Conditions
Vaginal Discharge
It’s perfectly normal for all women to experience vaginal discharge. However, this nugget of information will be of little comfort to you if your handbag is a repository for clean pairs of ‘emergency knickers’. Vaginal discharge usually begins just before puberty and ends after the menopause. Effectively this is your vagina cleaning itself. Normal discharge is clear, white or creamy and may give off a musky smell, but it’s not unpleasant. You may notice the amount changing from time to time and getting heavier just before your period. Sexual arousal or pregnancy may also bring an increase. However, if your discharge becomes thicker and has a consistency rather like cottage cheese, then you may have a bacterial infection such as thrush. And if it’s a greenish yellow colour then it may be more serious and could be a symptom of gonorrhoea or trichomoniasis. And be warned: chlamydia may also cause a change in your vaginal discharge.
Comments and Questions
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Please note: Unfortunately Channel 4 cannot respond to individual inquiries. If you have any concerns, you can check out NHS Choices, but ultimately it is always best to check with a health professional.
when me and my partner have sex he cums inside me and when we've finished having sex, it just comes back out of me. I'm on the pill and were doing everything correctly. I just want to know if it's anything serious thanks
Whilst on my period, and for a few days after, there is a strong fishy smell from my vagina, and it is really ruining my life. what could this be?
it's been 2 weeks since my last period and over the past few days i am getting a pinky discharge that is slimy and a bit smelly. i had the mirena coil fitted 4 months ago, this is the first time this has happened. any ideas??
Hi i'm 14 and i've had discarge for about 4 years and my period started 2 years ago but all of a sudden they have stopped and i haven't had one in 6 months. I am a healthy weight and i have a good diet. I don't know what it is!
i have been getting discharge since about the age of 11 i am now 14 and am still getting it and recently it has been a browny yellowy colour but i have not started my period yet, all of my friends have except me and im really embarrassed to speak to anyone about it especially a GP. help me!
hi,im 23 and i keep getting a smelly down below i have been to my doctors twice now for it and she prescribed me antiboitics for it, she said it was a bactirial infection... i asked what can bring it on and she said stress! im just as stressed as the next person..... after the course of tablets im fine and back to normal, the smell seems to come back after my periods so i have stopped using tampax thinking it might be that im leaving them in too long!! could the problem be this time im not changing my towels enough???? i change 2, 3 times a day even more if i am on heavy and i shower everyday...! do i need to go back to my doctors for more test? its starting too scare me now because i dont want it 2 affect me havin children...its not as if i sleep around either iv had the same partner for 6 years i have had test for sti and everything so i kno its not anything sexually transmitted.... hope all this makes sence sorry if it doesnt :)x
I'm 13 and I keep on having my period really heavy and thick but the day after it happens there is tiny amount of blood. It also smells, and there is blood clots. I'm really scared and confused!
i am 14 and i have this discharge that smells fishy and when i am on my period it gets even worst i am to scared to go to the doctor since i live with my dad since my mum passed away and i always get really wet pants and sometimes its clear and sometimes its not any help here
hi emma, if you have a strong fishy smell it is probaby an infection. i have had this twice in the past, you will need to go to your doctor and antibiotics will clear it in a week or so. this is either BV or Trich, they are both infections which can be passed during sex or it can be caused by an imbalance in your ph levels. are you getting a greyish watery discharge too?
Hi Emma, sounds to me as if you have bacterial veginosis. Its a discharge which smells fishy and I had it for years but I was too embarrassed to go to the doctors. Mine was totally cured after a course of antiobiotics called Metronidazole. You must go to your doctors, you may be embarrassed at first but a few minutes of embarrassment is better then constantly feeling ashamed. It will also knock your confidence if you dont get it sorted, good luck!
Just before and after i finish my period i have no discharge, but the time in between that, I have brown discharge. It looks exactly like a period but brown, with brown bloodclots, smells a little too. I have had sti test's and im all clear. Its really doing my heading now. Im constantly having to wear sanitary towels except for the couple of days before and after. Is this normal? And what is it? Ive been tol its old blood, but surely there wouldnt be that much?
My vaginal discharge has a very strong smell. I'm now worried i may have an infection. I have had oral sex with my boyfriend. Is he at risk of getting an infection from my discharge?
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