Itching I can’t figure out why😔
Okay so I’m 19 and ive been dealing with this issue for a couple years, I think. I’m gonna try to not be too explicit but provide enough detail to be clear, so this might be a little long ><.
I‘ve been getting itchy down there literally ever since I hit puberty and started growing hair in that area. The parts that itch are the ‘mound’/mons pubis and the inner lips/labia minora and the part of the outer lips/labia majora that border it. so yes, the parts that grow hair, AND the parts that don’t, but not the actual INSIDE of the vagina. that would be pretty annoying.
I’ve ruled out any kind of infection- my ph is regular, my discharge is regular, there’s no bad odor, and I’m relatively healthy. I’m not active, like at all (I’ve never done that) so it can’t be that. The only thing I can say might be kind of weird/abnormal is that there’s always a ton of dead skin on the outer parts even if I try to exfoliate it off or something, as well as (I think) smegma on the hood and minora.
It’s not my detergent - ours is unscented and gentle because of my allergies and eczema and has never caused me any issues on any other region of my body where I get flare ups. Besides, I only ever wear briefs undies, and they’re always 100% cotton. When I go to bed I also try to only wear undies or none if I can, so I know it’s getting air circulation or whatever 😭
It’s not my typical hygiene - I come from a culture where we wash down there whenever we use the bathroom, so I use a bidet - not the built in toilet ones, the hand held. So it’s not a bacteria thing. i never wash/wipe back to front of course and I don’t use any intimate washes ON or IN it, the most it gets exposed to is dove sensitive skin soap when I shower - and that’s only externally.
Obviously the next consideration is the hair removal routine, but I’m so frustrated. I was typically a shaver, but despite following literally every person’s recommendations for shaving ever and doing everything right, I’d still get these Cyst- like lumps (1 or 2 every shave) that hurt to squeeze and take weeks to go away on their own. And of course, the itching. Also, after a fresh shave, I’d get a ton of little white bumps at every follicle that got cut (so a bazillion) and they’d kinda pop like pimples 💀 though theyd go away after they start growing. I read that that could be folliculitis or histamine something idk. I tried waxing, which, ouch… but it didnt work EITHER. I would still get itching, and would still even get those lumps, though less of them, and I didn’t get the folliculitis white bump thingies, which was nice I guess.
so THEN I’m like screw it fine embrace the bush I guess. Except I’ve been embracing it for over a month and it STILL itches 😭 so I’m thinking rn I guess maybe having the hair down there also kind of brushes against the skin and ‘itches’ it, or maybe it absorbs the water from after showers or smth and adds that kind of irritation but I don’t know, literally the only benefit I’ve had so far is no ingrowns but I litterally still get pimples so wtf. Mind you these pimples are super painful. I don’t understand why down there is so difficult when literally everywhere else is fine. I shave my armpits and dermaplane my entire face routinely and never had issues - no itching, no pimples. In fact, I typically have no issues with acne in general, my coochie is literally just difficult.
TLDR I have no idea what to do because any time I search this topic (help on the itching) they talk about infections and improper hair removal but I’m stuck cuz I’ve forgone BOTH and the issue persists :/ any advice would be appreciated! Ik this isn’t for medical advice and ofc will be bringing it up to my pcp or derm, whichever I meet first…