Kaela took months to recover after multiple trips to the hospital
A woman has stopped wearing underwear after sleeping in a pair of knickers put her in hospital. Kaela Tucker’s underpants had rubbed while she slept, causing a cut inside her vagina which became infected and took months to heal.
Days later, the 26-year-old was rushed to hospital after the cut formed a “bubble” cyst, leaving her in excruciating pain and unable to close her legs. After months of treatment – during which the cyst reopened and became infected once again – Kaela was finally able to heal.
But the incident has left her terrified of her own underwear – which she has now decided to forego entirely. “I don’t wear underwear at all anymore,” said the assistant property manager. “The only underwear I use since my injury is period underwear, because tampons seem so unsafe after everything [I’ve been through].”
It comes following the horrifying incident, triggered by her simply sleeping in underwear that she had worn “100 times before”, in March 2024. Having woken up with pain in her vagina, Kaela assumed the wound would heal on its own, but felt an “intense burning” over the next few days.
She visited her doctor to get antibiotics, but after two days started to worry that she would “die” if she didn’t go to the hospital. Kaela said: “I couldn’t sit, stand or even lay down. My only option was to ride to the hospital lying on my left side because it was on the right side of my vagina.”
At the hospital, doctors used an ultrasound wand to confirm a 4.8cm Bartholin cyst – a fluid-filled blockage in a Bartholin’s gland in the labia – had formed, with blood work showing she had a “raging” infection as a result. Kaela added: “They were worried I had waited any longer, that I would have gone septic. “They had me on several different IV antibiotics, hoping that the cyst would burst on its own instead of having to do it surgically.
“Thankfully, the cyst did burst on its own, but not without excruciating levels of pain. It was the second night at the hospital that I was practically screaming in pain that not even morphine could cure. I have even had two feet reconstructive surgeries that I thought would be the most painful I would ever experience in this lifetime – until I met an infected vaginal cyst.”
On the morning of her third day in hospital, Kaela stood up and felt a “massive burst of liquid gushing” down her legs. She said: “If I were pregnant, I would have thought that my waters broke. But hallelujah – my cyst burst following an immediate rush of relief.
“Now I could sit, stand and lay normally. They kept me for two more days until they were happy with my white cell count, indicating that I no longer had an infection.”
But Kaela’s turmoil didn’t end there – and she claims she was sent home with an “open wound”, which became infected and was untreated for months. She said: “I was constantly exhausted, frustrated, and close to losing my mind.
“I saw several OBGYNs who fed me more antibiotics and yeast-fighting creams that you manually shoot up your vagina, and yet, the open wound got slowly, but surely, worse.” Towards the end of June 2024 – three months after the underwear had cut her – she started to feel as poorly as she previously had and went back to the hospital.
There, they found the cyst was back and she was, once again, infected. Kaela also claims she was mistreated by staff members who “discredited” her pain and experience, and alleges that a senior staff member apologised on their behalf. She ended up in the hospital for five days, but claims that no one knew how to treat her.
She added: “I really thought I would die if no one would help me.” Kaela moved to a new doctor’s office at the end of July and says, there, she was finally diagnosed with a fungal infection.
She said: “She had me start taking this antifungal medication, and within a week, I started to feel so much better. You never know how sick you are until you aren’t sick anymore.”
Over the next few months, the wound slowly healed and Kaela was finally cyst and infection-free. Reflecting on the incident, she said: “It’s so silly and insane that a pair of underwear caused mass torment and pain for me for nine months.
“Each time I had to tell a family member, friend, or doctor that this all started because of a pair of underwear, I died a little inside from embarrassment, but now I think it’s quite hilarious. It’s a great comedic relief story that people would never expect to hear.”
Kaela says her life has taken a “positive turn” since healing from the terrifying incident, with her able to exercise again and even losing 50lbs. After sharing her story on TikTok, with her posts going viral, Kaela has been in touch with a community of women sharing their own experiences with intimate injuries and issues.
She added: “I even have girls and women reach out in my DMs asking for advice on their own vaginal cysts. I feel like a big sister. Even though I’m scared my boss will find my videos and know too much about me, I will never take them down. They offer too much value to my fellow sisters!”