Vaginal Discharge- how it changes throughout your cycle

Being a woman and having a vagina can often lead to many questions, concerns and theories about what’s going on within your body and why. Vaginal discharge, also medically known as Leukorrhea, is one, if not the most common subjects that women often wonder about. Vaginal discharge is the fluid that comes out of your vagina which is mostly made up of mucus, vaginal fluid and bacterial - this is your vagina’s way of cleaning itself. It’s a completely healthy bodily function that all women experience which also indicates how healthy your vagina is and that it’s working well. 

So what characteristics make up vaginal discharge exactly? As vaginal discharge really is a habitual event, it follows a very easy, yet specific pattern. Because of this, it’s very easy for you to detect if something within your intimate health isn’t exactly right - this can be found by noticing a change in your discharge. By getting comfortable with our body and feeling at ease with knowing your regular vaginal discharge, it makes it that much easier to spot when something’s up. Let us give you a guide about how it changes throughout each face of your menstrual cycle, as each and every phase is special to you.  

• During your menstrual phase, the fluids that release from your body is a healthy mix of blood flow with mucus, and the amount of course changes depending on how far into your cycle you are, meaning that it can go from a heavy flow to barely anything. And just a little relief, if you seen any brown, don’t worry! It’s simply your uterus getting rid of any old blood. 
• Right before your body begins to ovulate, your estrogen levels begin to rise which lets your cervix produce more mucus, meaning that your discharge will likely be thicker, more white and heavier at this period of time. This is also a critical period for pregnancy and protection, depending on your intentions. 
• Very similar to before ovulation, during ovulation your discharge is expected to be quick wet and sticky, meaning that this period is optimal for pregnancy!
• As the ovulation window comes to a close, you’ll begin to notice a more drastic change within your discharge. As progesterone peaks at this time to support a potential pregnancy, thicket music acts as a guardian angel to protect the uterus from any infections.  

 As every woman experiences discharge, the more you know the better! Here are some super important tips for spotting unhealthy discharge.

• If symptoms include itching, burning with cottage cheese like discharge it's probably yeast infection,
• As healthy discharge is normally odourless, if a fishy like or abnormal smell begins to appear, this can be a sign of Bacterial Vaginosis (BV),
• Green, grey, frothy discharge is often associated with sexually transmitted diseases and infections. 

As vaginal discharge can often look scarier than it actually is, knowledge is always power. Remember that there’s so many factors that come into play about how your body performs. Whether it’s hormones, where you are in your menstrual cycle or if you’re taking hormonal birth control, at the end of the day just remember that everyone experiences it as a completely healthy function that you should never be afraid of.