Tea Tree Oil!

Okay, so things have been pretty rough lately. I was diagnosed with Herpes (HSVII - genital), on top of Vulvodynia (they say its unrelated, but I honestly don't know). My boyfriend and I, after so long of struggling with things, have broken up. We are still friends, but it just sucks all the way around.

So after a month long "first" outbreak (according to the docs) and finally finding an antiviral that works for me, I started having the constant vulvodynia-like pain AGAIN. I will say, it's a completely different kind of pain - the blisters I experienced were only painful if touched, and for about 2 hours one day when they first started appearing. The vulvodynia pain I experience is burning around the vaginal opening, constantly. It spread from there through my whole clitoral area. I had been talking with a woman on a support group for herpes and she had raved about Tea Tree Oil for blisters. I had read elsewhere about this oil, but have always been terrified of putting any kind of OTC substance down there considering the constant pain and not wanting to make it worse. Especially things not specifically meant for that area.

But the pain made me do it finally. I was just like, "What the hell do I have to lose?? I'm already broken!" lol So I bought some, diluted it with water (I just poured about half a glass of warm water and a few drops of tea tree oil in a glass) and applied it to the painful areas with toilet paper, holding it on there for about 10 seconds or so. At first, nothing happened, then it got really warm which made me panic thinking, "OH NO! It's going to burn!". The warming sensation went away after about 30 minutes, and I instantly felt 80% better. After two days of using it, I'm now 100%. Yesterday, I started feeling a little irritated, used it and it went away instantly. I will say, be very careful not to get it around your anus, I accidently did when wiping and that did burn like crazy for about 15 min.

For those who don't know my story, I suffered constant pain for five months straight, had a one-two month break in December - January, then had a typical herpes outbreak after a bout of Mono, and the vulvo pain came back as well. So everything started May 2010, nearly a full year of dealing with vaginal pain and not being able to have a normal sex life at 24.

Anyone who has not tried it yet, should. It has helped me more than any other remedy I've tried, and I've tried a lot - oatmeal baths, salt baths, various prescribed creams, diaper rash ointment, calmine lotion, baby wipes instead of toilet paper, allergy washes, hormone treatment, stopping BC pill. I just had to post this for anyone else on here who may have been to afraid to try it. It's worked miracles for me, I'm soooooooo happy to at least feel normal for the time being. Even during my 2 month break, I felt irritated, not completely normal just not in pain. I now dont feel anything abnormal down there, and am able to insert my dildo (TMI? lol) with no issues... I had to try, before I couldn't even get a finger inserted.

I'm really pleased this worked for you but just a word of caution for others thinking of trying it, it can make things alot worse so go carefully if you do.

Sarah.. really? I hadn't been aware of that When I did it, it was very diluted (half a cup water to a few drops of oil) NO ONE SHOULD PUT IT ON UNDILUTED!

Hi there, I SO wish I'd read the warning about tea tree oil before last night. About a week ago, my gynecologist suggested that I try a mixture of half tea tree oil and half vegetable oil. I was wary, but last night I finally took the plunge, and wow does it burn. Still, it started burning within about a minute, and then I went and tried to wash it off in the shower. Went back to bed, got up and tried to wash it off again. I did manage to sleep, but I have felt burnt all day.

Does anybody have any experience with this, and if so what would you recommend? I assume that it will eventually heal up, but I have no idea how long it will take, and am kind of scared about what's going on down there.

Just leave things alone and let it calm down by itself, hopefully it won't take long. Tea tree oil is pretty strong even when diluted and I'd say to anyone wanting to try it to dab some on a small area first to make sure it doesn't make things worse. Hope things calm down soon Rebecca.

Hi ladies!

Yeah, tea tree oil is pretty severe if you apply it directly. However, after my biopsy my doctor advised me to put a few drops in my bath to keep the wound clean. Since then I have bathed in it all the time, I find it helps sooth the area, particularly when V symptoms are at their highest. But I agree to be careful with the amount, and others may be more sensitive to it.

I use just a few drops of pure tea tree oil in my bath (5 drops maybe, using a bottle with a filtered top, so only a tiny bit comes out) whilst the water is running to let it blend in with the water.

Although, I agree if you've had a bad reaction just use cool water to wash it off and it will eventually go away.

Hope you feel better soon x

Thanks for the good advice. This is a short update in case anybody is wondering what happens next. I wish I could say that it's all better two weeks later, but it isn't...I'm still having burning, and not quite sure what to do about it. Don't know if it's going to get better or worse, or if I'm going to need a surgery or something now. Trying to stay hopeful, but if it's getting better, it sure is slow.

I've heard that probiotics might be a good idea since tea tree oil kills all of the flora down there. Anybody have any suggestions on this?

My advice for anybody thinking of trying tea tree oil is to go really dilute, like what Shortstuff suggested, and try a small patch first. I did try the pure stuff on my arm before buying it, and had no reaction. But things are different down there.

Rebecca, don't feel too scared - such a small amount of use means that I'd say you haven't done any (further, aha) damage. I tried hydrocortisone cream for approximately 48 hours on the insistence of my doctor and woke up at 5am convinced someone had set fire to my vagina. The same thing happened the next night and I had to lie in a bath for about half a day before I could even see straight. But after stopping I was back to 'normal' by the end of the week.

Hi What brand are you using? is it OTC?

in the beginning of all this.Tea tree oil worked for me for a long time, a little bit on my finger rubbed up inside up in there after the shower and after sex, and it was great..smells nice too.. 

however in the beginning it does burn like the dickens (LOL!!) ..but after awhile of using it, your body gets used to it, and it works great, I was able to have pain free sex almost everyday for like a year on it..i was also on the AZO yeast tabs too, 2 -3 times a day everyday..and it worked for me for a little while..