How to manage bleeding after sex

Do not place medication, antiseptic, or other products inside the vagina to try to stop bleeding. If it is more than light spotting, is getting heavier, or makes you feel faint or weak, obtain urgent medical help.

Postcoital bleeding can arise from a small vaginal injury, dryness, inflammation, infection, a cervical polyp, or tissue changes around menopause. Chlamydia may inflame the cervix, making contact bleeding possible. Cervical dysplasia, cervical cancer, and vaginal cancer can also present this way.

Each cause is managed differently. Lubrication may help prevent friction-related injury, an infection requires the appropriate prescribed treatment, and a visible lesion may need further examination. Trying to stop the symptom without identifying repeated bleeding can delay suitable care.

Rest if you feel uncomfortable and avoid penetration until all bleeding and soreness have resolved. Choose a pad so the volume remains visible. Write down the start time, whether the blood is only on wiping or reaching the pad, and any pelvic pain, discharge, urinary symptoms, or fever.

For mild spotting that ends, arrange routine review if it happens again. A clinician can look for tears or cervical changes and decide whether pregnancy testing, infection testing, or cervical screening is appropriate. Do not take extra doses of prescribed medicine or stop a blood-thinning medicine without clinical advice.

Go for urgent assessment if blood is flowing heavily, repeatedly soaking pads, or accompanied by fainting, dizziness, severe pelvic or abdominal pain, shoulder pain, breathing difficulty, or pronounced weakness. Bleeding plus pain when pregnancy is possible also needs urgent evaluation.

Contact a healthcare professional promptly for fever, foul-smelling discharge, continued bleeding, bleeding after menopause, or an episode following a recent gynaecological procedure. Escalation is based on these warning features, not on guessing the underlying diagnosis.

Ask what tissue is bleeding, whether the cervix looks inflamed, what testing is needed, and how to prevent further irritation. Bring the dates of your last period and cervical screening, your contraception details, medicine list, and a description of every recent episode.