Sores around vulva.

Hi Dr. Marie,
I would like a second opinion on my dog's health issue. She is a 4 year old spayed female, probable German Shepherd mix - I think she's mixed with Boxer, but our vet thinks she is GSD with Sharpei. (I mention this because he was very specific about Sharpei tending to have skin allergies and I wonder if it's possible this may slant his view a little.)

She had licked her vulva raw and had red oozy raw irritation in the crease where the skin cups down under it. Her records say "mild vaginitis" and "peri-vulvar skin is irritated and raw. Hair has acral staining from self trauma and excessive licking." It resolved with antibiotics plus Temaril-P but came back right away. We just finished another round of Temaril-P and it is cleared up again for now but tonight she is already starting to worry at it.

At the first visit for this he did mention that she had some extra skin folds and urine was getting caught in there, and I should try to keep her clean. Then he told me at the second visit to stop washing her, that washing was irritating it more. He said if it starts up again to give her benadryl but that we will probably have to put her on Atopica (that's when he mentioned that Sharpei are very prone to skin allergies). What concerns me is that she's not an "itchy" dog and I haven't seen any other signs of skin allergies.

A previous vet did point out that her vulva is a little bit recessed and said she might need a surgical lift some day if she had chronic problems. She has had three minor problems with her female parts BUT none of these issues have been chronic:
When we got her at eight months she had puppy vaginitis. At about a year and a half she got a pimply looking skin infection (staph?) further up on her tummy in the folds created by her spay scar. It cleared up with antibiotics and medicated shampoo. At about two years old she had a single urinary tract/bladder infection that cleared up with antibiotics. (The recessed vulva was pointed out at that time.)

So I'm pretty confused. I've read about urine burn causing vulvar dermatitis and this seems like the most likely cause to me, and it even seems like that's what he thought it was too at first. I'm not thrilled about suppressing her immune system if it's not really allergies. I see Atopica is used for chronic atopic dermatitis but can't find any information specifically about vulvar irritation. Have you prescribed it for this purpose or heard of it being used this way?

Are there other options besides either the Atopica or the surgical lift the other vet thought she might need? I certainly wouldn't want to put her through surgery if a pill will fix the problem. Yet, everything I read about Atopica seems like once you start it's going to be for life and there are side effects. And of course it's incredibly expensive!

I guess I need your opinion on whether I should take her for another opinion? She's a big timid girl and I don't want to drag her around to different vet offices if I'm way off base. Thank you for your time!