Causes of bleeding after menstruation

Spotting during pregnancy, reasons why spotting appears during pregnancy?

At the very beginning of pregnancy, when the fertilized egg implants itself into the wall of the uterus, a small implantation bleeding occurs, which comes out of the vagina in the form of a smear and can frighten the expectant mother. It is this process that explains the causes of spotting or spotting during pregnancy. But there is nothing wrong with this and a pregnant woman does not need to be afraid of anything. But if the spotting occurs for a long time, there is pain, then this is a reason to see a doctor. Therefore, if there is spotting during pregnancy and the lower abdomen hurts, such symptoms cannot be ignored; you should definitely seek help from a doctor. But if scanty vaginal discharge appears during pregnancy and such spotting is not accompanied by pain in the lower abdomen, if the bloody discharge is light and passes quickly, then such symptoms can be considered normal, because they indicate the natural process of implantation of the egg into the wall of the uterus.

During pregnancy, thrush often occurs, white discharge appears in the form of a paste, itching and burning in the vagina. You should not be afraid of such a disease; it is quickly and easily treated. It occurs when Candida fungi multiply, which are constantly present in our body. Treatment of thrush, candidiasis, occurs after consultation with a doctor about medications. You can read about whether menstruation can begin in early pregnancy in this article: can menstruation occur in early pregnancy, how to distinguish discharge during pregnancy from normal menstruation.

If after menstruation the spotting bothers you for a few more days, then this may be due to poor blood clotting, especially with heavy menstruation. Then the color of the discharge will turn brownish by the end of menstruation. It is necessary to visit a doctor to rule out pathology in the body. In this scenario, hemostatic drugs can be prescribed, for example, ascorutin, calcium gluconate. You can take a decoction of nettles, 1 tbsp per 1 glass of water, brew with boiling water, let it brew.

The causes of spotting after menstruation during pregnancy are very often associated with a problem such as endometrial hyperplasia, proliferation of the mucous membrane. In addition to symptoms in the form of spotting after the end of menstruation, menstruation, this problem is very easy to detect through simple and inexpensive diagnostics, ultrasound (ultrasound) of the pelvic organs. Endometrial hyperplasia and its symptoms in the form of bloody discharge, spotting after the end of menstruation, appear due to the fact that the endometrium (mucous membrane) begins to grow and increases in size. Endometrial hyperplasia is very often observed during menopause and when a woman’s hormonal levels malfunction. The main reasons for the development of endometrial hyperplasia are heredity and hormonal imbalance. This disease is rare, but can lead to the development of cancer, uterine cancer.

Whatever the reasons for spotting after menstruation, it is better to consult with your doctor if such symptoms continue for a long time, especially if they are associated with pain or an unpleasant odor. Then you should not hesitate to identify pathology in the body at a very early stage and cure it without complications for the patient. Your health depends only on you, so do not delay visiting a gynecologist, get examined periodically and then no diseases will overshadow your life. Keep track of your regular monthly cycle and if you have spotting after your period and pain in the lower abdomen, pain in the left or right abdomen and heavy bleeding, do not hesitate to visit a gynecologist.

Smears after menstruation

After menstruation, there is normally no bleeding. If it continues to smear after a week or more, you need to pay attention to the specific features of this phenomenon.

Self-diagnosis in this case can only roughly indicate a possible disorder, but to identify the cause and begin treatment, you must consult a doctor.

Brown

Brown spotting may indicate certain diseases. A brownish tint to the liquid indicates the presence of bloody additions.

Possible diseases include:

• endometritis;
• endometriosis;
• myoma;
• polyps;
• ectopic pregnancy;
• uterine hyperplasia;
• detachment of the fertilized egg.

Each disease, when smearing brown after menstruation, requires special treatment.

Bloody issues

Heavy bleeding may indicate the following diseases:

• cervicitis;
• cervical erosion;
• endocervicitis.

Discharge of large blood clots may be a consequence of a bleeding disorder. Factors also include fibroids, polyps, endometriosis, and hypovitaminosis B.

Pink

Pink discharge usually has an unpleasant odor. The reason for this is endocervicitis and chronic endometritis.

Black

Dirty, grayish and even black discharge may indicate vaginal dysbiosis. They usually have an unpleasant fishy smell.

Chronic endocervicitis and endometritis are also causes.

After 40 years

Discharge after 40 years is associated with the period of menopause, when a sharp hormonal change occurs. Inflammatory diseases and neoplasms are also factors.

Video about discharge in women

Should I worry if spotting appears after menstruation (menstruation)?

