How to Tell If You Have Uterine Fibroids Discharge
It is not unusual for women to have some amount of discharge ‘down there’ almost on a daily basis. In fact, a normal amount of white or colorless discharge is considered to be a good sign of vaginal health. When it’s colored and smelly, you should take your investigation further. When you have yellow, brown, or grey discharge, for instance, it could be a sign of infection or uterine fibroids. In this case, you have more than just your discharge to worry about.
What Normal Discharge Looks Like
Your vaginal discharge serves a purpose. It’s your body’s way of flushing and cleaning. It’s also a way to keep the vagina’s mucus membrane lining moisturized. Most women would normally have white or colorless discharge with consistencies varying depending on their menstrual cycle and hormonal levels.
Normal discharge is observed to follow a pattern and could be used as a fairly good indication of the state of your vaginal health. Watching your undies and checking your discharge on a daily basis is a good practice both for checking warning signs and for ‘planning’ your sexual activity.
Spotting Colored Discharge
It’s not a rainbow of colors coded into a gamut of illnesses that you have to worry about. There’s only a handful of colors and possible conditions that you need to know and watch out for.
- Red – red discharge is fine if you are bleeding during your period. If you are in between periods, you could still have reddish brown discharge due to ovulation bleeding. It usually happens anytime from days 13 to 16. It does not happen to everyone though. In some women, a little bit of the uterine lining could shed as hormones trigger the release the egg. This is what comes out as red or reddish brown vaginal discharge. If it does not happen right around the 13th to 16th days, you might be experiencing irregular bleeding. Check if you have uterine fibroids as they could cause excessive bleeding during in and in between periods. While reddish brown or grey is also considered to be a ‘normal’ sign of disintegrating fibroids, it should be a trigger for you to see your doctor ASAP.
- Dark Yellow to Green – this is not a very good color to see on your undies. Discharge in pale yellow might not indicate anything unusual, but a deeper yellow discharge could be a sign of infection. When you have green discharge, you could have trichomoniasis. You and your partner should start antibiotic treatment right away. Women who have had uterine artery embolization could also have smelly yellow discharge when prolapsed fibroids happen as a complication.
- Grey – this is another warning sign that’s associated with infection. If it also has a fishy smell, it’s most probably a case of bacterial vaginosis. It may or may not resolve on its own, but antibiotic treatment is often prescribed. Apart from BV, grey discharge could also be because of dissolving or disintegrating fibroids.
Paying Attention to Your Discharge
Now that you know what the colors mean is not enough and should not be a reason to self-medicate. It is always recommended to see your doctor before you take any medications. In cases of infections, prescription medications are necessary. In cases of uterine fibroids, more diagnostics and treatment options should be discussed with your doctor.
Share this:
