Flappy, tube like growths above vaginal/urethral opening

[itsmaliasheart]

Hello.

Well, here I am. I’ve suffered from health anxiety for a few years now and stalked this forum for pretty much all my cancer worries. I managed to calm down enough to get help and go to therapy but had to stop after I moved away for college. Anyway, my anxiety flared up again a few weeks ago and this time I’m completely hopeless.

A few years ago, maybe two or three, I noticed these weird flappy, tube like things above (kinda looks like skin extensions as they’re attached to the skin below them) my vaginal opening but I initially though nothing of it as I thought it’s just normal anatomy and it’s just how the opening where the pee comes from looks like. Yesterday I made the grand mistake of googling symptoms of another issue (I pee a lot during the day and when my bladder is REALLY full I can’t always empty it on the first try but when I go again like five mins later, it’s fine) and apparently the urethral opening is not supposed to look like that at all! I spiralled into this worry frenzy after that and now I’m sure I either have vulvar or urethral cancer. I know I don’t fit the usual age group (I’m 21; about to turn 22 in a couple months) and I don’t have other red flags symptoms, like blood in pee or spotting between periods and I also don’t have itchiness down there beyond the occasional itch that goes away after a while. I think it’s also worth mentioning that I’m a virgin and can’t be sure if I would bleed after sex or feel pain during sex if I were sexually active, obviously.

I did make an appointment with my gyno after completely freaking out in front of my grandmother, but the appointment is a full two weeks from today and I don’t think I’ll be able to relax or even stay sane for that long of a period. I convinced myself that this time it really is cancer, I can’t think of anything else, I can’t relax and I feel like I’m never going to be able to laugh ever again. If anyone knows what this could be please let me know.

Thank you in advance for any kind words and help, it’s greatly appreciated.

[Unicorn1985]

Hello.

Well, here I am. I’ve suffered from health anxiety for a few years now and stalked this forum for pretty much all my cancer worries. I managed to calm down enough to get help and go to therapy but had to stop after I moved away for college. Anyway, my anxiety flared up again a few weeks ago and this time I’m completely hopeless.

A few years ago, maybe two or three, I noticed these weird flappy, tube like things above (kinda looks like skin extensions as they’re attached to the skin below them) my vaginal opening but I initially though nothing of it as I thought it’s just normal anatomy and it’s just how the opening where the pee comes from looks like. Yesterday I made the grand mistake of googling symptoms of another issue (I pee a lot during the day and when my bladder is REALLY full I can’t always empty it on the first try but when I go again like five mins later, it’s fine) and apparently the urethral opening is not supposed to look like that at all! I spiralled into this worry frenzy after that and now I’m sure I either have vulvar or urethral cancer. I know I don’t fit the usual age group (I’m 21; about to turn 22 in a couple months) and I don’t have other red flags symptoms, like blood in pee or spotting between periods and I also don’t have itchiness down there beyond the occasional itch that goes away after a while. I think it’s also worth mentioning that I’m a virgin and can’t be sure if I would bleed after sex or feel pain during sex if I were sexually active, obviously.

I did make an appointment with my gyno after completely freaking out in front of my grandmother, but the appointment is a full two weeks from today and I don’t think I’ll be able to relax or even stay sane for that long of a period. I convinced myself that this time it really is cancer, I can’t think of anything else, I can’t relax and I feel like I’m never going to be able to laugh ever again. If anyone knows what this could be please let me know.

Thank you in advance for any kind words and help, it’s greatly appreciated.

what you have is vestibular papillomatosis. Completely normal and benign. I recently discovered mine and freaked as I also found a growth in another area at the time. Anyway they are fine and nothing to worry about. I went to the Drs recently to have my growth checked as I found another. Mine are skin tags but she even commented on my vestibular papillomatosis and said they were normal. Finger like growths in the inner labia and vestibular area. Some Drs mistaken them for warts but they don’t actually looking anything like warts. I’ve got loads around my vaginal opening too to the point it looks like a flappy bumpy bit of skin around the opening. Again checked this week and dr said all looks normal. They can get sore so don’t go pulling them about or anything otherwise they’ll become itchy and inflamed.

Hope that’s helped x

[Unicorn1985]

Oh and as for the bladder thing I get this too and have for ages. When I had my second child the hospital made a huge deal about discharging me because they could see on my scans that my bladder wasn’t completely emptying and I told them so many times I’ve always been like it. I had my daughter 9 and a half years ago so if it was cancer I’d be dead by now x

[itsmaliasheart]

So I googled pictures to compare to the one I have and mine seem to be bigger? I have two such structures that I really worry about and they both seem bigger than the pictures I found on google (maybe around the half a centimetre mark?) is that still vestibular papillomatosis?

But thank you for the reply!

[Unicorn1985]

Yes they can all appear different just as our vagina areas all look very different. Some women have more outie bits than other, some are small, some are big etc. I have about 4 in a row that look really long and then next to it I have loads which looks like a mound of bubbles. The ones by my vagina entrance all point in different directions and all varying sizes. I’ve googled a lot of pics. Some women have one or two. Others have their whole genital area covered in them which causes them discomfort. I think you are ok for what it’s worth xx

[ErinKC]

It may also just be your anatomy. Everyone looks different. If you've had these for a few years it's not cancer.

[itsmaliasheart]

Hi guys, it’s been a few days and I have to say my mental well-being has just gotten worse.

I took a mirror and looked how things are going down there because I was so worried about those flappy things. Well, as it turns out those flappy things are the least of my worries. The skin around my vaginal opening is perfectly smooth on one side and it get’s really bumpy and rough looking on the other side and that immediately set off my “vulvar cancer” alarms. I’ve also found a lump on the inside of my vagina which I can see if I use a mirror. It’s the same color as my skin though. The skin around my vaginal opening also looks red and bumpy but I could have just irritated it when I used my fingers to get a better look.
I do get some itchiness but it lasts for a good minute and then goes away.

I’ve been stressing and obsessing over this for a few days but today has been especially hard. I couldn’t even go to my college classes because I can’t focus and can only think about how I have some form of vulvar/vaginal cancer and it’s driving me absolutely insane. My gyno appointment is still a little over a week away and I don’t think I can wait that long without going out of my mind. I imagine how the appointment will go and I try to prepare myself for when my doctor tells me it does look like cancer.

I know I shouldn’t use google or even spend so much time obsessing over this but I just can’t stop. I can’t stop looking at the lumps on my vagina, I can’t stop googling and I can’t stop crying.

The only time I remember my health anxiety being this bad is when I thought I had a brain tumor but at least then I had my therapist to talk to and now I’m alone.

[Unicorn1985]

Hi guys, it’s been a few days and I have to say my mental well-being has just gotten worse.

I took a mirror and looked how things are going down there because I was so worried about those flappy things. Well, as it turns out those flappy things are the least of my worries. The skin around my vaginal opening is perfectly smooth on one side and it get’s really bumpy and rough looking on the other side and that immediately set off my “vulvar cancer” alarms. I’ve also found a lump on the inside of my vagina which I can see if I use a mirror. It’s the same color as my skin though. The skin around my vaginal opening also looks red and bumpy but I could have just irritated it when I used my fingers to get a better look.
I do get some itchiness but it lasts for a good minute and then goes away.

I’ve been stressing and obsessing over this for a few days but today has been especially hard. I couldn’t even go to my college classes because I can’t focus and can only think about how I have some form of vulvar/vaginal cancer and it’s driving me absolutely insane. My gyno appointment is still a little over a week away and I don’t think I can wait that long without going out of my mind. I imagine how the appointment will go and I try to prepare myself for when my doctor tells me it does look like cancer.

I know I shouldn’t use google or even spend so much time obsessing over this but I just can’t stop. I can’t stop looking at the lumps on my vagina, I can’t stop googling and I can’t stop crying.

