

Have you considered waxing as opposed to shaving? That should cut down on many ingrown hairs. And what I am about to say, I don’t mean to scare you or freak you out (I’m just putting all options out there), but maybe your husband was not faithful and picked up something from someone else and gave it to you? Also, men (and women) can be carriers of STDs but never or rarely show any symptoms. I would ask him what he was tested for. Best bet for your peace of mind, go see the doctor.

I made a doctor’s appointment for tomorrow.

@Ponderer983 This may sound naive, but my husband hasn’t been unfaithful. And my reason for saying that isn’t because “he loves me too much” or “he’d never do that”....he simply doesn’t have time for any extracurriculars like that. He works 60 hours a week (and gets paid for that many, so no “working late” nonsense) and is with me at all other times. If he was sneaking around, he’d have to be VERY good at it. And in my experience, 22-year-old boys tend not to be very good at hiding that type of thing.

I seriously doubt it’s herpes. First of all, we’ve never had unprotected sex. Secondly, let’s just say I’m pretty sure I’d have cold sores in my mouth way before I’d have a genital outbreak. And the bump near my clitoris was on the hairline, so it could’ve been an ingrown hair still. Regardless, I’m guessing it’s some other type of infection, non-STD.

I’m still worried about it, as I’m known to be a worrier when it comes to my health, but herpes just doesn’t seem to fit.

I’m glad your going to the doctor. He/she will probably lay your fears to rest at once.

Have you recently changed your soap? You may be allergic.
Be gentle with yourself. Your skin is very delicate there. Have you ever considered using yoghurt as a natural barrier against yeast infections? It’s completely natural and tastes yummy. You can also apply it like a cream.

http://www.youryeastinfection.com/yeast-infection-treatment/yogurt-for-yeast-infections.htm

Here’s a little update: The bump started out as only a little tender when touched this morning, but became progressively more painful throughout the day. When I went to the restroom recently, I noticed that it had busted and white stuff came out, like with a pimple or an ingrown hair. Not sure which it was, but I squeezed as much as I could from it and now it doesn’t hurt as much. It wasn’t clear fluid like with a blister, so I’m feeling a bit better about it. Still going to the gyno though, just to be sure, and to clear up the itching/irritation issue.

Here’s what I recommend.

Step 1. Quit shaving: Let it grow out for a while. As others have mentioned you may have some ingrowns that are becoming infected and you perhaps are shaving the bubble off causing inflammation thus your body reacting to the situation, telling you it’s painful, itchy and irritated.

Step 2. After about a month, see how you like the hair. If you don’t like the hair why not simply trim?

Step 3. If the hair must absolutely go, I’d recommend setting up an appointment with your nearest brazilian wax parlor.

Step 4. Consider doing research in what pubic hair is there for in the first place. Weigh out the pros and cons. Is it worth living through the pain and itching? Or will a little aesthetic life style change be best for your overall physical health?

The choice is yours of course, best of luck.

**Red bumps near the clitoris: Make sure you and your partners gums aren’t infected with gingivitis.

I know this because of experience, however here is a link where you can start your research on good oral care practice.

White stuff is pus and indicates, at best, a localized infection. Try to keep your hands away from the entire area, please, until you have see the doctor.

You can gently wash the entire area with very warm water and unperfumied soap. Nothing else.

Have you ever tried shaving with conditioner instead of gel? That might help cut down on the irritation.

folliculitis.

The next time these bumps occur, go to your doctor and get a herpes culture. Tests for herpes are not conducted during STD tests, as they can only be tested for when breakouts occur.

A lot of people have herpes of the mouth and don’t even realize it (ever have a cold sore?). Herpes can easily be transferred to the genitals via oral sex.

Okay, listen. A lot of people are overreacting on this thread.

Question: do the bumps only occur recently after shaving?

If so, they really are only ingrown hairs. Trust me on this. It happens to me almost every time I shave my genitals, which is why I don’t shave as often as I used to. Unless you’re just really, really worried, there is no need to go to a doctor for this.

[WARNING: TMI to follow] When I shave, for a week or two after, I get those same red bumps that sometimes turn into blisters that will either have a red or even purplish appearance. When they blister like that, they are painful, and they usually either burst on their own, or I have to force burst them. Blood and milky-whitish liquid will come out. It’s gross yes, but it’s not anything serious that warrants seeing a doctor.

Some women do not understand about this and will freak out thinking, OMG an infected vagina!!! It’s not an infected vagina, just ingrown hairs. Some women are more prone to them than others, just like some women are more prone to yeast infections than others. If you’ve never experienced it, you shouldn’t try to diagnose it and recommend an unnecessary doctor’s visit.

