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Hi Aunt Vadge,
I’m 19 and I live in North Carolina. I’ve had a small cut at the bottom of my vagina for a year now. Some days it feels like it hasn’t healed, and it breaks open and stings, making sitting uncomfortable. Then it goes away again.
Should I be worried, or get it checked?
Yours,
Wounded
Dear Wounded,
The straight answer: yes, get it checked. A cut that keeps breaking open in the same spot for a whole year isn’t behaving like an ordinary cut – ordinary cuts heal and stay healed. That doesn’t mean it’s anything frightening, but a year is long enough that it deserves a proper in-person look rather than more waiting and hoping.
What you’re describing – a small split at the bottom of the vaginal opening that heals, then re-opens and stings, on and off – is a recurring posterior fourchette fissure, and it’s a recognisable pattern with a few usual causes worth knowing:
- lichen sclerosus – a treatable skin condition that classically causes recurring cracks and fragile, pale skin in exactly that spot. It’s under-diagnosed in young women, so it’s the main thing I’d want ruled out
- friction or a contact reaction (soap, wipes, tight clothing, fragranced laundry detergent) keeping the skin too irritated to fully heal
- lower oestrogen, or recurrent low-grade yeast, making the tissue fragile and quick to split
In the recurrent-fissure cases that reach me, a good share turn out to be lichen sclerosus or a stubborn dermatitis loop rather than a one-off injury – both very manageable once you know which it is, which is exactly why an exam is worth it.
So the plan: see a doctor, gynaecologist or a vulval or skin clinic, and ask them specifically to look at the recurring split and consider lichen sclerosus. At 19 in North Carolina, a college student health centre, a Planned Parenthood, or a low-cost women’s clinic will see you, keep it confidential, and this is routine for them – if money is tight, ask what’s free or sliding-scale near you.
While you wait to be seen, gentle care helps and won’t hurt: warm water only (no soap, wipes or fragranced products on the area), loose cotton underwear, and a soothing, vulva-safe cuts cream to keep the skin supple so it’s less likely to re-split. Our guide to healing cuts and tears has more. Skin also needs protein, zinc, iron and B vitamins to repair, so if you’ve been run down or eating on the go, shoring that up gently supports healing – nothing to obsess over, just part of the picture.
This is general information, not a substitute for personalised medical advice.
Get it looked at, and write back with whatever they find.
Warmest regards,
Aunt Vadge
