Identify Your Abnormal Vaginal Discharge With Three Symptoms!

Vaginal discharge is the most common complaint among all women.

It is the fluid that is produced by the glands in the lining of the vagina and the cervix.

A small amount of vaginal discharge, which is milky white and clear with no odor, is usually normal.

The secretion of vaginal discharge which flows out of the vagina every day helps to maintain your vagina healthy and clean.

However, it becomes abnormal vaginal discharge when the amount and appearance of discharge changes.

Abnormal vaginal discharge is a highly common phenomenon that can be identified through three main symptoms: excessive discharge, changes in discharge color and odor, itching, irritation, soreness or burning sensation of vagina and vulva.

If you have an abnormal vaginal discharge then there will be an increase in the amount and thickness of discharge, white and clumpy (like cottage cheese), grayish, greenish, yellowish, or blood-tinged discharge, mucus and pus mixed in with discharge or frothy smell.

Abnormal vaginal discharge may cause with the inflammation of vagina, usually known as vaginitis, which occurs due to an infection or irritation by a chemical. It mostly occurs in young girls with a discharge that may contain blood due to a foreign object in the vagina. [Causes of Abnormal Vaginal Discharge]

Irritation may result from spermicides, vaginal lubricants, diaphragms, and latex condoms. However, the vagina becomes thinner and dryer after menopause where an inflammation of vagina may occur, thus increasing your chances of having abnormal vaginal discharge.

A change in appearance and odor can be caused by bacterial vaginosis. With this bacterium, your vaginal discharge may turn into a white, gray, or yellowish cloudy discharge with a strange (fishy) odor.

However, a thick, white, and clumpy discharge (like cottage cheese), which is accompanied by itching, is generally caused by candidiasis, a yeast infection.

A protozoan infection, called trichomoniasis (sexual transmitted disease) changes your vaginal discharge into a heavy, greenish yellow, frothy discharge that may have a bad odor.

Other sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, chlamydia can change the color of your discharge. A greenish or yellowish discharge may occur due to cervical infection, which is caused by gonorrhea, chlamydia.

However, cancer of the vagina, cervix, or lining of the uterus [Uterine Cancer Treatment] may cause a watery, blood-tinged discharge.

Once you find an abnormal vaginal discharge, it is better to consult your doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Remember, treating yourself with home remedies may improve your symptoms for few days but cannot completely eliminate your abnormal vaginal discharge.

For diagnosing the cause of the abnormal vaginal discharge, your doctor will perform a pelvic examination and also examine a sample of the discharge using a microscope.

Once the cause of the abnormal vaginal discharge is identified, your doctor will start treating your problem. An oral antibiotics or antibiotic vaginal creams will be prescribed if the cause of abnormal vaginal discharge is a bacterial infection.

However, a specific oral drug or vaginal preparations will be prescribed if your abnormal vaginal discharge is due to a type of yeast infection or trichomonad. If it is caused by a tumor, then a biopsy of the cervix or vagina may be compulsory.