Six types of vaginal discharges and what do they mean

Published in

ouramulet

4 min readSep 30, 2021

Summary:

Discharges from the vagina are something most women commonly go through. Read this article to know what your vagina is trying to tell you.

Let us decipher the vaginal goo code. We notice it sitting in our undies, while cleaning ourselves up in the loo, or even feel them gushing out our bodies. The last part can sometimes make us go, “Oh S**t!”. We must have had different types of secretions going down there, but if you don’t know what those secretions mean, let’s decode them to refresh your knowledge about your lady pockets.

1. Brown or bloody

Apart from your normal bleeding, this can be indicative of approaching the end or the start of your monthly periods. The old blood looks brown as it sheds from the uterus. If there is blood at any other point of your cycle often accompanied by pelvic pain, it can probably indicate the rare case of cervical or endometrial cancer. Else spotting mid-periods can be a sign of pregnancy or miscarriage within the third trimester. Get it checked by a doctor if that’s the case.

2. Yellow or cloudy

If the yellow discharge is accompanied by abnormal bleeding or painful urination, it could be a sign of Gonorrhea. In women, the initial infection might look like a mild vaginal or urinary infection, or most of the time, symptomless. It is transmissible; it’s safer to get your partner(s) checked as well.

3. Frothy, smelly, and yellow or greenish

When your discharge is frothy in consistency and has a yellow/green tinge to it, it may be a symptom of Trichomoniasis. It can also cause irritation of genitals, cause itching, burning, soreness, and discomfort while peeing. 70% of the cases go unnoticed due to the initial lack of symptoms.

4. Pink in color

Pink discharges are generally accompanied by spotting. Occurring mostly before the periods start, it consists of a little bit of blood. It can also indicate signs of ovulation, implantation bleeding during early pregnancy, or just shedding of the uterine lining.

5. Cheesy, white, and thick

A white-colored discharge can mean a lot of things. It is the consistency that defines what is going on. When the consistency is slimy, primarily white or clear and stretchy, it generally means you are closing towards ovulation or in the fertile window — nothing to worry about.

When the texture of the secretion is clumpy or cottage-cheese like, it could be indicative of yeast infection. It is also accompanied by itching and burning during urination but has no smell.

6. Fishy odor, white, gray, or yellow

The discharge has a distinct unpleasant fishy smell and is thin and flowing in consistency, generally grayish-white or yellow in color. It could be Bacterial Vaginosis (BV), which comes with a combination of symptoms including vaginal itching, and burning while urinating. It is reasonably common among fertile women; almost 30% get it at some point in their lives.

That said, let’s follow these simple steps to keep our genitals hygienic healthy:

Only clean the outside of the vagina with mild soap. Do not go inside with the soap. You might create an imbalance in the good bacteria ecosystem down there, making it prone to infections more.
Never douche. With scented or non-scented products. Do not spray it with anything either.
Wipe from front to back after peeing. This is to avoid bacteria getting into your vagina.
Avoid tight clothing. Wear breathable underwear, preferably 100% cotton.

Vaginas are self-cleaning, just like cats, geddit?

There is an entire balanced ecosystem of bacteria and fungus (yeast) that keep the normal functioning of the vagina going. The vagina needs attention only during an anomaly. To maintain hygiene and take care of your flowers!