The only thing I can tell you to do to help, is to either stop completely shaving and just use clean scissors to trim the pubic hair as short as you want (which is what I mostly do now) or to apply the Calendula ointment directly after shaving. That ointment is very good for healing skin irritations, and also for skin tissue re-granulation if you accidentally nick yourself.

There is no need to go to the doctor about this, because a lot of doctors will write you off with unnecessary antibiotics that wouldn’t help this type of problem anyway. (I once had a genuine medical problem that really required corrective surgery, but a quack doctor tried to brush me off with an anti-depressant, so I had to painfully fix the problem myself.)

I’m not talking out of my ass; I grew up with a nurse for a mother, and had to endure the humiliation of exposing my vagina to her because of my concern. She’s the one who assured me it was only ingrown hairs from shaving, and taught me how to very closely trim the hair (and only gently shave the bikini line during summer), and about the Calendula ointment.

So seriously, don’t panic, and don’t waste money at the doctor’s office. If you must shave, shave with the grain instead of against it, and invest in that Calendula ointment. It really will help.

@WillWorkForChocolate: OP did describe a small infection that, luckily burst and was not irritated even further by the squeezing.

“The bump started out as only a little tender when touched this morning, but became progressively more painful throughout the day. When I went to the restroom recently,... that it had busted and white stuff came out… I squeezed as much as I could from it and now it doesn’t hurt as much. ..”

Ok, I went to the doctor today. She took a look at it and says that one of the bumps is undoubtedly a healing ingrown hair. She thinks the same of the most recent one, but did a culture just to be sure. She states it looks nothing like herpes, but it does sometimes present as other things, so she wanted to be safe. In her words, “No worries, it’ll come back negative.”

She accidentally used the wrong culture so I had to go back and get blood taken instead. So, @Silence04, what you said isn’t true according to my doctor (and a quick google search). A culture from the blister/sore can only be taken if there’s a sore, of course, but a blood test will show herpes as well. Oh, and no, I’ve never had a cold sore and neither has my husband. I’m aware that’s the herpes virus as well, though.

Also, for those of you telling me not to shave, I asked the gynecologist about it. She said shaving is fine, I can continue doing it. These things do occur more often with shaving, but it’s not harmful. She said that all of our skin has staph on it, and when we shave, we get microscopic cuts and the staph will get in there. She says it almost always heals on its own and it minor in the scheme of things.

@Silence04 As @livelaughlove21 mentioned in her post, you can test for herpes through blood, HOWEVER, you can only know if you have HSV Type 1 or HSV Type 2 through a culture directly from the sore.

Good to hear you should be good! I just came back from getting waxed. have you ever tried as opposed to shaving? Just something to think about.

@gailcalled She described exactly what I get when I have ingrown hairs. It’s not an infection, and certainly not one that warrants concern. And her doctor confirmed that.

@livelaughlove21 Yes, it’s fine to keep shaving if you really want to, you’ll just have to deal with an increase in the number of ingrown hairs. I’ve gotten pretty used to it, though, so when I do actually decide to shave, it doesn’t bother me as much as it used to.

@WillWorkForChocolate: One bump is ingrown; one is still unclear.

” She thinks the same of the most recent one, but did a culture just to be sure.”

The pus did indicate staph, “which almost always heals on its own and is minor in the scheme of things.” I hope so.

I had a staph infection that put me in the hospital for six days with UV antibiotics, so perhaps I overreacted. Mine was a post-surgical incision that staph discovered and entered, in spite of sterile fields and procedures.

Yes, you can get a herpes test done from blood, but they arent done in standard std blood tests because they only show if an antibody is present, which often results in many false positives.

Herpes, regardless of type 1 or type 2, remains isolated to the area transfer occured.
You can have herpes in your mouth, and not anywhere else on your body. A culture would have to be taken on the isolated area to determine if it’s herpes is present in that location (genitals, mouth, eyes, etc)

I’ve got an update for anyone that may be interested.

A couple days after I went to the doctor, I got yet another red painful bump. This one was on the labia minora (where no hair grows) and was underneath the skin. It hurt for a couple of days, and the itching became really intense, and then it popped, pus came out, then it went down and went away. At this point, I’m pretty sure the bumps were ingrown hairs and/or sebaceous cysts.

I called the gynecologist that Monday and found out my HSV test came back negative. By this time, my symptoms were gone. No itching, no pain….for about two days. The itching began to come back, and a new symptom popped up – swelling and hypersensitivity.

So, I went to the gynecologist yet again. Although the bumps are gone, she said it does look worse down there. She called me an “enigma” and was very confused at what it might be. The anti-fungal cream seemed to keep it moist, which made the itching worse. She says it appears to be coming from the inside out. She says it still looks nothing like herpes, but mentioned things like eczema, psoriasis, and even shingles. She didn’t take any more blood, but said she was going to treat it like a virus because it appears to be viral. She gave me Valtrex 1g to take twice a day for 7 days. She said it probably wouldn’t help for about five days.

