Five signs your privates are trying to tell you something is wrong
Most people have had that slightly awkward moment of thinking, 'is that normal?' Perhaps something smells different, discharge looks a bit unusual, or there’s irritation that keeps coming back. Then comes the waiting, the late-night Googling, and the decision to see what happens.
According to Dr Jordan Barber, Clinical Director at Dr Jordan Barber Acupuncture, that is exactly how common vaginal health symptoms end up being ignored for much longer than they should.
"The body gives signals that something is out of balance, but a lot of people either don't recognise them or assume they're just something to put up with," Barber says. "Some of these things have been going on for years before someone actually mentions it."
Here are the signs he says are worth paying attention to.
A smell that isn't going away
Vaginal odour shifts throughout the month and most of that is completely unremarkable. But most people know when something smells different from usual, and a lot of them wait several weeks before doing anything about it.
“There’s a lot of embarrassment attached to this one, which means people sit on it far longer than they should,” Barber says.
A strong or persistent smell that isn’t shifting – particularly anything with a fishy, sour, musty or unusually metallic quality – is one of the more recognisable signs that something may be out of balance. Bacterial vaginosis is one of the most common causes, and also one of the most frequently left untreated, but changes in smell can also be linked to yeast infections, STIs, forgotten tampons or irritation from products.
Reaching for scented products to deal with it tends to make things worse. They disrupt the vaginal pH and usually just keep the cycle going.
Discharge that looks different to normal
Most people have a rough sense of what their discharge normally looks like without really thinking about it much. A change in colour, consistency or volume is worth paying attention to – thick and white with a cottage cheese texture points towards a yeast infection, yellow or green usually means an infection that needs treating, grey is one of the more specific indicators of bacterial vaginosis.
"Discharge is one of the ways the body communicates what's happening internally," Barber says. "A change from your own normal is the thing to notice, not whether it matches some general idea of what's supposed to be there."
Itching or irritation that keeps coming back
Most people do not rush to a doctor over a bit of irritation, and fair enough. It often settles. The issue is when the same itching or burning keeps returning, because that is when guessing starts to become a problem. Plenty of people treat it as thrush because that is the familiar answer, even when it may not be what is actually going on.
The problem is that skin conditions, reactions to products, hormonal changes and different infections can all feel very similar. So if it is not actually thrush, treating it as such again and again is not going to solve much.
“If something keeps coming back, it’s worth getting properly checked rather than going round the same loop,” Barber says. “A lot of people have been doing that for years.”
Pain during sex
A lot of people are surprisingly quick to accept pain during sex as just part of their body. They assume it is because they have had children, are going through hormonal changes, or just need to put up with it, so it never gets raised properly.
For some people, the issue is dryness, which can usually be helped without too much difficulty. For others, the pain may be linked to vaginismus, pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis or another underlying problem.
“A lot of people adapt around the pain without realising they are doing it,” Barber says. “They change positions, avoid certain situations or stop bringing it up. But pain during sex is information from the body, and it should not be ignored.”
A feeling of heaviness or pressure in the pelvis
This one tends not to get connected to vaginal health at all. A persistent sensation of fullness or pressure low down – particularly towards the end of the day or after standing for a long time – can be an early sign of pelvic organ prolapse. Most people put it down to tiredness, or just getting older.
It's far more common than most people realise, particularly after childbirth. "A lot of people have never heard of prolapse or assume it only happens to much older women," Barber says. "But the earlier it gets picked up, the more can be done about it. It's not something to keep filing away for later."
