Painful/burning clitoris?!?

[riotmonster]

I am now in month 4 of my recovery from undergoing GRS with Dr. Bowers and I am experiencing daily pain in my clitoral area. I say area because it is difficult to determine if it is my clitoris, my ureathra, or both, though it feels like my clitoris is a focus. The pain is constant and never stops; it is akin to salt or lemon juice on an open wound. When I pee, sometimes it burns more and when I dilate or bend to far, my ureathra and clitoris both hurt and feel tearing/stretching pains. I show up negative for UTI. This has been going on for over 2 months and really kicked into high gear when silver nitrate was applied to some tissue around my clitoris 2 months ago.

Am I alone in experiencing this? Will this go away? Should I be as worried and scared as I am? My life feels like it has been stripped from me.

[mrs izzy]

Welcome to Susan's family.
There are a few here that should have information to help. No UTI so I wonder if it is just the contraction of the scar tissue. I know my inside burned when dilations around the 3-6 month mark on occasions. That's when scar tissue is the hardest to break down. I guess you also had checked for yeast or other infections? Any allergies?
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Izzy

[suzifrommd]

I'm about where you are, 4 months post-op.

My clitoris is still very tender - if it gets bumped, pressed, or stretched it will sting a little, but nothing like the continuous pain you're talking about. I also often get pleasant feelings there.

My urethral opening will burn occasionally, especially when I'm inserting a dilator, but that's gotten less frequent as I've healed.

[riotmonster]

@ mrs izzy

Yeah, I've been checked for yeast infection and I I'm not sure what role allergies play because I dramatically cut back the amount of McKesson lube Ive been using and I *think* I have experienced a drop in pain, though it is too little to be certain. Dr. Bowers thinks it is due to a patch of clitoral hood that was unhealed, though that has now healed up and I still experience all of this pain, and my urologist Dr. Rosenburg is convinced it is prostatitis and has put me on lot of anti-biotics. Both however are in strong disagreement with each other.

@suzifrommd

I am comforted to know that at least one other person in my recovery time frame experiences at least one aspect of the pain I have. It means maybe a few my symptoms are within the normal range.

[riotmonster]

Another thing I have started to notice is when I get aroused and especially when I orgasm,  my whole left side ofm y vagina and vulva gets swollen, to the point that it is being pushed out of me. Any idea what is going on with that?

[suzifrommd]

Another thing I have started to notice is when I get aroused and especially when I orgasm,  my whole left side ofm y vagina and vulva gets swollen, to the point that it is being pushed out of me. Any idea what is going on with that?

I've never had anything like that. OTOH, I can't seem to orgasm (yet?) so you're doing much better than I am there.

Might want to talk to Dr. Bowers about that.

[riotmonster]

Dr. Bowers just got back to me and said it is left over erectile tissue. :/

[Jenna Marie]

I did not have the burning clitoris issue... I'm sorry. (I had hypersensitivity that meant it hurt if it was bumped or squashed, and to some degree it's still that sensitive, but not constant pain.)

But if your actual vagina is being pushed out of you, that's basically a partial prolapse. I don't want to scare you, but that could be rather serious. You really might want someone to look at it, in a photo if not in person, just to be on the safe side.

[Vicky]

Dr. Bowers just got back to me and said it is left over erectile tissue. :/

I am another one of Bowers' patients and did have some milder "hot spot" feelings in the Clitoral Hood area at 3 or four months which resolved themselves as nerve healing continued well into my 6th month. One single suture in my clitoral hood was the LAST one to dissolve out,and was an irritant for dilating purposes.  Some of discomfort was due to tissue that was NOT at the site I felt the pain, which my Gynecologist helped me to discover.  The last significant nerve healing issue for me finished up at 14 months where I had a week of feeling that was erotic as all get out, and was annoying by the second day, but it resolved itself into a predictably pleasant improvement to dilation that seems to be permanent.

I know that even in the 21 months since my surgery that Marci has made some changes in how she does things due to other "younger sisters" who I have talked to, and having seen Marci's presentation at Southern Comfort Conference.  I know she is leaving a bit more erectile tissue in the vulvar area than she must have done for me. Since you seem to have a good medical team with you now, I will not make my usual sermon about getting one together

While my instructions from Dr. Bowers did not mention sitz baths on any regular basis, a call to her office by my Gyn got me approval to do them after dilations in the early days.  Those did soothe things quite a bit for me. 

[riotmonster]

Turns out I have a really bad allergy to something in my lube. I still have the tearing pain in my clitoris when I dilate, but at least Im not in constant agony anymore

[Monkeymel]

Glycerine? It is in most lubes and can be an irritant
Some people have success using cold presses virgin coconut oil or sweet almond oil. Both are supposed to be well absorbed by the body and are "natural" especially if you get the organic brands.

Iherb.com sell the nutiva organic virgin cold pressed coconut oil for about $30 for a large tub which can go a long way. It's less easy to apply than tubes of lube although a 10ml syringe can help.

[PinkCloud]

Could also be a muscle or a nerve. The muscles in that area are controlled by the autonomous nervous system, they won't respond on command, so when pain occurs in these muscles, it cannot be controlled, only relaxed. If it is a nerve issue, then you would be in trouble... let's hope it's not a compressed nerve...

What happens if you use some betadine / povidon iodine on the area? When I have some pain or discomfort, I take a squeeze of betadine and massage it over the whole area. It helps to protect against infection, and the pain goes away in my case.

[riotmonster]

I am now 9 months into my recovery and I thought it would be good to leave an update.

Despite going to a variety of GRS surgens and specialists hoping to find relief from my pain, no one was able to help me and I gave up in January. I started seeing an acupuncturist who specializes in genital pain in February, and almost immediately I experienced significant relief from my pain. By the start of March, my pain was in fluctuation, going from virtually no pain at all to minor pain centered on the left. It was not until 9 months to the day that I experienced near total relief of my chronic pain, which was when I saw Dr. Garcia at UCSF. He injected the area around the clitoris with an anesthetic/steriod combo that helped to quiet the area down. I'm now scheduled for a revision to remove significant erectile tissue remaining and ajust some asymmetry, which I am hoping will ultimately also remove the source of my pain as well.

If anybody else suffers from excruciating unexpained pain post op, I hope that my story here will lead them to at least a degree of relief from their symptoms.

[jasmine891]

Hi, I know this thread is very old, but I found it through a Google search. I was recently told I have hypergranulation tissue on my clitoris, basically the whole thing and what looks like a little on my labia minor right next to my clitoris, basically one small patch covering both areas continually.

As anyone had this issue is the same area, if so...how was it treated and did it affect your sensitivity?

I am a little over 3 months post-op and have had what I think was an orgasm, so I think things are working just not on my command yet.