Why is my clit split in half

A vaginal septum is a condition that happens when the female reproductive system doesn’t fully develop. It leaves a dividing wall of tissue in the vagina that’s not visible externally.

The wall of tissue can run vertically or horizontally, dividing the vagina into two sections. Many girls don’t realize they have a vaginal septum until they reach puberty, when pain, discomfort, or an unusual menstrual flow sometimes signal the condition. Others don’t find out until they become sexually active and experience pain during intercourse. However, some women with a vaginal septum never have any symptoms.

There are two types of vaginal septum. The type is based on the position of the septum.

Longitudinal vaginal septum

A longitudinal vaginal septum (LVS) is sometimes called a double vagina because it creates two vaginal cavities separated by a vertical wall of tissue. One vaginal opening may be smaller than the other.

During development, the vagina begins as two canals. They usually merge to create one vaginal cavity during the last trimester of pregnancy. But sometimes this doesn’t happen.

Some girls find out they have an LVS when they start menstruating and use a tampon. Despite inserting a tampon, they might still see blood leaking. Having an LVS can also make intercourse difficult or painful due to the extra wall of tissue.

Transverse vaginal septum

A transverse vaginal septum (TVS) runs horizontally, dividing the vagina into a top and bottom cavity. It can occur anywhere in the vagina. In some cases, it can partially or fully cut off the vagina from the rest of the reproductive system.

Girls usually discover they have a TVS when they start menstruating because the extra tissue can block the flow of menstrual blood. This can also lead to abdominal pain if the blood collects in the reproductive tract.

Some women with a TVS have a small hole in the septum that allows menstrual blood to flow out of the body. However, the hole might not be large enough to let all the blood through, causing periods that are longer than the average of two to seven days.

Some women also discover it when they become sexually active. The septum can block the vagina or make it very short, which often makes intercourse painful or uncomfortable.

A fetus follows a strict sequence of events as it develops. Sometimes the sequence falls out of order, which is what causes both LVS and TVS.

An LVS occurs when the two vaginal cavities that initially form the vagina don’t merge into one before birth. A TVS is the result of ducts inside the vagina not merging or developing correctly during development.

Experts aren’t sure what causes this unusual development.

Vaginal septums usually require a doctor’s diagnosis since you can’t see them externally. If you have symptoms of a vaginal septum, such as pain or discomfort during intercourse, it’s important to follow up with your doctor. Many things can cause symptoms similar to those of a vaginal septum, such as endometriosis.

During your appointment, your doctor will start by looking at your medical history. Next, they’ll give you a pelvic exam to check for anything unusual, including a septum. Depending on what they find during the exam, they may use an MRI scan or ultrasound to get a better look at your vagina. If you do have a vaginal septum, this can also help to confirm whether it’s an LVS or TVS.

These imaging tests will also help your doctor check for reproductive duplications that sometimes occur in women with this condition. For example, some women with a vaginal septum have additional organs in their upper reproductive tract, such as a double cervix or double uterus.

Vaginal septums don’t always require treatment, especially if they aren’t causing any symptoms or impacting fertility. If you do have symptoms or your doctor thinks your vaginal septum could lead to pregnancy complications, you can have it surgically removed.

Removing a vaginal septum is a very straightforward process involving minimal recovery time. During the procedure, your doctor will remove the extra tissue and drain any blood from previous menstrual cycles. Following the procedure, you’ll likely notice that intercourse is no longer uncomfortable. You might also see an increase in your menstrual flow.

For some women, having a vaginal septum never causes any symptoms or health concerns. For others, however, it can lead to pain, menstrual issues, and even infertility. If you have a vaginal septum or think you might, make an appointment with your doctor. Using some basic imaging and a pelvic exam, they can determine whether your vaginal septum could lead to future complications. If so, they can easily remove the septum with surgery.

“I remember looking at her and thinking, what?! I didn’t know you could tear that.”

After labouring for nearly 24 hours, Angela* thought she was through the worst of it. Holding her new baby girl in her arms, her midwife began performing a post-labour check to see if she would require any stitches. She expected to hear that she had some perineal tearing, since she was in quite a bit of pain, but nothing could have prepared her for the moment when her midwife announced that she had torn her clitoris—the clitoral hood, to be exact.

