Labia Biopsy ???

Well this has nothing to do with my hysterectomy but I thought because you sisters were so helpful to me when I really needed it in the past you may be of some help now.

I have had what I would describe as a yeast infection, without any or very little discharge since April. I have seen my doc and we ruled out diabetes (sp?)and yeast. The itching is external and constant. I went back to him today and now he wants to take a couple of biopsies from the outer skin in the southern region. Now I don't know about you but this is freaking me out....it sounds extremely painful. :eyes: I think I would rather go in for another hyster! I have searched the net and can't find anything besides yeast infection information.

What I am wondering is if anyone here has had this kind of biopsy before and what am I to expect? The nurse told me to take 2 days off work...is this enough???? The next ?, what other conditions cause this? My doc really didn't say what he was looking for but that there are other bacteria that cause these symtoms and in order to treat correctly the biopsy needs to be done.

Thanks again for all the gave me such great support in the past! What a wonderful site.

Hi, Patricia! If it's any help to you, I had a biopsy of the thyroid last Feb. and it was almost painless. He put some anaesthetic stuff where the long needle would go in, and must have had some more on the needle. He was poking around looking for a sample of a suspicious node or lump, and then pulled out the needle & that was it. The only pain I had was the thyroid which swelled up for a week (it didn't like all of that probing!). The actual biopsy was painless. Hope this helps you a bit!! Katryna

Hi Patricia. What you are describing sounds exactly like a problem that I have been dealin with off and on for the last 3 years or so. It's called vulvodynia. From everything I have read and from what my GYN says,there really is no known cause for it and it usually has a tendency to come and go no matter what we do to treat it. Don't despair tho...there are things that you can do to ease the discomfort and get it to settle down. Do a little research on vulvodynia and then discuss it with your Dr.
Luckily for me I have had very few problems with it since after my hyst. and following the instructions on treatment that she gave me, or else my GYN would have done biopsies as well.

I hope you can get a good treatment plan from your Dr. as I did and that the incredibly annoying little problem can be taken care of. Good luck.

Oh, Patricia.....I really feel bad for you! whatever the problem is, it sounds very uncomfortable.

As far as the biopsy goes, I have only had my uterus biopsied (not pleasant). I wonder why they just can't scrape some cells off like they do with a pap smear? It might just be a dermotological issue. I'm stumped but I wish you the best!

Jennifer

I wonder if the DR might be suspecting lichen sclerosis? If you do a search on that term here, you'll find a few threads from ladies who have experienced that condition.

s,
-Linda

Wow...thanks alot for the great info. I will be looking into those suggestions for sure! My appointment was scheduled for the 13th but now I have to change gyn's for reasons out of my control but and now am going for yet another conselltation on the 13th instead. I am actually relieved that the proceedure isn't taking place so soon as now I have more time to do research and get my questions in order. The thought of this proceedure just isn't appealing to me!

I thank you so much....and if anyone else has suggestions please feel free to share them with me.

I have another couple of thoughts for you--Years ago I suddenly developed an allergy to that laundry detergent my clothes were washed in. It caused me to have rashes in many different places all over my body; especially in 'sensitive' areas. A neighbor told me to try using one of the detergents with no colors and no scent (like All Free 'n Clear or something like that) along with either no fabric softener or one that has no scents/perfumes in it. Once I started using those, the rashes all went completely away and I had no more skin irritation. I also went to using a soap that didn't have all the deodorant scents in it. Only recently I have also noticed that using deodorant pantiliners/pads, caused me intense irritation in the whole genital area. Since I just stopped using those scented ones for post-op discharge, the irritation has been slowly going away. I do hope you will find the source of your irritation and that it will go away. Sending +++++thoughts++++++++++++