Even when everything is working like clockwork, your period is a pretty weird and wonderful time of the month. While you might presume vaginal itching, blood clots and taking more poos than normal yes, really are cause for concern, even some of the seemingly strangest symptoms are all just part and parcel of your period. Not only is vaginal itching normal, but it's actually very common. Some find that tampons make itching worse, but this varies from person to person. This may be because of the change in the bacterial population enables it to thrive, take over and cause that awful itchy discharge that most of us know — and none of us love. Fun fact: these were first discovered in semen and called prostaglandins because they were thought to originate from the prostate gland.

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Jump to content. Top of the page Check Your Symptoms. Many women experience abnormal vaginal bleeding or spotting between periods sometime in their lives. Vaginal bleeding is considered to be abnormal if it occurs:. Abnormal vaginal bleeding has many possible causes. By itself, it does not necessarily indicate a serious condition. Heavy bleeding during the first few weeks after delivery postpartum or after an abortion may occur because the uterus has not contracted to the prepregnancy size or because fetal tissue remains in the uterus retained products of conception. If you are age 40 or older, abnormal vaginal bleeding may mean that you are entering perimenopause.
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If you buy something through a link on this page, we may earn a small commission. How this works. Postcoital bleeding refers to genital bleeding after intercourse.
For example, orange or grey blood can sometimes indicate a vaginal infection. During menstruation, the body sheds tissue and blood from the uterus through the vagina. This bloody discharge can vary from bright red to dark brown or black depending on how old it is. Blood that stays in the uterus long enough will react with oxygen oxidize. Blood that has had time to oxidize appears darker. In this article, we present a period blood chart and discuss what the different colors of period blood can mean. We also cover color changes during a period, what clots mean, and when to see a doctor. The color is typically a sign of old blood or blood that has taken longer to leave the uterus and has had time to oxidize, first turning brown or dark red and then eventually becoming black.