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Dear Aunt Vadge,
For the past year and a bit, I have noticed that the right outer lip of my vagina is dry and occasionally the skin cracks and flakes. I have been masturbating for many years, and I think this may be the cause. It looks very irritated and red, which I do not understand, as I do not rub this area.
I am very insecure about the appearance of it and I have tried to make this problem go away for a long time by using Vaseline. Also, I only wear cotton underwear.
The appearance of my vulva really embarrasses me and I am dreading being with a partner. I am worried that this could be something serious or something that won’t go away.
Everything else seems normal. I don’t think I have an infection, as I have researched the symptoms and the only one that matches is the dryness.
I have tried to quit masturbating, but the longest I’ve gone was just over a week, and the dryness did not improve. I am not even sure if masturbating is what is causing this dryness. It embarrasses me a lot to have to write this message, but I am desperate for advice and information on what is going on.
Should I stop masturbating? Are there any remedies for the dryness? If so, how long will it take for me to start noticing a change?
Yours,
Dry
Dear Dry,
First, the short version: no, you don’t need to stop masturbating – it almost certainly isn’t the cause. A dry, red, sometimes-cracking patch on one outer lip that has hung around for a year is nearly always a skin thing, not an infection and not something you’ve done. The most likely culprit is a low-grade irritation of the vulval skin (a contact or irritant dermatitis), and that is very treatable once you find what’s setting it off. So take a breath – this is a common, fixable sort of problem, not a sign that something is wrong with you.
You’re right that it doesn’t sound like a yeast or bacterial infection, and it doesn’t sound like your underwear or your own hands are to blame. The Vaseline is worth a mention, though – petroleum jelly sits on the skin and traps things against it, and for some people it keeps a grumpy patch grumpy rather than helping it settle. It’s not evil, but it may not be doing what you hoped.
What you can do yourself, right now
You don’t need a clinic or any money to start on this. Vulval skin is delicate, and most stubborn dry patches calm down a lot once you stop washing and treating them so hard. For the next few weeks:
- Wash the area with plain warm water only – no soap, body wash, ‘feminine wash’ or bubble bath on the vulva.
- Pat dry gently, don’t rub.
- Park the Vaseline for now. If you want to protect the skin, a plain, fragrance-free barrier or a simple oil is kinder than petroleum jelly.
- Look hard for a hidden irritant: scented or ‘sensitive’ wipes, panty liners and pads, laundry detergent and fabric softener, scented toilet paper, bath products, even a new soap in the shower can all land on that skin.
- Keep your cotton underwear – that part you’ve already got right.
It helps to keep a simple timeline diary: jot down when the patch flares and what changed in the day or two before (a new product, your period, a hot itchy day, a bit of scratching in your sleep). Patterns show up fast, and the trigger is often something ordinary you’d never suspect.
One more thing worth knowing: an itchy patch that gets scratched, then thickens and gets drier and itchier, can settle into a self-feeding itch–scratch loop. That’s a recognised pattern called lichen simplex chronicus. Breaking the scratching (even in your sleep – short nails, a barrier at night) is a big part of calming it.
What a dry patch on the labia usually is
A few skin conditions can all produce a dry, flaky, sometimes-red patch on the vulva. You don’t need to diagnose yourself – but it helps to know the usual suspects so nothing feels mysterious.
Contact and irritant dermatitis is the most common cause of vulval skin symptoms.1 It’s the skin reacting to something touching it – soaps, wipes, pads, detergent, fragrances – or being over-washed. It’s exactly the kind of thing the plain-water-and-detective-work approach above is built to fix.
Vulval eczema and genital psoriasis can look similar. Psoriasis makes skin cells shed faster than usual, leaving dry, flaky patches, and it often first shows up in early adulthood. Interestingly, people who get a psoriasis patch on the genitals frequently don’t get it elsewhere on the body.2 A dry, ring-shaped patch could also be a fungal skin infection (tinea) rather than a thrush-type yeast – a different beast that a doctor can swab for.
There’s also a background factor worth checking: low iron. It’s linked to vaginal and vulval symptoms and turns up as a contributor in vulval dermatitis, so a simple blood test for iron and ferritin is a cheap, useful thing to add if your patch keeps dragging on.3
When to get it looked at
Most dry patches settle with the gentle-care approach. But there’s one condition worth ruling out if things don’t improve: lichen sclerosus. It shows up as persistent white, shiny or crinkly patches, sometimes with small splits or fissures in the skin, and it does best when it’s caught and treated, so it’s worth naming rather than leaving to chance.
So: if the patch is stubborn, keeps cracking, turns white or shiny, or just isn’t budging after a few weeks of gentle care, it’s worth having someone actually look at it. This is a job for a hands-on exam, which we don’t do – a GP, a women’s health nurse, or a sexual-health or dermatology clinic can eyeball it and, if needed, take a quick swab or skin sample. If you can get to a confidential clinic, great; if there’s nothing near you or it’s not affordable right now, a regular GP appointment covers this perfectly well, and you’re allowed to say plainly, ‘I’ve got a dry patch on my vulva I’d like checked.’ They’ve seen it many times before.
To your last question – how long until you notice a change – give the gentle-care plan a few weeks. Irritant patches often start improving within two to four weeks of removing the trigger and leaving the skin alone. If it’s psoriasis, eczema or lichen sclerosus, the right cream from a clinician usually turns it around, so either way there’s a real path out of this.
And on the embarrassment: please don’t let this loom over the idea of being with a partner. A small dry patch is common, unremarkable to anyone who works in this area, and very unlikely to be the disaster it feels like in your head at 2am.
All the best,
Aunt Vadge
This is general information, not a substitute for personalised medical advice. If your symptoms persist, worsen, or worry you, please see a healthcare professional who can examine you.
Frequently asked questions
Can masturbation cause a dry patch on the labia?
Not usually. A one-off friction rub can leave the skin sore for a day or two, but a dry, red patch on one lip that lasts a year isn’t caused by masturbation, and stopping won’t fix it. A persistent patch like that points to a skin condition such as contact dermatitis, so there’s no need to give up something you enjoy.
Is Vaseline good for a dry patch on the vulva?
It’s a mixed bag. Petroleum jelly forms a seal over the skin, which can trap irritants and moisture against an already-grumpy patch rather than letting it settle. For a dry vulval patch, plain warm-water washing plus a simple fragrance-free barrier or oil is usually kinder, and removing the underlying irritant matters more than any product.
When should I see a doctor about a dry patch on my labia?
See someone if the patch doesn’t improve after a few weeks of gentle care, keeps cracking or bleeding, or turns white, shiny or crinkly – that last picture is worth ruling out lichen sclerosus, which does best when treated early. A GP or a sexual-health or dermatology clinic can look at it and swab or sample it if needed.
- Fischer GO. The commonest causes of symptomatic vulvar disease: A dermatologist’s perspective. Australasian Journal of Dermatology. 1996;37(1):12–18.
- Meeuwis KAP, Potts Bleakman A, van de Kerkhof PCM, et al. Prevalence of genital psoriasis in patients with psoriasis. Journal of Dermatological Treatment. 2018;29(8):754–760.
- Crone AM, Stewart EJC, Wojnarowska F, Powell SM. Aetiological factors in vulvar dermatitis. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. 2000;14(3):181–186.
