Bleeding for Two Weeks After Sex

Friction can cause a small surface injury, but prolonged bleeding may instead come from the cervix, vagina or uterus. Infection, a cervical polyp, hormone-related tissue changes and abnormalities of the cervix are among the possibilities. The duration does not identify the cause, and an examination is more useful than waiting for another sexual encounter.

Postcoital bleeding starts during or after sex. A clinician first needs to decide whether the blood is from a vaginal graze, fragile vaginal tissue, the cervix, or menstrual or uterine bleeding that happened at the same time. Cervical inflammation can bleed when touched, and chlamydia may cause inflammation with few other symptoms.

Less commonly, cervical dysplasia, cervical cancer or vaginal cancer can present with bleeding after sex. This direction matters: these conditions can present with bleeding, but the symptom does not show that a person has cancer. Examination and appropriate testing determine what is happening.

Book a gynaecology or primary-care appointment promptly. Tell the clinician whether the bleeding has been continuous or intermittent, how it compares with your usual period, and whether there is pain, unusual discharge, odour, fever, dizziness or a missed period. Mention contraception, new sexual partners, cervical screening history and medicines that affect bleeding.

A pregnancy test may be needed if pregnancy is possible. The clinician may inspect the vagina and cervix, take infection swabs, review cervical screening needs, and investigate the uterus if the history suggests the blood is not coming from a contact injury.

Seek urgent care for heavy bleeding, severe or increasing pelvic pain, fainting, marked dizziness, weakness, fever, or a positive pregnancy test with pain or bleeding. Otherwise, the prolonged course still calls for a prompt clinic appointment even if the bleeding is light.

Ask where the blood seems to originate, whether infection testing and a pregnancy test are appropriate, and whether your cervix looks inflamed or has a polyp. Confirm whether cervical screening or further examination is due and how soon persistent bleeding should be reviewed again.