Female discharge is normal for all healthy women if they are colorless and have no unpleasant odor. A change in the consistency, color and smell of secretions can indicate the presence of various diseases. What does white color mean and is there any cause for concern?
During the menstrual cycle, the vaginal discharge of a healthy woman often changes its consistency and color, but if abundant discharge of white color appears, this may indicate the presence of a serious inflammatory process in the body. Many other factors, sometimes not directly related to health, also affect the color of secretions (whites). So, slight whitish discharge can be observed with prolonged wearing of the contraceptive cap on the cervix and douching with various disinfectant solutions. Sometimes such leucorrhoea occurs even when wearing tight underwear and so-called “thongs”. Leucorrhoea often appears with prolapse of the vaginal walls, tears in the perineum and with constipation. Female discharge of white color is often accompanied by unpleasant odors and itching of the vaginal mucosa. This condition is also characteristic of various infectious diseases.
There are situations in which whitish discharge does not present a cause for concern. In these cases, their appearance is the norm:
- the appearance of white discharge after unprotected sex, due to the presence of male seminal fluid in the vagina;
- creamy, scanty whitish discharge after sex (protected and unprotected), due to the development of a large amount of vaginal lubrication;
- liquid whitish discharge, reminiscent of the color of milk, observed during pregnancy and intensified with increasing duration (they are odorless and do not cause itching in the genital area).
Very characteristic discharge (sour cream-like or curdled) is observed with vaginal candidiasis (thrush) caused by fungi of the genus Candida. They have a yeast odor. Whitish discharge can be observed with bacterial vaginosis. The short-term appearance of opaque whites, which passes over time, in itself becomes an occasion for a visit to the gynecologist, since they can indicate the occurrence and course of various diseases in the woman’s body. The faster the cause of their occurrence is identified, the faster it is possible to cure the disease and prevent complications. Self-medication cannot be practiced, since similar symptoms can occur in diseases caused by completely different causes.
White discharge similar to mucus or transparent discharge with whitish streaks, most often appearing at the very end of the cycle or just before menstruation itself can indicate diseases such as cervicitis (an inflammatory process in the cervical canal of the uterus) and cervical erosion. Discharge of mucus is characteristic of all diseases associated with the cervix.
White or white-greenish and white-grayish whites with a characteristic fishy odor are characteristic of vaginal dysbiosis (gardnerellosis).
With various inflammatory and infectious diseases, white discharge has an acidic smell. Differentiation of the diagnosis is carried out on the basis of laboratory tests and a doctor’s examination.
The diagnosis is made during a gynecological examination, analysis of a smear from the vagina. In some cases, a diagnosis is made based on the results of an ultrasound scan.