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Two days after sex with Mr Hornbag, you've got
a vagina that itches like there's no Tuesday and a nasty green discharge to match. Enough to scare the pants back
on anybody. You must tell him the bad news - one of you has an infection.
Sexually transmitted diseases are very common
and fortunately quite easy to treat. A discharge is usually the first sign of an infection, and some bugs have
their own identifying features:
A green or yellowish frothy discharge, stinging wee, itching, and a fishy odor
may signal a trichomoniasis infection. The trichomonas vaginalis
bug can be treated with an antibiotic called metronidazole. As trichomoniasis is almost always sexually transmitted,
the guy must be treated too. Some people can harbor the bug and never know it.
Gonorrhea also shows up as a greeny discharge, but the disease once called the clap
is not all that common...however it does lurk. Antibiotics can clear it, but it's important that gonorrhea is treated
properly as the long-term effects could be infertility.
Despite what my mother used to say, it is most
unlikely - in fact very - for you to catch the
clap from a toilet seat...I still like
putting a safety sheet of paper down in public toilets, I gotta admit!
A white discharge with clumps accompanied by an itch is usually
good old thrush, or candida albicans, which can be treated with over the counter antifungal
medication. A lot of guys don't show symptoms of thrush, although some can have a discharge or stinging during
a wee. Thrush is an overgrowth of yeast usually caused by antibiotics, illness or wearing tight clothing.
A brown or red discharge can mean spotting between periods and this itself
can indicate that your pill is not working. But if you get this after sex you may suffer from cervical erosion.
The tissue at the neck of the cervix is red and infected, and trauma to the cervix from sex, tampons, or even vaginal
infections is the cause. Giving the cervix time to heal usually fixes the problem.
Polyps can also bleed after sex. These are non-cancerous tissue growths attached to
a small stem. Polyps can grow in many places and are easily removed by your doctor. They do, unfortunately, grow
back in many cases.
FYI - polyps in the colon
are a sign that cancer is on the way.
Just a weird,
watery discharge with burning wee and bleeding after sex could be chlamydia.
This is a nasty and extremely common bug. In fact, it is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in
the USA.
Chlamydia can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease which can cause scarring of the Fallopian tubes and infertility if not fixed.
A newborn baby is likely to be infected with an eye inflammation called conjunctivitis which
can cause blindness, or may develop
pneumonia if a mother has chlamydia.
Sometimes chlamydia has no symptoms at all, which
is kind of scary. It is called urethritis in men and has been linked to heart disease later on in
life. Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics.
It is normal to have a certain amount of discharge.
Most of the time it's a clear or whitish substance that sometime dries a yellow color (the dreaded girlie skidmarks)
on your undies. You may notice extra discharge mid-cycle or after you've had some sexual excitement. The pill can
produce extra secretions too.
Normal discharge does
not smell and is not itchy
so if you suspect a bug at work, you know the drill. See the doc.
The obvious way to prevent sex bugs is to use
a condom. Usually a good idea if you don't really know the person anyway!
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