Is Bleeding After Sex Normal?
Did we get a little wild last night or is this something I need to get checked out?…….
Vaginal bleeding after sex.
It’s not your period. You can’t see any obvious injury… what’s going on?
Experiencing unexpected vaginal bleeding after sex can be quite scary and concerning. We should probably preface this post by saying that bleeding after sex is more than likely to be benign, or from a simple, treatable cause. BUT: if you’ve experienced any bleeding after sex and there is no obvious injury and you’re not on your period, you really, REALLY need to book in for a chat with your GP. If you’re pregnant and experience vaginal bleeding at any time, you need to contact your pregnancy care provider straight away.
So, outside of a surprise menstrual bleed or sustaining an injury, some of the most common causes of vaginal bleeding after sex start right up the at top of your vagina, in and around your cervix. Perhaps something has caused your cervix to become a little inflamed which makes it more vulnerable to bleeding. This can be from an infection like pelvic inflammatory disease, chlamydia or gonorrhoea (to name a few), another medical condition altogether, or maybe an allergic reaction to a chemical in your lube or similar. There could be a cervical or uterine polyp (small non-cancerous growth) that has been irritated while you were having fun. And, occasionally, bleeding after sex can be a sign of a developing cancerous lesion on your cervix or in your vagina - which is why we want you to have any bleeding after sex checked out by your GP as soon as you can.
Sometimes, vaginal bleeding after sex can be due to vaginal dryness or just too much friction.
OK. You’ve gathered yourself and made your GP appointment, what are they going to do?
Well, they’ll very likely take a full sexual history, ask if you’ve ever had any sexually transmitted infections, find out if you’ve ever had an abnormal cervical screen (if you’ve ever actually had a cervical screen!) and they will probably offer you a full sexual health screening, offer to take a look at your cervix with a speculum (a duck bill looking tool that is inserted into your vagina so that the doc or nurse can see your cervix and vaginal wall), and maybe even offer a pregnancy test.
Your GP can safely diagnose and manage most sexually transmitted infections, and if vaginal dryness is identified as a contributing factor they can talk you through the potential causes and ideas to help. If they identify anything that might be outside their scope of practice, they will refer you to a specialist for further investigation, treatment and advice - like a Gynaecologist here at Elgin House!
If you’ve experienced vaginal bleeding after sex, please don’t panic, but do get it checked out as soon as possible.
(Please note: clearly this post has been written with people in mind who have a vagina and cervix, who have had vaginally penetrative sex. If you’re experiencing anal bleeding or bleeding from another sexual organ after sex, we want you to get this checked by your GP as soon as you can too - whether you own a vagina or not!)