Question: My name is XXXXXXX, I'm a 26 year old female. I am 5'1" and weigh 161 pounds. I started taking Sprintec brand birth control on 02/16/12 and I have had some side effects, including hormonal acne, labial itching, and a yeast infection last week. The infection cleared up with over-the-counter medicine, and the itching has lessened. The other night I was taking a shower and noticed that I had a small, hard lump the size of a small pea on the left side of my labia, close to the vaginal opening. When I touched it, I felt a small pop and while I found it odd, I just assumed that maybe it was an ingrown hair from shaving and thought nothing else of it. A few hours later the area had grown visibly, and I worried that perhaps I had a boil, something that I have never had in my genital region. I recently lost my job and thus my health insurance, and can't afford to see my doctor. I looked up home treatments online, and tried soaking the area with a cotton ball dipped in a saltwater solution made of sea salt and warm water. I did this for several hours Wednesday night and it seemed to help. The area had shrank considerably, and the lump had grown harder and there appeared to be a tiny white head at the top of it. I unwisely assumed that the boil was ready to pop, and so I applied pressure. It bled a little, and a tiny amount of pus came out with it. I cleaned the area with hydrogen peroxide and applied some tea tree oil to the area and covered it with a clean cotton ball overnight. Yesterday morning I removed the cotton ball and noticed that the left side of my labia was swollen. I assumed that it was from the trauma of popping the boil and so I cleaned the area with chamomile soap in the shower and applied the leftover cream I had from the over-the-counter yeast infection kit to the area, because I didn't want to risk infecting the area with candida since my birth control pill had caused it before. I felt fine as the day progressed, just mild pain when I walked. I had spontaneous (protected) sex with my boyfriend later on in the afternoon and noticed slight bleeding in the region when I wiped. I assumed it was just chafed from the friction, cleaned the area, and applied Neosporin to the area. I worked out last night and then took a shower after--this is when I noticed that the area was still bleeding faintly and that there appeared to be small amounts of pus on the toilet paper. The pain also had increased, I'd give it a 5. When I got woke up this morning, my urine made the area burn so badly that I wanted to cry--the pain level would be a 7 after urination. The pain subsides only after I clean the area with hydrogen peroxide. I'm afraid that I have infected the area, but I can't afford to go to the doctor. Any advice? I heard that if I keep the area clean and dry it should heal. I'm also curious as to whether my birth control could have caused the boil to form in the first place--I haven't had any problems until I started taking Sprintec.