Many women, after discovering the appearance of discharge after the end of menstruation, after the end of menstruation, begin to worry about what such discharge could mean. To worry or not to worry when discharge appears without menstruation, many women ask themselves this question. Below we will list those cases when you should not worry if the discharge occurs without menstruation. Non-dangerous causes of spotting after menstruation (menstruation): a woman’s age from 13 to 18 years, a woman’s age from 35 to 50 years (that group of women in whom the process of hormonal changes in the body occurs, which is associated with puberty or the onset of menopause), hormonal OCs (hormonal contraceptive pills, in most cases, lead to restructuring of the female body, which can cause disruptions in the menstrual cycle and the appearance of spotting after menstruation). When using hormonal contraceptives, hormonal OCs, doctors recommend paying attention to those moments when symptoms in the form of spotting outside of menstruation appear over a long period of time. If brown spotting after or before menstruation continues for a long time, or brown spotting appears periodically for 4 or 5 months, you should definitely seek help from a doctor. You can read about the causes of unhealthy discharge in the article: which vaginal discharge can be considered normal and which are dangerous symptoms.

If brown discharge occurs against the background of problematic periods, for example, when menstruation is delayed, when periods last longer than usual, then this may be due to increased blood clotting, which is observed during prolonged periods in a large number of women. Another reason for spotting after menstruation is pregnancy. If brown spotting appears due to pregnancy, then the cause of such brown discharge after menstruation is associated with implantation of the embryo into the uterus.

Bloody discharge - what are they?

Any discharge uncharacteristic of a healthy body before and after menstruation causes women to feel anxious or even panic. Especially if it turns out that this discharge is mixed with blood. It is important to immediately pay attention to their color, abundance, consistency and duration. This will help doctors immediately choose the right diagnostic path and quickly prescribe rational treatment, if necessary.

By color they can be:

• scarlet;
• brown;
• brown;
• pinkish;
• streaked with blood.

By amount of discharge:

• heavy bleeding;
• discharge requiring the use of special hygiene products (pads, tampons);
• allocations that do not require the use of such funds.

By consistency:

• liquid;
• mucous membranes;
• spotting;
• with clots.

By duration:

• from several to 72 hours;
• up to 1 week;
• more than a week.

It is also important to note at what period of the menstrual cycle the discharge occurs and at what intervals. In addition, a woman during this period or before it may experience other symptoms - nagging, dull or sharp pain in the lower abdomen, burning, fever, itching, general malaise, etc.

When is bleeding normal?

Bloody discharge after menstruation is not always a manifestation of any disease, but can sometimes occur in a healthy female body without pathological causes:

A small amount of blood may appear before the predicted menstruation or 2-3 days after it. In this case, the discharge is usually spotty and brown in color.

Violent sexual intercourse, an unsuccessful examination by a gynecologist or other tests before menstruation can also cause minor bleeding due to mechanical damage to the vaginal walls. Usually such conditions do not require special treatment.

Women who take birth control pills or other hormonal medications often experience bloody discharge from the genitals before or after menstruation. This is due to the fact that hormonal and contraceptive drugs cause changes and restructuring in the body, which can lead to a similar symptom.

However, such bleeding should not be heavy and cannot last longer than 3 months. In this case, it is recommended to stop taking these medications and change the contraceptive or medication, or choose a more suitable hormonal agent.

Medicines intended for emergency contraception (birth control that works in the first hours after sex) can also cause bloody discharge before your period.

For many women, bleeding between periods begins 2 weeks after the start of the cycle. This is usually accompanied by mild nagging pain on the right or left in the ovarian area and indicates the onset of ovulation. This is due to changes in estrogen levels and is an individual feature of the body.

Bloody discharge instead of menstruation may appear due to stress, moving, changing time zones and climate. This is a normal adaptive reaction of the body.

Pathological causes of intermenstrual bleeding

There are many pathological conditions that cause intermenstrual bleeding. These could be gynecological, endocrine, or metabolic problems. The most common reasons are:

1. Endometrial polyps, its hyperplasia. Characterized by painful menstruation with blood clots, and after about 2 weeks, discharge appears.
2. Endometriosis.
3. Myoma. Accompanied by pain like cramps in the abdomen and lower back during menstruation.
4. Oncology of the cervix or endometrium. The discharge is not associated with the cycle, does not appear periodically and can last for weeks.
5. Erosive changes in the cervix are often the cause of spotting. They appear after sexual intercourse, gynecological examination or other manipulations.
6. Endometritis. The discharge is accompanied by long and painful menstruation.
7. Multiple cysts in the ovaries.
8. The presence of diseases that are transmitted through sexual contact.
9. Miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. Bleeding may occur several weeks after fertilization.
10. Blood clotting disorders.
11. Vitamin deficiency or hypovitaminosis K and C.
12. Disorders of the thyroid and adrenal glands.

