Not sure what to do

For a long time I've had small bumps (like tiny beads just under the skin) on the inner folds of my vagina, but I never really thought much of it, as they didn't arrive suddenly and were never much of a bother, although occassionally one might swell up a little and itch. Recently they've become slightly more pronounced, although they're still no larger than seed beads, and so out of concern I looked into it online and it looks as though I probably have genital warts.

Now, this causes some big problems here. I have absolutely no health insurance anymore and no money to get myself treated, and even if I did, because I live with my parents and don't drive, I'd have to have one of them take me, which causes another problem. I'm still a virgin, although when I was five years old I was forced into oral sex with a member of my family, which, I'm guessing, is how I got it, as I've never had any experiences since. Were my parents with me, they would likely disbelieve I was still a virgin due to this disease, and eventually the incident with the family member would have to come to light (that's something I'd only ever told my boyfriend about, at least until now). Which brings me to another problem: how is he going to react to this and how is this going to effect us when we have sex, as I'm going to visit him next month. We've been together two years (long distance relationship), and this is the first time we will have gotten together. This is just not the kind of thing I wanted hanging over my head before such a happy occasion.

I'm quite honestly unsure as to what the hell to do.

I'm not sure where you live, but most areas have free or sliding-scale medical care for the uninsured. Here, services are available through the state, county, nonprofit community clinics, and places like Planned Parenthood. You might have to do some searching and calling around, but it's worth it (even just to know you have somewhere to go if you get really sick or something). As a side note, most areas also have free counseling for survivors of sexual abuse and assault if there are things you'd like to get help dealing with.

Can you take public transportation or get a ride with a friend to get to a doctor?

You may or may not feel comfortable being vague or less than completely honest with your parents. You have a right to keep your medical information private, so any knowledge they get would have to come from you. Perhaps telling them you're having trouble with periods, headaches, or something like that (maybe that you actually DO have?) is in order, but that's completely up to you. If the truth could garner you some family support, it could be a very good thing as well, even though it's terribly difficult to talk about.

As for how your bf might deal with an STD diagnosis, I'd imagine he'd be glad you care enough about yourself and him to get it checked out before possibly exposing him. HPV is an incredibly common disease, and nearly everyone who is sexually active has either been exposed or is a carrier. If you have it, the clinician will be able to answer questions on treatment and minimizing your bf's risk of getting it. As I'm sure you have seen, there is a wealth of info online, and even right here at lit (I think there was a thread started by ExistentialLuv (sp?) here recently).

I agree with Sweet Erika as always .. but lets not assume it's genital warts by self diagnosing with online pictures. It could be something entirely different and your putting the cart before the horse. You need to know what it is before you figure out how to deal with it. It may not be an STD at all.

boston_bbw said:

I agree with Sweet Erika as always .. but lets not assume it's genital warts by self diagnosing with online pictures. It could be something entirely different and your putting the cart before the horse. You need to know what it is before you figure out how to deal with it. It may not be an STD at all.

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This is definitely true. Your best bet is to find a clinic, as Erika suggested, where you could get yourself checked out (if you have one in your area, I highly recommend Planned Parenthood... they're affordable and discreet).

Big Ginormous Sigh of Relief.

After a talk with my mother, some further reading, and closer examination, I found the actual culprit - clogged oil glands producing bumps and an occasional cyst. Can anyone recommend a good way to clear this up? I'm not so sure that traditional methods of pimple-fighting would work well on such a delicate area. I know I've got an article about this in the house somewhere, but damned if I know where it is.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys, although I feel a bit of an ass for jumping to conclusions.

Heh. Even though you've already figured it out, I thought I'd jump in and say...

From what I understand of genital warts, the only way to get them is to touch like skin to like skin. i.e. genital to genital, nose to nose, foot to foot. Certain strains of HPV only affect certain parts of the skin.

Or so I've been lead to believe.

Oral sex would not transfer the virus, unless it was one person performing oral sex on two people, one infected, one not, in very rapid succession.

Have I been mislead, or is this the case?

I used to get infected ingrown hairs when I went to electrolysis. She had me use compresses of warm water and epsom salts. Would draw out whatever is in there and make it dry up faster. I still to this day use it if I feel a zit coming on.

You most likely don't have genital warts...even though it's the most common STD in the country, about 80% of people don't even show any symptoms and the ones that do have much more pronounced warts than what you're describing. Also, I don't think you could get the STD on your vagina if you're a virgin...very unlikely, if not impossible.

Also, genital warts (or HPV) is an STD that will normally clear up on it's own. The only concern I have is that you should go to the doctor and have a regular Pap smear done to see if you do have it, and if you're now a "high risk" patient for cervical cancer. Which doesn't mean much, just that you'll need regular check ups to make sure you're not developing cancerous cells.