Something else? Ask Aunt Vadge – bottom left of your screen!
Dear Aunt Vadge,
A couple of months ago I went to a consultant after realising I had a divide in my vagina. I am 23 now, but only noticed the divide was unusual when my boyfriend would sometimes get pain trying to fully enter, and I would always experience pain.
I thought it was normal until I went for an STI check, and the nurse asked me if I had been pregnant before, which shocked me, so I straight away looked up what the divide could be. I reckon she thought I had a prolapse.
I went to this consultant three months ago and she sent me for an MRI and then a bladder check, and came back with a conclusion that I had a ‘double vagina’ [longitudinal vaginal septum] only, everything else in perfect working order, no risk with future pregnancies.
That was the extent of my information after paying nearly 400 for the consultations and MRI. I have read that you can have surgery to remove the septum, and I feel I need it, but she did not relay that option or give me any information. I felt my case might have been the first she had come across, and it worries me that others in her field here in the south of Ireland might be just as inexperienced.
So my main question is: who do I go to from here, what are the risks, and what is the outcome of having such a surgery?
Thanks in advance,
Duble
Hi Duble,
Thanks for writing, and well done for chasing this down – you have already done the hard part by getting the MRI and the diagnosis. A longitudinal vaginal septum is a wall of tissue running down the middle of the vagina, and where it causes pain with sex, as yours does, surgery to remove it (a septoplasty) is the usual treatment.
I will be straight with you about where we fit: we are a naturopathic vulvovaginal resource, and this is not something we assess or treat. It is a structural, surgical question, and it belongs with the right kind of surgeon. So rather than home remedies, here is how to find that person.
Your instinct is exactly right – you want someone who has done this more than once. Septum surgery is uncommon simply because the condition is uncommon, so the people who do it well tend to be clustered in bigger centres.
The best route is to ask your consultant (or your GP) to refer you on to a tertiary gynaecology or reproductive-surgery unit that handles congenital or Mullerian anomalies. In Ireland that means a large teaching hospital in Dublin, Cork or Galway, and if the volume there is low, ask outright to be referred somewhere it is higher – including across to the UK, where a few centres see these regularly. You are allowed to ask for that.
When you meet a surgeon, it is completely reasonable to ask how many of these they have done, what the specific risks are for you, what recovery looks like, and how it might affect sex, tampon use and future pregnancy. A good one will welcome those questions. Recovery and outcomes really do vary from person to person, so let the surgeon who examines you give you your actual numbers rather than a general figure from the internet.
One more thing worth confirming: because a vaginal septum can occasionally sit alongside other reproductive-tract differences, check that your team has looked at the whole picture (kidneys and uterus included). It sounds like your MRI and bladder check may already have covered this – if not, it is a fair thing to ask.
Wanting an experienced pair of hands for this is completely reasonable. Keep pushing until you feel you are in good hands.
Warmest regards,
Aunt Vadge
This is general information, not a substitute for a proper medical assessment – please be guided by your specialist.