To accurately determine the cause of disturbances in the functioning of the body, you need to contact a specialist with your complaints, because many diseases that are accompanied by bleeding before menstruation lead to infertility, anemia and other serious consequences.

Dangerous causes of discharge after menstruation, causes

The following are cases when doctors recommend seeking help from a gynecologist. If you don’t know what to do when spotting appears after menstruation, a week after menstruation, you should definitely know all the dangerous causes of such discharge. If your period does not arrive at the usual time, and 2 or 3 days after that date, heavy or scanty vaginal discharge appears, which can be characterized as scanty uterine bleeding, then such symptoms may be the first signs of the development of an ectopic pregnancy. The distinctive symptoms of ectopic pregnancy, in addition to the fact that brown spotting instead of menstruation is similar to uterine bleeding, is pain in the lower abdomen, sometimes there is a sharp pain in the lower abdomen. If brown vaginal discharge appears due to endometriosis, then usually this dark brown spotting is scanty and appears after menstruation.

Another gynecological disease is accompanied by symptoms such as brown spotting after menstruation; this is cervical erosion. Cervical erosion and its symptoms are dark brown or dark red mucus. Also, such painful symptoms may be signs of the development of endocervicitis. An incorrectly installed hormonal intrauterine device can cause spotting after menstruation. Discharge after menstruation very often indicates the development of an inflammatory process, which can appear not only due to the development of a gynecological disease, but also due to an accidentally forgotten condom or tampon, or another foreign body inside the vagina.

It is very important to seek help from a doctor in time if a woman begins menstrual bleeding that does not stop for a very long time. Such menstrual bleeding may appear due to a recent abortion or miscarriage. It is also important to remember that if brown discharge continues for more than 3 months after the installation of a hormonal intrauterine device, you should consult a gynecologist. Because not in all cases the body can adapt to such a hormonal contraceptive.

If blood is visible in the smear after menstruation, then such symptoms often indicate the possible development of an inflammatory process. If there is blood in the smear, then most likely it is an inflammatory process. Hormonal OCs (oral contraceptives) may also not always be suitable for a woman. And against the background of long-term use of hormonal OCs, discharge instead of menstruation or brown spotting after menstruation may not stop. The inflammatory process in a woman can be accompanied by scanty or copious brown discharge, even if the woman does not use tampons correctly. Holds them inside for too long.

Why does blood bleed after menstruation?

Bloody vaginal discharge can occur in women of any age. This pathology has the general medical name “metrorrhagia”. Bleeding in women in most cases indicates that there is a malfunction in the reproductive system caused by hormonal imbalance, age-related changes or any gynecological pathologies. Let's consider the main factors that can cause bleeding after regulation.

Age factor

According to gynecologists, spotting can be a variant of the norm during certain periods of a woman’s life; its occurrence can be explained by the physiological processes occurring in the body at that moment.

Bloody spotting after menstruation can occur in adolescence. This condition should not cause alarm if the discharge appears unsystematically; this can be caused by hormonal changes in the body during puberty. If a teenage girl bleeds from the vagina during the intermenstrual period in each cycle for a year or more, you should definitely consult with your gynecologist. In some cases, this phenomenon can last 2-3 years, and with a hereditary predisposition, even up to 5 years.

For women of reproductive age, the appearance of spotting after the end of menstruation is allowed during ovulation. This is the so-called ovulatory bleeding, which is caused by the rupture of the follicle and the release of the egg. Without severe painful symptoms, this condition does not require additional treatment. Also, during reproductive age, slight bleeding on underwear can occur at the moment of conception, when the fertilized egg is fixed in the uterine cavity.

Bloody secretion immediately after menstruation can occur in women after 40-45 years. At this time, reproductive function begins to decline, and various hormonal changes occur. During menopause, the regularity of the menstrual cycle is disrupted and the risk of tumors in the genitals increases. Thus, with fibroids, heavy intermenstrual bleeding may occur. During this period, in addition to bloody discharge, a woman may suffer from high blood pressure, hot flashes and psycho-emotional instability.

If a woman’s periods have completely stopped and menopause has set in, but uterine bleeding begins to appear, this may be a sign of existing oncological processes in the reproductive organs.

