woe, diagrams be upon thee. for the record because i was confused on some parts, again, not all of my captions/labels are serious.
this medicine shit is easy /light hearted
i gotta say everyone who has sent me a diagram so far is sooo fucking good at it. not just the drawing itself but the color coding and everything. yall would put some of these professional medical diagrams to shame!!
i wish i could help you more on what exactly your variation is wrt the frills. i definitely get your frustration in trying to find more answers on this. i hope this diagram can help connect you with people who also have this variation, or someone who knows more about it.
i rlly feel the approximation of the holes too... my hymen obscures more than i initially thought & i didn't realize at first how much opening was covered up, & how close the holes actually were to each other!
Oh wow, I felt uncomfortable using intersex for myself as I """""only""""" had higher T levels from PCOS. But looking at your diagrams, I definitely have vulvar hypospadias or PUGS. Do you know if either of those two variations could be associated with how pelvic exams and transvaginal ultrasounds have been impossible for me due to pain? Or is that most likely a different cause?
(Previous post this user is referencing)
Vulvar hypospadias or PUGS most definitely can cause vaginal pain during examination! Vaginal examinations are already painful to many people as-is, but for people with vulvar hypospadias, PUGS, (complete) persistent cloaca, or vaginal atresia, they can be agonizing or even impossible.
For hypospadias, PUGS, or (complete) persistent cloaca, this is due to the fact the urethral tissue is being penetrated/rubbed against, which is going to be naturally irritating.
(Also, hyperandrogenism is most definitely intersex, so you could have identified as it from the start! We understand imposter syndrome, though.)
If you have urogenital variations, you may have congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) rather than PCOS, PCOS is often misdiagnosed for CAH because the two are on such a similar spectrum, and doctors don't give a fuck about proper diagnosis of intersex variations.
We highly recommend you check out our intersex guide and see if anything else resonates with you.
Hello! I would like to float an alternate term to "sleeve" or "redundant" hymen. It is "hymen hypertrophy", "hypertrophy" is an medical term that means "tissue that has grown larger than average".
Disclaimer! This is not saying you, the reader, has to use this term! I dislike how unspecific the term "sleeve" is, & how dismissive "redundant" feels. My hymen isn't redundant - it's still doing it's job - it is just larger/thicker than average. 🫶
oooh i like this idea! i think it also kinda works bc people can have this sort of hymen and another variation, because hymen hypertrophy is how much hymen there is/how thick/elastic while imperforate/microperforate/septate have to do w how the hymen perforated during the final stages of development. & i like that it pairs up well w other terminology & feels more straightforward than either of those terms. (plus yk i love the spirit behind "my hymen isn't redundant - it's still doing it's job" YESS HYMEN AWARENESS 🫶)
other folks w this variation, what do we think?
i prefer hymen/al hypertrophy!
i like it but i prefer/will still mostly use sleeve hymen
i like it but i prefer/will still mostly use redundant hymen
i like it but dont really have a preference
eh
dont like it but dont really have a preference
don't like it, prefer/will still mostly use sleeve hymen
don't like it, prefer/will still mostly use redundant hymen
I had a question but it isn't about vh if that's still okay (it's just a general intersex question)
I keep seeing people mention the clitoral hood and im a little confused as to what it is. I (probably) have clitoral hypoplasia but i still don't.. see or feel anything like what the clitoral hood is described as. Could it be considered intersex to not have a clitoral hood (if im not just. incorrect about it)?? already know im intersex w subtotal vh but still. curious about this.
I also seem to not have a hymen at all or the labia minora?? maybe im just a bit atypical and that's cool to me :] i guess im just curious on if these things are also an intersex thing or if it's something else.
the clitoral hood is homologous (coming from the same structure pre-sexual development) to the foreskin on a penis! the clitoris is a sensitive nub, and the clitoral hood is skin that wraps around it; its connected to/part of the labia minora. if you have labial hypoplasia, it makes total sense you would also have aposthia (lack of a foreskin/clitoral hood).
being born without a hymen is also afaik pretty atypical :] i would def consider all of that under the intersex umbrella (specifically the "agenital spectrum" if that term appeals to you!)
Oh, wow. Mine looks really similar to the second one in the second image in your reply. But it also… doesn't? Your diagram and every other diagram I've seen have this sort of… you can just kind of pull everything back and get this overall pointed oval sort of shape. But mine doesn't. If I try to kind of spread it out, I can't actually see either hole well unless I mess with the angle, and even then I have to do even more struggling with angle to see two holes rather than one. Instead of the pointy-ish spot on the opposite-of-clit side, it's round, circular, like there's some sort of sheet of flesh under the majora but a little above or just by the minora, obscuring the majority of any entrances, everything but the top of what I think is my urethra? This is kind of a ramble and it feels embarrassing and inappropriate to be talking about, but I'm kind of just now realising not only how little I know about my own anatomy but also how my anatomy doesn't really match up to diagrams as much as I guess I expected it to. But I've also been on testosterone for over a year and a half now, so that could be it. Anyway, thank you for the reply. I don't really know what to think about what this means for me, if anything, but it's good to know.
So what we're reading from this, you struggle to see your vaginal entry due to flesh coverage?
This could be due to having vaginal atresia, specifically what we're thinking is hymenal variations or vaginal septums (which you can refer back to our intersex guide again to read more on that.)
We may be misunderstanding what you are saying here, but we'll give you our hymenal variation sketches just in case. Vaginal septums are slightly different, especially when they are internal, but they're along the same lines as this.
(Once again, not the finished product, it still needs lineart and coloring, this is just a messy sketched reference point with slightly unrealistic proportions.)
Its under the cut, obvious content warning for genitals.
