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Suffer from heavy periods? Find sex painful? Or just feel that something is not right down under? Dr Cordelia Han and Dr Tan Thiam Chye of KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital touch on the following gynaecological conditions.
Vaginal Discharge
Vaginal discharge is fluid that is expelled on non-menstruating days. If the discharge is accompanied by a foul-smelling odour, there may be an infectious source.
Physiologic factors like age, pregnancy and cyclical hormones can be a cause of vaginal discharge. Pathologic causes include thrush (candidiasis), bacterial vaginosis (BV), trichomoniasis (a common sexually transmitted disease), chlamydia, gonorrhoea and tampons that are changed infrequently.
Two common types: Thrush, characterised by a white chalky discharge, and Bacterial vaginosis (BV), which has a fishy odour.
Who gets it
Any sexually active women
Solution to vaginal discharge
Women with severe vaginal discharge are prescribed oral preparations and vaginal pessaries (solid, bullet-shaped preparations for insertion into the vagina).
For mild discharge, vaginal pessaries should suffice.
When to screen for abnormal pap smear
Sexually active women aged 25 to 65 should do a PAP smear once every 3 years.
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