The only time I remember my health anxiety being this bad is when I thought I had a brain tumor but at least then I had my therapist to talk to and now I’m alone.

this is exactly the path I’ve been going down. It’s so hard not to spiral so don’t be so hard yourself. If you seek you shall find. Few things I’ve learned in my search of vulva cancer

1.it is actually a really rare cancer
2. It tends to effect people over 60 and most of those are in their nineties.
3. Vulva cancer can be a lump but it tends to more be cell changes like with cervical cancer. So most women that have vulva cancer will have these cell changes and much less common lumps or moles that change size and shape. With the cell changes these are caused by hpv or they have conditions like severe eczema
4. It’s a very slow growing cancer that normally takes years to form
5. Most lumps that are vulva cancer from my research tend to look like warts, not genital warts but large wart like growths on the skin

now im not saying you don’t have cancer but I hope these facts will tell you the odds are in your favour?

As for your vaginal opening mine looks different on both sides, like I said in my earlier post really lumpy and bumpier on one side. Much more than the other, i also thought one side looked really dark pink almost red but she told me I looked completely normal down below.

I do understadn though. I freaked with these skin tags on my vulva. You can search my posts to see I completely spiralled about it. I was convinced I had cancer. I still a small part of me thinks what if the new second skin tag isn’t that and it starts growing into a large wart type growth and I’ve got cancer etc. It’s reslly hard. I have a feeling your appointment will be fine and you’ll be sent home knowing you are ok. Stay strong. One more week to go. You can do this x

[itsmaliasheart]

this is exactly the path I’ve been going down. It’s so hard not to spiral so don’t be so hard yourself. If you seek you shall find. Few things I’ve learned in my search of vulva cancer

1.it is actually a really rare cancer
2. It tends to effect people over 60 and most of those are in their nineties.
3. Vulva cancer can be a lump but it tends to more be cell changes like with cervical cancer. So most women that have vulva cancer will have these cell changes and much less common lumps or moles that change size and shape. With the cell changes these are caused by hpv or they have conditions like severe eczema
4. It’s a very slow growing cancer that normally takes years to form
5. Most lumps that are vulva cancer from my research tend to look like warts, not genital warts but large wart like growths on the skin

now im not saying you don’t have cancer but I hope these facts will tell you the odds are in your favour?

As for your vaginal opening mine looks different on both sides, like I said in my earlier post really lumpy and bumpier on one side. Much more than the other, i also thought one side looked really dark pink almost red but she told me I looked completely normal down below.

I do understadn though. I freaked with these skin tags on my vulva. You can search my posts to see I completely spiralled about it. I was convinced I had cancer. I still a small part of me thinks what if the new second skin tag isn’t that and it starts growing into a large wart type growth and I’ve got cancer etc. It’s reslly hard. I have a feeling your appointment will be fine and you’ll be sent home knowing you are ok. Stay strong. One more week to go. You can do this x

Hi.

Apparently I’m turning this thread into my diary or something lol. Anyway, since I’ve last posted here I’ve been doing a bit better. Until last night that is. The thing is, I managed to convince myself that what I got is just vestibular papillomatosis but then yesterday, I’ve been randomly closing tabs which I kept open when I first googled and I came across a comment that said her skin tags turned out to be pre cancerous cells and I have absolutely flipped my shit, especially since my “vestibular papillomatosis” don’t look like tiny bubbles, they either look like my skin sticking out or not sticking out at all but just being a bit raised. Those lumpy things get a bit uncomfortable if I touch it too much but other than that, they don’t itch and they don’t hurt. The part that I’m most worried about it not skin colored tho, it’s more redish and I’ve got two clusters on both sides around my vaginal opening. Would cancer be on two different spots?

I know people like me get really annoying really fast but I just can’t shake this fear, especially since I don’t know how long I’ve had the raised bit. The skin colored lumps that stick out, I’ve definitely had for a while but I don’t know about the ones that don’t stick out.
I’m sorry if I’m annoying, I just don’t want to die. I’m 21 and I can’t even go on a date or hang out with my friends or go to classes without thinking I have cancer on my vulva.

[Unicorn1985]

First of all, you are not annoying! You have health anxiety and this is currently your focus. I get it. Im exactly the same. It’s so hard to fight and google makes it all so much worse.

I reslly think you have vestibular papillomatosis but understand your concern as they do look like odd growths. As I said previously I have two skin tags as well as these, most sites say skin tags are benign. They can very rarely turn cancerous but most of the time they are not. You would also have some indication as they would become bigger and more painful etc.

You’ve got your appointment in less than a week. Stay strong! Xx