Daddy, there’s a spot of blood on my underpants

I froze when I heard those words. How can this be? You’re seven years old! Then came a barrage of questions swirling in my head. When did it happen? How did it happen? Where did this happen? Stop me before I need to ask the who question. As it turned out, it was a playground injury. She showed me exactly how, while running, one of her feet slipped and it stretch her legs as if she were doing the splits. There was no trauma to the vagina, but a tear in her hymen.

She noticed it at school when she went to the washroom, but there was no bleeding; just a spot. She came home and told me right away. My high school biology class came back to me and between knowing my child and having a good discussion, I decided it was little more than a scrape or bruise; it just so happened to be at a very tender spot. We didn’t go to the hospital.  She asked if it will heal and I said it’s probably already healing.  She had a nice hot shower, changed and I did the laundry. I asked her to tell me if there’s any more pain or if there’s more bleeding. She nodded. I gave her my phone and said to call mom if she wanted to. And that was literally the end of that.

As I read about things I never really paid much attention to prior to having a daughter, I discovered that hymen injuries can be from activities as simple as riding a bicycle!

That evening, I researched hymen injuries in children and discovered that the thin membrane surrounding the opening of the vagina can be injured from activities as simple as riding a bicycle. The good thing is that healing time is quick. In most cases, broken capillaries disappear in about two or three days. Although we never went to the hospital to perform a full examination, I suspected that there were no blood blisters – which would also heal within weeks.

As I continue to read about things I never really paid much attention to prior to having a daughter, I also learned that even severe injuries also seem to heal without any scarring or marks. However, as I turn to a more serious tone, if the damage is suspected to be one of abuse, an examination by a physician must be done as soon as possible, complete with mental health workers. Samples must be obtained before healing is complete otherwise it could make for greater difficulty in gathering evidence. Bathing and flow of blood can also wash away evidence and samples need to be gathered for testing for sexually transmitted infections.

Luckily for her, it was just a simple childhood playground injury and she’s forgotten all about it now. For me, I continue to be informed about topics that concern my daughter’s general health and well-being.