Labial Adhesion
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Labial Adhesion
November 2006
My 3 year old has a fairly fused labia with only a small
opening for her urethra, first diagnosed at around 18 months.
She has suffered from the odd yeast infection/vaginitis which
makes her itchy and sting but resolves with use of topical
antifungals - nystatin, myconozole etc. I wanted to wait until
she was out of diapers to see if the adhesions cleared up on
thier own. It's been about 9 months now and there's been no
change. Her incidents of ''itchy gina'' have been lessening but
she recenly had a bad one that may have progressed into a UTI.
I am revisiting the idea of treating her with premarin lotion
to open her labia, but am worried about the side effects
(breast buds, mini periods) which my doctor says are unlikely
if used for only a few weeks to months. To complicate things,
my daughter is an avid masturbator, which is possibly how her
labia fused in the first place. We have discussed being
gentle, using clean hands (although she only seems to ''rub'' on
the outside of her clothes), and of course the whole privacy
thing. She definitely understands, but I worry she's still a
little rough on herself.
Anyone have experiences using premarin to seperate fused
labia? Anyone wait until puberty? Anyone know how to tame a
vigorous self-pleasurer? Thanks very much
anon
your daughter's labial adhesions are not the result of anything she has done.
they can be from a number of things. the most significant and important thing to
determine if it's from a condition called lichen sclerosis et atrophicus, which
can occur in children and adults. this can be potentially serious as the
adhesions can be permanent and can expand. it is treated with high potency
topical steroid creams very successfully, which helps the adhesions and itching.
i'd go to a dermatologist rather than your pmd as a derm is very experienced at
diagnosing and treating this condition. topical estrogen creams are ineffective.
best of luck!!!
anon
November 2003
At our last pediatrician visit in October the doctor noticed that our daughter
(now 13 months) had a labial adhesion. I have not found too much info about it
except that Sears saysthey usually clear up by the age of two when little girls
start to produce their own estrogen. Our doctor suggested using an estrogen
cream for a while. I am really resistant to applying hormones. There don't seem
to be any studies on the safety or effectiveness of such use on babies and that
concerns me. Any ideas/experiences?
My daughter was also born with labial adhesion and
I used the estrogen cream once a day! for about a week
and it cleared up very easily. I would recommend it.
Of course you can also decide to wait and see if it goes
on its own and/or decide later on what to do.
valerie
My daughter had something similar that required a very short treatment
of estrogen cream. I didn't want to use it any longer than necessary,
so I
made sure that the doctor would see her every week or so until it had
cleared up. I don't remember how long it took, but I think it was
within 3
weeks.
anon.
October 2001
My daughter is four months old and at her last doctors visit he
mentioned that she had a condition called vaginal adhesions. I did not
remember him checking for this before during earlier office visits. He
described it as a thin membrane that is connecting the labia minor and
sticking them together. There is room for her urine to flow. He
recommended a 1% hydrocortisone cream three times a day on the
membrane. I have not been able to find any information on this
condition. There is some advice on using estrogen cream but then the
side effects are numerous. Does anyone have any information or
experience with this condition.
Dawn
Both of my girls (ages 4 years and 18 months) have
vaginal adhesions. Like that of your daughter, the
adhesions in both girls do not prevent the flow of
urine. Over the years we have seen three different
pediatrician. All three doctors suggested that we do
nothing about this condition (since there is not an
obstruction of urine). We could use creams to "solve"
the problem, but most likely, the adhesions would
reoccur. It is assumed that over time, when the
hormone levels in our daughters naturally change, the
adhesions will disappear. We are going to do nothing
in the mean time.
Gail
My daughter has this also. It's pretty common and nothing to worry about
unless urine flow is blocked. Females begin producing their own estrogen at
about two years of age, and that will open it up. My pediatrician
recommended just putting in a smear of Desitin or some other diaper cream
every few diaper changes to keep it from adhering further. We didn't talk
about an estrogen cream -- and personally that seems to me to be too
invasive an intervention.
Christine
You might want to read the article about it on BabyCenter.com
Labial adhesion: http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyills/10889.html
Here's a pertinent paragraph from the article:
Normally, doctors prescribe a topical estrogen cream to treat the problem.
Your doctor will tell you to apply this cream directly to the affected
tissue, and in about two weeks it should unseal the labia. You'll probably
start by applying the cream two or three times a day, then twice a day, then
once a day. It's important to reduce the amount of estrogen cream you use
gradually. "If you just stop the treatment suddenly, the labia will close up
again," says Shubin [a doctor quoted earlier in the article].
Dana
I'm the research editor at BabyCenter.com, and I wanted to point out our
article on the subject at:
http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyills/10889.html . It occurs in
about 2% of babies. I hope this helps.
Mollie
My daughter had the same thing when she was 15 months old. It was
discovered by our new pediatrician (that was the first visit with her). I
don't recall seeing our previous pediatrician ever check for it. We used
the estrogen cream. The side effect list was huge! But our ped said that
we were using such a small amount that we needn't worry about it. She also
said that untreated the adhesion can "zip-up" over the urethra and cause
bladder infections (I had one once . . . bad - very bad). So, we went with
the estrogen program, otherwise, my instinct would have been to let it
resolve itself naturally when her estrogen levels kick into gear come
adolescence. It took awhile (like a month or 6 weeks), the membrane thinned
out and then one day it just pulled apart. Good luck.
Cheryl
Our daughter had a vaginal adhesion that has just "opened up." She is 2 1/2
years old. She was diagnosed with it when she was just a few months old. Her
pediatrician told us to use diaper cream on the vaginal area all the time.
At 5 months, she prescribed Premarin Vaginal Cream for 10 days. After that,
we kept using the diaper cream there as told by her doc. Just a few months
ago, the doctor told us to use the Premarin for 10 days again, that's when
it opened up. I don't remember using anything else (applying 1%
hydrocortisone cream to that area doesn't sound right). I felt ok using the
hormone cream because the doctor reassured us that such a minute amount gets
absorbed into their system - just enough to open up the adhesion. If the
adhesion does not open up, the alternative is surgery.
The pediatrician recently got a new 12-year old patient from a doc that
didn't keep a good check on the girl's vaginal adhesion - she had to have
surgery.
You might want to get a second opinion...good luck.
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