Lump on vulva.

[Scaredandafraid]

Hi.

My gp diagnosed me with a genital wart in July last year and ive been struggling to get it seen by sex health ever since due to covid. I finally got seen yesterday and 2 different nurses looked and were not sure it was a wart as i have a few moles, in fact they were quite unsure and have made me an appt to see their derma consultant.

I have CIN1 and had a colposcopy in Jan and the sex health nurses said they wouldn't be too concerned about the lump as they feel that team wouldve said something then. But I had already told them I had a wart so im not sure they really paid much attention. I have severe anxiety and am in quite a state thinking it could be something bad (I googled which we all we shouldn't do and vulva cancer came up which has exacerbated things) my biggest concern is if it is bad its been there almost a year which is probably not good either.

I guess my question is has anybody had similar? And are there any colposcopy experts that know whether they wouldve paid attention to it?

I realise this is a long shot but im tying myself in knots and not sure where else to turn.

Thanks for reading.

[AskEveTeam]

Hi there,

Thank you for your message. We're really sorry to hear you're feeling worried.

Ok, so it's great that the nurses have referred you for a specialist appointment. It's difficult to say whether when diagnosing/finding your CIN1 that the person doing the colposcopy would have looked at the wart(s) on the vulva. Colposcopy is a specific clinic/procedure to look at the cervix, so it is likely that a general gynae/vulva check unless something immediately stands out, isn't going to be part of the appointment, as colposcopy is separate to your derma referral you're going to have.

CIN1 means that there are slight changes to the cervical cells, which will most likely return to normal by your next test. 99% of cervical changes are caused by HPV, and about 40% of vulval cancers are also linked to HPV. But, that doesn't mean that the wart you've found is a direct cause of your CIN1, if that makes sense.

Our best advice is to not google things that will make your anxiety worse before your referral appointment, and know that the sexual health nurses have done the right thing in referring you as they were unsure, but it's still unlikely that you will have a vulval cancer.

If you have any questions after your derma appointment, please do get in touch via [e-mail]

Best Wishes,

The Ask Eve Team