Lumps and Bumps

Hi Ladies,
You are a great help to me so far. I am going ahead with TAH having got over my recent panic attack. However, I have a problem of a very personal nature, (well, we all do I guess)and hope you might be able to help. I am getting recurring uncomfortable lumps on the outside and just inside my vagina, and they're never there when I see my doctor. I have told the gynae about them, but of course he hasnt seen any sign of them. They're very irritating, and just come and go. Sometimes itchy, sometimes very sore and as many as half a dozen at a time, or just one or two big ones. Could they just be hormonal? Somehow linked to what's going on inside me?? I wish they'd just go away..... any treatment suggestions???? (Be gentle with me!)

Hi Jodee. I am a nurse and this is sounding it like it could be herpes? It would be typical for these to come and go, flaring in the process, causing the discomfort you are describing. The only way your gyn will be able to see them is when they are there, hopefully open or 'weeping' and he can culture them to know for sure. The treatment is a drug called Acyclovir and can be used when the lumps 'first' start and for a few days. I'm sorry to say they are contagious through sexual activity. It can lay dormant for many years and then show up out of the blue and is usually due to stress. It sounds like you've had your share. They are sexually transmitted as I mentioned, so you would have gotten them from someone else while they also had an active case at the time of a sexual encounter. It would be hard to know when, unless you can specifically relate it to someone. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news! Please make it a point to get this checked when or if it comes back and you'll know for sure.

Hi Lori,
Thanks for your feedback, I thought it seemed like the most obvious answer, but I have had the same partner (my husband) for 14 years, and we've been totally faithful to each other... I've only had these bumps on and off for the last year or so. I dont get cold sores, or any other herpes types, and would like to think it unlikely that it was herpes. Yuk. Like I need it??? Sure it couldn't be anything else???

I've had sebacious (sp?) cysts from time to time - abcessed hair follicles, I think. Painful, hard, red, angry things that finally burst like a pimple and look nasty for a week. I think they are prompted by heat, irritation, and dampness. I've only gotten one at a time, months apart, but if there's something in the environment that's causing them, I s'pose it could cause several. Have you recently switched from cotton to nylon panties? Got a new job where you have to wear nylons? Or maybe you're just bundled up real good now that it's winter?

Hi Jodee, I don't blame you for thinking that maybe this could be something else other than herpes. Is there any chance that your husband is prone to cold sores and he may have transmitted it through oral sex? (Sorry, this is a sensitive subject.) There are other things this could be, maybe some irritation from being a warm moist area, but that is usually indicitive of a reddened 'area, not distinctive bumps that are itchy and flaring? There are a list of other things too, but all are sexually transmitted. I would doubt this is hormonal...The best thing to do is go to the Dr. 'when' it is there and see if he can culture it for you. Best of luck, it sounds uncomfortable...

Hi Ladies,
Thanks for your posts. Seems like I'd better get myself off to the Doc. I live in Queensland Australia, so it's quite hot here at the moment... I do wear cotton panties with nylons to work, (air conditioned tho) and maybe stress has played a part too...
Well neither of us can figure how I got it, but I'll get it fixed... assuming it can be easily fixed, probably antibiotics?? Wonder if it will get in the way of my surgery medications?

While it's sub zero here and over 20 inches of snow on the ground, "quite hot" is hard for me to imagine!

I had mentioned earlier that they would use a drug called Acyclovir or something similar if it is herpes. It is viral, so an antibiotic won't work. I don't imagine it would interfere with your surgery or meds, but if it is herpes you may want to ask. Please let us know...