Vulva burning after sex

If you feel a burning pain in the vulva after intercourse, you should consider that it may be related to Candida infection. This is because the patient has bacterial inflammation, and repeated friction during intercourse can cause damage to the mucosa. Genetic factors cannot be ruled out. Excessive tension about sexual life and lack of good personal habits are all factors that lead to the disease.

Vulvar pain is a group of heterogeneous diseases, and the etiology may be multifactorial. There are many studies on vulvar vestibulitis, while there are fewer reports on cyclic vulvitis and paresthesia vulvar pain.

1. Candida infection

A history of vulvovaginal candidiasis is the only most consistent feature in patients with vestibulitis, but inappropriate and repeated use of topical antifungal drugs can also cause these symptoms. Furthermore, the Candida colonization rate was not higher in patients with vestibulitis than in controls. The etiology of cyclic vulvitis is unknown, but Candida albicans may be a potential cause and anticandidal therapy is usually effective.

2. Iatrogenic factors

Patients with vulvar pain often have a history of multiple use of topical medications. Because the protective barrier function of the stratum corneum of the vulvar skin is not as good as that of the skin in other parts of the body, vulvar irritation caused by topical medications is more common. Irritation is unlikely to be the cause of the initial symptoms, but it may prolong symptoms of vulvar pain. The incidence of allergic sensitization is not increased in this lesion, and there is no histological evidence to confirm or exclude the occurrence of allergic contact dermatitis.

Patients with vulvar pain have obvious psychological and sexual psychopathology, but whether these can cause symptoms remains controversial. Lack of sexual arousal during intercourse can cause decreased lubrication and lead to vulvovaginal irritation, while cyclical vulvar irritation symptoms can produce vulvar pain. However, several studies have not shown that the incidence of unpleasant sexual experiences or promiscuity in patients is higher than that in the control group, and their sexual partners do not have obvious sexual psychological disorders.

4. Genetic predisposition Vulvar pain is more common in whites and rare in blacks and Asians. It is still unclear whether this is a true genetic predisposition or the influence of socio-demographic factors.

Some scholars speculate that vulvar pain is related to hyperoxaluria, and sharp oxalate crystals contacting the epithelial surface cause severe burning pain. However, the patients' 24-hour urinary oxalate excretion was not higher than that of the control group. After 3 months of treatment with calcium citrate combined with a low-oxalate diet, only 10% of the cases recovered. Therefore, urinary oxalate is unlikely to be the cause of vulvodynia, but it may act as a nonspecific irritant and aggravate vulvodynia.