Labial Adhesions

Labial Adhesions

What are labial adhesions?

Young girls and adult women may get “labial adhesions.” Labial adhesions are similar to clitoral adhesions except the smegma adheres to the labia minora (sometimes the labia majora) or the “lips” of the vulva surrounding the vagina — that has caused the labia minora to fuse or become stuck together. This happens to about 5% to 10% percent of all young girls. Young girls and women with labia that are stuck or fused together should immediately be seen by a pediatrician or gynecologist as the urine flow (and menstrual flow in adult women) can become blocked and a serious infection or infections are very likely to occur if she is not seen by a doctor.

What causes labial adhesions?

This probably happened because your daughter has little to no estrogen. Baby girls get a large dose of estrogen while they're still in the uterus. About one to two months after her birth, the maternal estrogen level drops off, and this hormonal change can affect many parts of a baby's body, including the lining of a girl's labia. Her labia may even stick together. This "adhesion" of her labia can continue or come and go throughout childhood, according to many pediatricians.

What can be done to treat labial adhesions?

First of all, parents should NOT try to pull or separate your daughter's labia apart, since that might hurt. Unless the adhesion is causing any problems, it's best to leave it alone. The idea of your daughter having labial adhesion probably worries you more than it bothers her. However, if the adhesion extends to cover the opening of the urethra and is trapping urine in the genital area, then you'll definitely want to see your child's doctor about treatment. Trapped urine can cause irritation and possibly infection. You'll know if your daughter's labial adhesions are covering the urethral opening if you find less urine in her diaper (for a young child) or she's having trouble peeing, or if her genital area looks irritated, she's irritable and crying, and she has a fever (due to infection).

Normally doctors prescribe a topical estrogen cream to treat the problem. Your doctor will tell you to apply this cream directly to the affected tissue, and in about two weeks it should unseal the labia. You'll probably start by applying the cream two or three times a day, then two times a day, then just once a day. It's important to reduce the amount of estrogen cream you use gradually. If you just stop the treatment suddenly, the labia will close up again.

Will our daughter always have labial adhesions?

Your daughter may continue to have clitoral or labial adhesions off and on throughout childhood, but this tends to lessen when a girl approaches puberty and her body starts producing higher levels of estrogen. Until then, though, there's no reason to worry about the adhesion(s) as long as they are not causing any problems. Many young girls never even know they have them.

Other articles of interest:

Clitoral Adhesions
Feminine Hygiene - importance of proper vulva care and cleaning

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