How to stop period spotting

Spotting is light bleeding outside the expected flow of a period. It can follow changes in contraception, missed doses, ovulation, pregnancy, or irritation after sex. Infection, cervical dysplasia, polyps, fibroids, and changes in the womb lining can also cause bleeding between periods.

The timing, colour, duration, pain, discharge, and relationship to sex help guide assessment. A clinician may ask about pregnancy possibility, medicines, contraception, cycle pattern, and whether you have reached menopause.

Write down each episode, including the date, amount, colour, triggers, pain, discharge, and missed or late periods. Take a pregnancy test when relevant and arrange an appointment if spotting repeats or has no clear explanation. Continue prescribed contraception unless a clinician advises otherwise, and do not double doses to stop bleeding.

Treatment depends on the cause. A clinician may recommend changing contraception, treating an infection, or investigating the cervix and womb. Spotting after sex, unusual discharge, or pelvic pain should be mentioned specifically.

Seek urgent help if bleeding becomes heavy, you feel faint or weak, you have severe pelvic pain, fever, or you may be pregnant. Arrange medical review for repeated spotting, bleeding after sex, bleeding after menopause, or spotting with unusual discharge.

Most bleeding between periods is not cancer, but persistent or unusual bleeding should not be dismissed. Assessment may consider cervical conditions, Endometrial Polyps, or Uterine Fibroids among other causes.

What are the likely causes of my spotting? Do I need a pregnancy test, infection testing, cervical examination, or imaging? Could my contraception or medicines be contributing? What changes in flow or pain should prompt urgent contact?