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Aunt Vadge,
For a little over a month now, there has been what looks like a shallow cut next to my clitoris. It started out with my boyfriend and I doing our thing and I was helping him out. Long story short, my fingernail made a small nick on my clitoris that seemed to heal within a week.
A couple weeks later, I noticed I was itchy down there. I just assumed it was a small thing and I had nothing to worry about. Upon further inspection, the cut was back, and I was only itchy where the cut was. It doesn’t itch all the time, but it’s enough to bother me.
A few days ago, I looked and saw the initial cut was still there, but for some reason, there seemed to be another cut beside the original, but outside of the clitoris. The cuts are the same colour as the skin down there, so there’s no discolouration, pus, or anything I see to concern, other than the growth. They don’t look like papercuts, but more like a scrape that has scraped the first layer of skin off.
I tried putting a small amount of Neosporin on the cut before it grew, but never seemed to help so I stopped. I don’t know where to go from here, as it isn’t seeming to be healing at all.
Thanks for your time!
Yours,
Scraped
Dear Scraped,
A cut that heals, comes back in the same spot, and then a second one turns up beside it – over a month, and still not settling – is worth taking a bit more seriously. Not because something is badly wrong, but because skin that keeps splitting in the same place usually has a reason, and it’s an easy one to check.
Why a small cut might not heal
The first nick from a fingernail was probably just that. But when a spot keeps re-opening, stays itchy, and won’t heal on its own, a vulval skin condition called lichen sclerosus can do exactly this: fragile, itchy skin near the clitoris that splits and re-splits in the same place. It’s common, very treatable, and the sooner it’s looked at the better. There are other skin conditions that can do something similar (lichen planus and a few others), but they all sit in the same box – things a doctor needs to actually see to sort out, rather than something to keep guessing at from home.
Getting it looked at
We don’t do physical exams here, so this is one to have looked at in person – your GP or a sexual health clinic. It’s completely fine to say ‘I’ve got a spot near my clitoris that keeps splitting and won’t heal – can you check it isn’t lichen sclerosus?’ Naming it helps them give it a proper look rather than waving it off as just a graze.
What you can do in the meantime
- Keep the area clean with just warm water – no soap on it.
- Leave it alone as much as you can, and keep your nails short and smooth.
- A little pawpaw ointment or delicate cuts cream can sit over the top as a barrier so it isn’t dragged open again.
- Skip the Neosporin – antibiotic creams can irritate vulval skin, and this doesn’t look like a bacterial cut.
If it does turn out to be a skin condition, treating the root of it – rather than just covering it over – is where the real fix is, and that’s something we can help with once you know what you’re actually dealing with.
Warmest regards,
Aunt Vadge
This is general information and not a substitute for a personalised medical opinion. A cut that hasn’t healed in over a month should be looked at in person.