“I remember looking at her and thinking, what?! I didn’t know you could tear that.”

Angela had never heard of this type of tearing. Sure, she was in a lot of pain—her epidural had not worked during either of her births—but the pain wasn’t any worse than it had been after the birth of her son three years earlier.

Elin Raymond, a physician at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto and a lecturer at the University of Toronto with a specialization in Core Obstetrics and Gynaecology, explains that this isn’t an exceptional case. “Anywhere can tear, to be honest. You can tear through the labia minora, you can have tearing near or into the urethra, you can have clitoral hood or periclitoral tearing—it’s all possible, unfortunately. But, it doesn’t happen very often.” Raymond explains that it simply comes down to stretching. For Angela, while her birth had been quite slow and drawn out, the actual pushing part was quick—she had only pushed for around 20 minutes. “Some people have a tight perineum, so they’ll tear more anteriorly [near the front],” says Raymond. In these cases, the more common posterior tearing, or perineal tearing, tends to be less severe.

Why is my clit split in half
Why did no one tell me that epidurals don't always work?Like any other tearing during labour, tears to the clitoral hood are repaired with stitches. Angela’s midwife opted to have the OB at the hospital take the reins since they were dealing with such a sensitive area. “Usually it’s just a skin layer that is open,” says Raymond. “It will heal just fine. It has lots of blood flow.” Once the stitches have healed, most women regain feeling and are able to comfortably enjoy sex. In extremely rare cases, there may be some loss of sensation, but these cases are not the norm and are usually part of a bigger birth trauma. For Angela, healing took around eight weeks.

If women are concerned that the area is not healing well, they may want to seek out the assistance of a pelvic floor physiotherapist, who can work through any scar tissue using stretching and massage techniques.

Amy Gildner is a pelvic physiotherapist at West End Mamas in Toronto. For the very rare cases where loss of feeling may occur, Gildner recommends the same treatment as she would for any other type of tearing. “Tearing results in scar tissue and is really thick and fibrous,” she explains. “Often you just need someone to break down the scar tissue and teach you how to activate those muscles again.” Most pelvic floor physio involves massaging of scar tissue as well as stretching exercises, which can be done at home. “Deep squatting, butterfly, child’s pose. All of these positions are things women are really hesitant to do postpartum because they think they’re going to tear the stitches more,” says Gildner. “Past the six week point, you’ve had the midwife or OB appointment where they’ve checked to make sure the tear is healing correctly, then I encourage [these exercises] because it will stretch out that scar tissue.”

While the idea of clitoral tearing may be enough to put some women off giving birth, rest assured, the chances of it happening are quite rare. Raymond gives a ballpark figure of less than two percent of all tears. “You’re more likely to have periurethral and labia minora tears,” says Raymond. And it’s pretty much impossible to know if it’s going to happen to you.

If your doctor notices that you’re starting to tear anteriorly during labour, they may suggest doing an episiotomy. “If you make a bigger opening posteriorly, then you’ve got less chance of anterior tearing,” says Raymond. But she warns that having an episiotomy isn’t necessarily a better option. For Angela’s first birth, she was given an episiotomy. She found the healing process was much faster the second time around, when she tore her clitoral hood. “Probably within a few weeks I didn’t have any pain,” says Angela. “It felt fine and I felt comfortable having sex again around eight or nine weeks.”

*Some names have been changed.

Read more:
Involution: How to deal with postpartum afterpains
How to prevent tearing during delivery

Why is my clit tore?

Minor vaginal cuts and tears are common and often occur when a person is removing body hair or engaging in sexual activity. People with certain hormonal, skin, and immune conditions may be more likely to get vaginal cuts or tears.

How long does a clit cut take to heal?

Minor vaginal tears typically heal within one to two weeks, however, more severe tears, such as those that require stitches, can take longer. Minor vaginal cuts and tears are common, frequently happening when a person shaves near the vagina or engages in sexual activity or during childbirth.