Advice for daily life
Please note: nothing on this site is meant to qualify as a medical diagnosis. You should consult your doctor or other medical practitioner for a diagnosis and further information.
General vulval care
- Avoid overuse of creams that have not been prescribed.
- Bathe the affected area once or twice a day either using compresses of cotton wool soaked in colloidal oatmeal which has previously been dissolved in water and stored in the fridge, or by sitting in a bath with collodial oatmeal product in it made up as specified. If you cannot find colloidal oatmeal, you could try plain oatmeal in the toe of a clean stocking or in a muslin bag: swirl it around in the bath before you get in. You might want to store moistened tea bags in the fridge or freezer and use them as cold compresses twice daily.
- If passing urine makes your symptoms worse, wash the urine away from the vulval area using a jug of warm water while on the toilet.
- If urine or chlorine irritate your vulva further, use a barrier cream or alternatively, petroleum jelly, to protect the skin. Whatever you use, be sure to test it for at least 24 hours on the inside of your wrist first to make sure your skin does not react to any preservatives in any cream you might apply to the vulva.
Washing and bathing
- Do not use soaps, bubble-baths, deodorants or vaginal wipes in or around the vulval area.
- Clean the vulval area once a day, with water, or with emulsifying ointment, preferably using showers, not baths, and avoiding scrubbing with flannels and brushes.
- Avoid antiseptics in the bath.
- When washing your hair, avoid allowing the shampoo from coming into contact with the vulval area. Try washing your hair in the sink.
Feminine hygiene
- Use unscented, unbleached tampons, sanitary towels/pads and pantyliners, such as Natracare products.
- The menstrual cup is one alternative to tampons which you might wish to try. This is a small, flexible silicone, rubber or plastic cup which is worn internally inside the vagina and is either reusable or disposable, depending on the model.
- Cloth menstrual pads are reusable and can be an alternative to conventional sanitary towels. If you like DIY and crafting, you can even learn how to make your own cloth pads on The Sewing Society’s website.
Clothing
- Wear loose-fitting cotton underwear.
- Try washing undergarments with water only. Fabric conditioners and washing powders contain potential irritants to the skin.
- Some clinical trials in Italy found that wearing DermaSilk briefs reduced vulval pain, particularly when there was evidence of skin irritation or Candida infection. The briefs are available on prescription, or from the DermaSilk website if you want a more varied style.
Sex
- If sex is painful you may want to try a natural vaginal lubricant.
- If sex is still painful even with a lubricant, try using the local anaesthetic lidocaine (formerly called lignocaine) just before intercourse. Lidocaine temporarily numbs whatever it comes in contact with, so use a bit, let it sit a few minutes then rinse it off, otherwise your partner may get numb! Lidocaine ointment 5% and lidocaine gel 2%, both of which are available on prescription, are manufactured by Teva UK Ltd. Lidocaine is also available in a 10% spray called Xylocaine which is manufactured by AstraZeneca UK Ltd.
- Another anaesthetic (numbing) treatment which can be applied to the vulva is EMLA cream. It contains two active ingredients, lidocaine and prilocaine, which are used to numb areas of the skin that would otherwise feel pain. The commonest indication is for use on non-general skin surfaces e.g. the arm when having blood taken, or prior to skin tattoos. Within a hospital setting, it is used for numbing the genital skin prior to skin biopsy. An advantage of using the cream is that it may produce short-term relief from pain when applied to vulval skin. The disadvantages include transient local reactions at the application site such as paleness, erythema (redness) and swelling. It is always important to use a test dose first to ensure that you do not react to the cream. Unlike the lignocaine (lidocaine) ointment described above, which can be used regularly on the vulva, with EMLA cream it is best to seek advice from your doctor as the use of EMLA long-term with respect to timing and dose of treatment is not clear. It is available on prescription only.
Exercise
- If swimming or exercising vigorously, protect the vulval area with a barrier cream or petroleum jelly.
- For keen cyclists, Spongy Wonder Bicycle Seats from Canada have been specially designed to reduce physical distress to the vulval region. They allow greater circulation of air than conventional seats do. Read more about the seat on the Urological Sciences Research Foundation site. See also Bodyfit bike saddles.
Sitting
- Sitting on specialist pressure relief cushions such as foam or gel wedges may help to reduce pain. These are available from any specialist back or medical supply store or online.
If you suspect a fungal infection…
The NHS website has general information on the drugs used to treat fungal infections, including vaginal thrush. Many vulval pain patients find topical anti-fungal creams and pessaries further inflame their pain, so always consider asking your doctor or pharmacist about oral anti-fungals available in the UK such as itraconazole (prescription only) or fluconazole (no prescription needed).
How to distinguish between fungal and bacterial infections
| Vaginal candidiasis (thrush) | Bacterial vaginosis (BV) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cause | Fungal infection | Bacterial infection |
| Sexual transmission | Very rarely | Often |
| Symptoms | ||
| Relation to menses | Often postmenstrual | None |
| Painful urination | Mild to marked | Absent to mild |
| Vulval irritation | External | Not usual |
| Odour | Absent | Fishy, amine-like |
| Signs | ||
| Labial redness | Variable | No |
| Satellite lesions | Yes | No |
| Vaginal tenderness | Yes | No |
| Discharge | ||
| Consistency | Sometimes curdy or cheeselike | Homogenous, frothy |
| Colour | White | Grey, white |
| pH (see note*) | Less than 4.5 | Greater than 4.7 |
*Note that BV can be distinguished from a fungal infection immediately using either a pH test of vaginal discharge that shows low acidity (pH greater than 4.5) or a fishy odour when a sample of vaginal discharge is combined with a drop of potassium hydroxide on a glass slide (the “whiff test”).