Aunt Vadge: paper cuts around my vaginal entrance

Dear Aunt Vadge,

I’ve been having sex with the same person since April, and recently I’ve seen a paper-cut-like crack near the entrance of my vagina. It only hurts occasionally when I have sex, when it is rubbed against. My partner has no sores or cuts. Other than that, my cut doesn’t hurt unless I wipe.

I’ve tested negative for all STIs. Also, I’ve been diagnosed with a yeast infection by my doctor. Could it be herpes, yeast infection cut , or a cut due to sex? 

Yours,
Paper Cut
Age: 20
Country: Florida
_____

Dear Paper Cut,

It sounds like your cuts could be being caused by yeast, since this is a common symptom of yeast infections. The yeast live on your tissue, and colonise, causing a breakdown in the delicate fabric of your vulva.

The best way to treat your paper cuts will be by properly treating your yeast infection/overgrowth. You can follow your doctor’s recommendations, or you can use the strategies for treating a yeast infection at home on our yeast infections page. There are plenty of options for managing yeast, both now and in the future.

There are also technique issues that go on with cuts around your vaginal entrance. That is, you are not properly wet and turned on before your boyfriend penetrates you. When you are properly turned on, your vulvar tissue plumps up with blood, and your internal clitoral structures become erect, just like a penis.

If you are not turned on enough, penetration can cause damage because you are physically not ready for it. Additionally, penetration before you are ready for it reduces your chances of orgasm by a significant portion!

Learning about how you are turned on, and when you are physically ready for penetration, is a lesson we all need to learn. We all grow up believing the lie that women are able to be penetrated any old time, just because the vagina is open 24/7. This results in women having less enthusiasm for sex, because often it ends up just not being that good for us.

Learning to say no to penetration before your body really wants it is key to avoiding these types of sex cuts, simply because your vulva will be prepared for sex with its cushion of blood. Imagine trying to have sex with a soft penis – this is exactly the same situation that women have when we have penetrative sex before our body is ready.

We’ve got some good guides on sex and the clitoris that you can pore over. These lessons are well worth learning, because they set you in good stead for great sex throughout your life. Women’s bodies work differently to men’s, and we are not taught properly how to understand our sexual response. That means we often end up having sex when we are not properly turned on, a lot. This will take work by you and your partner.

• look at the Vag Basics diagrams so you know what your anatomy looks like (and how big your clitoris really is!),
• learn about the female sexual response
• Sex 101

If you can masturbate with a penis-sized object and not experience these cuts, then you will know the culprit: not being ready. You won’t penetrate yourself before you want it, since we get to be the boss of that, so do some experiments, read the guides, and see how you go!

Warmest regards,
Aunt Vadge