Hormonal and external factors

Hormonal imbalance, which provokes intermenstrual bleeding, can be observed in cases of disturbances in the functioning of organs and systems not related to reproductive function. Bloody discharge after menstruation may appear due to exposure to external factors. Consider the main external and hormonal causes of bleeding after regulation:

• hormonal imbalance caused by improper functioning of the thyroid and adrenal glands. Due to such failures, the level of prolactin in the blood increases, weight changes sharply, polycystic ovary syndrome develops, and after menstruation heavy spotting occurs;
• use of emergency contraceptives. Women who used Postinor or Escapelle after unprotected sexual intercourse developed brown blood after menstruation, which did not have a specific odor, and there was no pain associated with this phenomenon. In the next cycle after taking the drugs, there is no such bleeding;
• first doses of some types of oral contraception. Since most OCs affect a woman’s hormonal background, it is quite natural that the body gets used to the new drug over the course of 2-3 cycles, so during the adaptation period 3-5 days after menstruation, bloody discharge may appear. If the situation does not change on the 4th cycle and intermenstrual spotting is still present, the woman should consult a doctor; it may be necessary to change or discontinue the drug;
• the use of patches that contain hormonal components can provoke red spotting after menstrual periods;
• use of intrauterine device and vaginal rings. Such contraceptives have an irritating effect on the vaginal walls. If the spotting appeared immediately after the installation of the IUD, it means that, in all likelihood, the small vessels of the perineum were damaged. If bloody clots appear on the second day, you should definitely consult a doctor; there is no need to wait for the condition to worsen;
• taking medications that affect blood clotting and also have a sedative and calming effect;
• The ectopic location of the fetus is a physiological deviation, the characteristic symptom of which is uterine bleeding. They can go a week after the regulation; an ectopic pregnancy can only be eliminated surgically; without surgery, a woman can die from a ruptured fallopian tube;
• injury sustained during gynecological procedures. After taking a scraping or a gynecological examination, slight bleeding may occur, but 2-3 days after the procedure the discharge should stop without medical intervention;
• lack of B vitamins;
• injuries to the genitals caused by forced sexual acts or too vigorous sexual intercourse without sufficient natural lubrication. If, in addition to discharge, there is pain in the lower abdomen, you should consult a doctor;
• spontaneous abortion;
• disruption of the menstrual cycle due to excessive physical and psycho-emotional stress;
• side effects of drugs that are designed to treat gynecological problems. Yellow and bloody discharge can be caused by Hexicon, Terzhinan, Triozhinal, and pink discharge may occur from Polygynax, Duphaston, Livarol and Clotrimazole. Usually, blood comes out of the vagina during long-term use of drugs, but it is also allowed to come out 3 days after the completion of the regulation.

Since there are many different reasons for the appearance of spotting after menstruation, only a doctor can determine the exact one.

Pathological causes

The possibility of pathological causes for the appearance of intermenstrual bloody secretions is quite high. We list the main pathologies that can provoke uterine bleeding:

• endometriosis. In the diffuse form of the disease, spotting may appear 10 days after regulation, while the woman feels a feeling of fullness and nagging pain in the lower abdomen;
• endometrial hyperplasia provokes the release of a scanty spotting bloody secretion a week after the critical days. With this disease, pathological thickening of the endometrium occurs. Sometimes with hyperplasia there may be copious discharge with clots;
• infections in the vagina occur without obvious signs, but when they already affect the uterus, the inflammatory process can manifest itself as bloody intermenstrual smears;
• ectopia. With this disease, for some reason, cuboidal epithelial cells appear on the vaginal part of the cervix. The appearance of bloody smears with this disease can be provoked by a gynecological examination or sexual intercourse;
• ovarian dysfunction causes bloody spotting 10 days after regulation. The disease causes stress, heredity, disorders of the thyroid and adrenal glands and many other pathologies;
• polyps in the uterine cavity and on its cervix. Their development can be triggered by abortion, hormonal imbalance, infections and IUDs;
• fibroids often cause not only metrorrhagia, but aching pain in the abdomen and lower back. Sometimes the discharge may be too intense and the pad needs to be changed several times a day;
• cancerous tumor in the reproductive organs. Often, oncological processes in the early stages are asymptomatic, but in more severe forms they can bleed on any day of the menstrual cycle.

The cause may be diseases not related to gynecology. These could be diseases of the ENT organs in a chronic form, neoplasms in the brain, problems with blood clotting. Some women may confuse bloody discharge from the urethra with vaginal discharge. If the secretion comes out of the urethra, it means that the inflammatory process is occurring in the kidneys, bladder or ureter. Additional symptoms may include a burning sensation when urinating, urine leakage in small portions, fever and pain in the lower back.