It started as a slight sting, or perhaps it only showed up the next morning. Now it is a few days later and sex still feels raw. Most women wait to see whether it passes.
It often does, and friction, dryness and thrush are the common causes. When it keeps coming back, or lingers, a swab and a conversation with a doctor at our Harley Street clinic usually find the cause in a single visit. If you would rather skip the reading, you can walk in for private STI testing in London at 117a Harley Street, seven days a week.
"Women tend to put this one off for months. If sex is sore, get it looked at. Dryness and thrush are common causes, and both are easy to treat."
Dr Penny Sheehan, General Practitioner, GMC 6056535
Why the timing matters
Soreness on the surface, in the vulva or at the vaginal entrance, tends to have a different set of causes from deep pain. Deep pain belongs on our page about pelvic pain after sex. This page covers the rawness, stinging and tenderness you feel outside and just inside.
When the soreness arrives is one of the most useful clues you can give a doctor, so here is how it usually reads.
During sex
Soreness that builds as sex goes on is most often friction. The skin is thin, and without enough lubrication it chafes. Dryness has many everyday causes, including too little time before penetration, breastfeeding, some hormonal contraception and the changes around menopause.
Thrush can produce the same feeling, along with itching. A water-based lubricant is a simple first step, and a doctor can tell you quickly whether dryness or something else is behind it.
Straight afterwards
A stinging or burning feeling in the first hour is common with irritation. Latex, spermicide, flavoured or scented products, and even a new soap or wash can all react with delicate skin.
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) can also leave the area sore and slightly swollen, and many women notice a change in discharge at the same time. Our discharge guide explains what different colours and smells tend to mean. BV involves an overgrowth of bacteria that includes Gardnerella, and a Gardnerella swab is one of the tests that helps your doctor decide whether it is the cause.
The next day
Tenderness that is still there the next morning, with itching or a thick white discharge, points towards thrush. A fungal infections swab can confirm it, which matters because creams bought without a diagnosis only help if thrush really is the cause.
A frothy, yellow-green discharge with soreness suggests trichomoniasis, a common and treatable infection that is easy to pass on without knowing. A trichomoniasis swab will show it.
More than a few days
Soreness that lasts, or returns with each new partner or each time you have sex, deserves a proper look. Three things are worth checking at this stage:
- Herpes. Small blisters or tiny cracks that sting, sometimes with a tingling beforehand, can be herpes. A herpes test is available as a swab or a blood test.
- Chlamydia. It often causes no soreness at all, but it can, and a chlamydia test is a sensible part of any check after a new partner.
- Skin conditions. Eczema or other skin changes on the vulva can flare after sex and are managed differently from infections.
If sex has been sore for weeks or months, our colleagues at Gynae Clinic offer gynaecology consultations, which suit pain that needs a closer examination.
What it costs to test for the usual causes
Take the three infections most often behind surface soreness: trichomoniasis (£120.63), Gardnerella (£120.63) and a fungal swab (£105). As single tests they come to £346.26, with results within 3 working days.
The women's packages cost more but cover far more ground. Our Gold package is £490. It includes chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV, syphilis, Mycoplasma genitalium, Ureaplasma, Gardnerella, herpes, trichomonas, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. A doctor consultation is included in every package, which means someone examines you, listens to your history and explains what the results mean.
Silver (£375) and Gold both add a vaginal swab for Candida and bacterial vaginosis, so thrush is covered. Silver includes Gardnerella and herpes but not trichomonas, which Gold adds. If you are fairly sure the cause is one of these three and want nothing else, the single swabs are the shorter list. If you would like everything checked once, with a doctor alongside, a women's package is the better fit.
What happens when you walk in
You do not need an appointment. At 117a Harley Street we are open Monday to Friday 09:00 to 18:00 and on Saturday and Sunday 10:00 to 14:00. A doctor asks when the soreness started, what makes it better or worse, and whether anything has changed recently, such as a new partner, product or medication.
Swab samples are taken during the visit, and results come back within 3 working days. When a result shows something, treatment can be arranged straight after, so you leave the process with an answer and a plan. You do not need to give your real name to be seen.
Book your visit
Sore after sex and unsure why? Choose a women's package, with a doctor consultation included, or walk in at 117a Harley Street any day of the week.