Vaginal Discharge, is it normal?

Vaginal Discharge, is it normal?

by | Aug 18, 2015 | Gynecology, Ob-Gyn | 2 comments

Vaginal discharge: Is it normal? Why does the vagina have ooey gooey weird stuff come out of it? Vast majority of the time, it’s normal. Why? Think of your vagina like your nose or mouth.  Both places make moisture: the mouth makes saliva and our noses make mucus.  The vagina and cervix do the same thing, but they are hanging upside down and you can’t swallow or sniffle to adjust the discharge. Normal discharge can be clear, white, grey, cream colored, blood tinged, brown, maroon, or even have a yellow/green hue to it.  It can vary in how it smells from odorless, to pungent, to metallic depending on where you are in your cycle. How do you know if it’s NOT normal? The take home message is this: If you ever notice discharge that’s really unusual, smells terrible, or is associated with notable, persistent pain, irritation, itching, painful sex, see your doctor so they can verify what’s going on.   Here are the simplified nuts and bolts: Does the vaginal discharge smell like really, REALLY strong fish? Does this smell & discharge increase after sex or your period? If yes- it could be a simple bacterial imbalance called bacterial vaginosis (BV). This is not a sexually transmitted infection (STI). It’s fixable with an antibiotic that rebalances the bacteria in the vagina.   Does it itch?  Does it really, really itch- as in- it’s difficult to leave the house for fear of itching your labia or vagina? If yes, it could be a yeast infection, but the only way to know for sure is to visit your Dr. This is...
Yearly Pap Smears: Why NOT to get them

Yearly Pap Smears: Why NOT to get them

by | Aug 5, 2015 | Gynecology, Ob-Gyn | 4 comments

If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I’m passionate about Pap smears.  (Yes, I know this statement would sound really strange proclaimed by anyone outside of women’s health.)  In my daily work, I run into many misconceptions about Pap smears. So, today, let’s dive into a few of them. The Pap smear is synonymous with a woman’s yearly exam.  In the office, I talk about pap smears an average of 27.8 times a day, for a total of 2h and 5 min per weekday.  Or perhaps, I spend my entire day talking about them.  I lose track. I joke because somedays, I feel like ALL I do is talk about Pap smears. It is one of the topics my patients and I discuss frequently, because in the last 10 years, there have been many fundamental changes surrounding the rationale behind how often we do them and thus, there’s, understandably, a lot of confusion and many misconceptions. This confusion stems from the fact that although our knowledge about the utility of the Pap smear has changed dramatically, this doesn’t always equate to how doctors practice or to how people think about their visit to the gynecologist. I want everyone here to have a rock solid understanding of what a Pap does and what a Pap does not do. All this to say, if you’re on the up and up with the 2012 and beyond guidelines, you can skip this entire note and jump on over to Facebook where we can chit chat about cute cat videos or period humor. If you’re not, stick with me. Did you know that most of us should not get yearly Pap Smears?  Now,...