Lichen Sclerosus Checker

Lichen sclerosus is a long-term (chronic) skin condition that most often affects the genital and anal skin, though it can appear elsewhere. It causes patches of skin to become white, thin, and easily damaged. It is not a sexually transmitted infection and it is not contagious — you cannot catch it or pass it on, including through sex. Its exact cause isn't fully understood, but it's thought to be linked to an overactive immune response, and it's more common around and after the menopause, though it can affect people of any age and any sex, including children. It can't usually be cured, but it's typically managed well with treatment, and getting it looked at matters both for comfort and for long-term skin health.

The hallmark is a change in the skin itself: white, thin patches that can look shiny or crinkled, like cigarette paper or porcelain. In women (and people with a vulva) it commonly affects the vulva and the skin around the anus, sometimes in a figure-of-eight pattern; in men (and people with a penis) it usually affects the head of the penis and the foreskin. Alongside the skin change, the most common symptom is intense itching, often worse at night, along with soreness or burning. Because the skin becomes fragile it can split, tear, or bleed with sex, scratching, or even wiping, and sex can become painful. Over time, untreated lichen sclerosus can cause scarring that changes the shape of the skin — fusing or shrinking of vulvar skin, or a tight foreskin that won't pull back — which is one reason not to leave it.

No — and it's built not to. It reads a pattern from two features you can notice yourself: the characteristic skin change and the itch, soreness, or fragility. It can't examine your skin, and several other conditions can look or feel similar, so the most it can honestly say is whether your answers fit, partly fit, or don't clearly fit a pattern worth discussing. Only a clinician can diagnose lichen sclerosus — usually by looking at the skin directly, and sometimes by taking a small skin biopsy to confirm it. Take a match here as a good reason to get seen, and a negative result as reassuring on this quick check but never a way to rule it out.

A clinician — often a dermatologist or a gynecologist, or a urologist or primary-care clinician for penile skin — usually diagnoses it by examining the skin, and may take a small skin biopsy to confirm the diagnosis or rule out other things. The mainstay of treatment is a strong (potent) prescription steroid ointment applied to the affected skin, which usually relieves the itching and soreness and helps calm the skin down; treatment is often needed on and off long term because the condition is chronic. Gentle skin care and avoiding irritants help too. With treatment most people get good control of symptoms, and early treatment helps limit scarring — which is why it's worth starting sooner rather than later.

It carries a small increased risk of skin cancer in the affected area — of the vulva, penis, or anus. It's important to keep this in proportion: most people with lichen sclerosus never develop cancer, and treating the condition and attending follow-up are exactly how that risk is managed. What matters is knowing the changes to report promptly: a new lump or growth, a sore or ulcer that doesn't heal, or a patch that becomes thickened, hardened, raised, or wart-like. Any of those deserves an in-person check without waiting, so a clinician can look at it directly. This is the reason ongoing follow-up is part of living well with lichen sclerosus, rather than treating it once and forgetting about it.

Yes. This checker runs entirely in your browser. Your answers are read on your own device and are never sent to a server, saved, or shared — close the tab and they're gone. It's general educational information based on NHS, ACOG, and MedlinePlus patient guidance; it can't diagnose you, isn't an examination or a biopsy, and doesn't replace being seen by a licensed clinician.