Something else? Ask Aunt Vadge – bottom left of your screen!
Aunt Vadge,
I’ve had vulvodynia at the opening of my vagina for years, and clitorodynia (sharp pain when touched) at a tiny spot on the tip of my clitoris for just as long. Yesterday I was woken by a sharp pain in my clitoris, unlike my usual pain.
It happened a few more times that day, and I probably made it worse by nervously checking it several times. I’m at the beach, so maybe it’s irritated by sand or a tight bathing suit. I also have a hormonal IUD, so my cycle is abnormal, if that matters.
Any advice on what it is and whether it’ll resolve?
Yours,
Stung
USA
Dear Stung,
You already know your two diagnoses well, so this new, sharper clitoral pain is most likely a flare of the clitorodynia you already have, provoked by exactly the things you suspect: sand, salt water and a tight bathing suit pressing and rubbing on an already over-sensitive spot.
The beach is a perfect storm for irritable vulval nerves, and the nervous checking (completely understandable) adds friction and attention that wind the pain up rather than settling it. So yes – it’s very likely to calm down once you’re away from the sand and tight swimwear and you stop prodding the area.
Things that help a flare: rinse the vulva with plain cool water after the beach to get the sand and salt off, change out of wet or tight swimwear promptly into loose cotton, leave the spot alone (each check re-irritates it), and try a cool pack wrapped in cloth against the vulva to quiet an angry nerve.
A plain barrier ointment can protect the skin from further rubbing. The hormonal IUD is unlikely to be driving this particular spike, though hormones do influence vulval sensitivity generally.
If the sharper pain doesn’t settle back to your baseline within a week or two, check in with whoever manages your vulvodynia, since persistent clitoral pain sometimes needs a treatment tweak or some pelvic-floor work – but for now, treat it as an irritated flare and give the area calm and space.
Warmest regards,
Aunt Vadge
This is general information, not a substitute for personalised medical advice.