The itching isn’t bothering me, but the area is just swollen, red, and tender to the touch. My underwear rubbing against it is very uncomfortable. I’ve been wearing loose clothes, cotton underwear, keeping it clean, and using Desitin with 40% zinc.

This thing has been going on for a month. I don’t think it’s herpes, shingles, eczema, psoriasis, or a yeast infection. Nothing seems to fit. It’s really hurting the sex life and making walking around campus seem like torture. I just want it to go away. If it’s not better by Tuesday, I’m going to see another doctor and see if he/she can figure it out. Maybe dermatitis? I don’t know…

My face is also breaking our horribly. I’m sure this is just a coincidence or a combination of stress and my upcoming (late, as usual) period, but it just makes it that much worse.

Sounds horrible. I hope you get it sorted out soon. I wonder if allergies were mentioned. Just a thought. Maybe change your soap, or some other product you use on the area.

@wundayatta I don’t think that’s it. I haven’t changed soaps, detergents, etc. in years. Like I said, I’ve had problems with recurring yeast infections, so nothing I use down there has a scent.

Yesterday and today have actually been good. Maybe the Valtrex is working, because I was able to walk around all day with no pain and the swelling appears to be much better.

I’ve got a bit of a routine going. Not sure which is working, if any, but I’ll keep doing them all until I know I’m healed. I’ve been washing the area with gentle, unscented soap, soaking in a hot bath, rubbing some diluted tea tree oil on the area, drying it with the hair dryer on a cool setting, applying a layer of desitin, and wearing cotton underwear. I’ve also been taking Acidophillus, my Valtrex, and an AZO yeast pro-biotic daily.

Yesterday I even wore jeans and went shopping! It’s nice to have a day or two of normality. I hope it stays gone this time.

Try some apple cider vinegar in your baths. If it’s yeast, that should help.

Just so you know, it is possible to develop an allergy to something over time. For years you are ok, and then, all of a sudden, you’re allergic. That has happened to me and soap products.

I’ve got another update – sort of. I finished my Valtrex prescription and, on the last day, I got a weird pain on my left labia. Not on the skin so much, it felt like it was a deeper pain, but not within the vaginal opening – just the labia. I couldn’t put my legs together without the pain, and wiping was a major issue because just touching the area hurt quite a bit. However, there was nothing there that I could see – no bumps, nothing! Barely even any redness.

I was on my period, so I just emailed the nurse at my GYN office. She called in another 5 days of Valtrex, a 7-day antibiotic rx, and Diflucan with 2 refills. It seems like she’s just trying to knock out whatever’s going on. It after a week I still have symptoms, I’ll know it’s not bacterial, fungal, OR viral. If that’s the case, I’m not sure where I’ll go after that. Dermatologist? Another herpes test?

It seems strange that the symptoms didn’t stay the same. First bumps, then intense itching, then hypersensitivity, then pain. With some normal days thrown in. The pain went away after a day, but now it just feels strange down there. Not painful, not really itchy…just not normal. I went four days with NO symptoms – everything felt completely fine – and then the pain. I just don’t get it.

I guess all I can do now is keep doing what I’m doing and hope that by the time my antibiotic cycle ends, so will my problems. This is causing me so much stress, it just plain sucks. I’m surprised the husband has stuck around – going on 5 weeks unable to have sex.

Pehaps this is no longer something that a nurse should be prescribing for. That’s a lot of antibiotics for an undiagnosed issue.

Can you get a second opinion, or better yet, a new doctor? “An enigma” is not a very good diagnosis, particularly from someone who “accidently used the wrong culture.”

Are you not newly weds? You are surprised that your husband would stick around while you have a serious medical issue? That does not bode well for the marriage. (I see that you two married in May.)

Five weeks of no vaginal intercourse is not the same as having no sex.

@gailcalled Doesn’t really sound like fingering or cunnilingus are really an option, either.

Given the OP’s discomfort, I am assuming (not always a good thing) that she is concerned about her young husband.

@gailcalled Well you know what assuming does. Yeah, no fingering or oral (for me) is happening. Painful, itchy vagina does not a horny wife make. My comment was actually a joke. I’m not surprised he’s still sticking around – I actually considered trying to have sex today, but he insists to wait until I’m 100% better so he doesn’t make it worse. I just feel bad that he has to settle for oral for this long.

I will see a different doctor if the antibiotics don’t fix it. I’m not currently having symptoms of anything alarming, so that’s why I haven’t done so yet. But by nurse I meant NP of course.

What’s an NP?

Glad you were joking. Oral sex is not so bad; plenty of guys (certainly most of them here, t seems) would choose a blow job.

An NP is a nurse practitioner.

And she can write prescriptions?

Of course.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurse_practitioner