What is discharge?

Have you found discharge in your knickers and you’re wondering what’s going on? To keep the vagina clean and maintain good vaginal health, it creates moisture. Some of this moisture can find its way out of the vagina and into your knickers. Clear or white discharge is perfectly normal. However, if you find you have smelly knickers with green or yellow discharge, it could be a sign of a yeast infection or an STI.

A member of our community got in touch to ask about vaginal discharge. We followed up with an expert answer which you may find helpful if you’re in a similar situation. Read on to see what we had to say. You might also like to take a look at our article ‘is my vagina normal’, if you’re curious about your body.

Is discharge in my knickers normal?

“I keep getting what my mum calls ‘discharge’ in my knickers. What is it? Should it be so smelly and yellow?”

It’s totally normal to have some vaginal discharge, because the vagina stays moist as part of its self-cleansing mechanism. Normal, moist discharge clears dead cells and bacteria from the vagina. It’s a good thing!

How much discharge is normal?

The amount of discharge varies depending on the woman and on the menstrual cycle. The consistency and amount of discharge can also vary depending on the time of the month. The colour can also slightly change. Many women notice that in the week following a period there’s hardly any discharge.

What can you do about discharge?

In regards to a woman’s natural discharge, you can’t stop it from happening, although some women prefer to wear panty liners to protect their underwear. Excessive discharge, however, may be a sign of an infection such as thrush. Most infections are easily treated, so there’s no need to worry. You can find out more about thrush and how it’s treated in this article.

Is yellow discharge normal?

You say your discharge is yellow and smells. Normal discharge is generally clear or slightly milky in colour, and should not smell bad, therefore, if you’re finding discharge is leaving you with smelly knickers it’s possible you have an infection. This could be a bacterial infection such as bacterial vaginosis, or possibly a sexually transmitted infection (STI). To find out for sure, make an appointment to see your doctor (GP). It may not be the easiest thing to talk about, but try not to feel embarrassed – they deal with this sort of complaint all the time and they’re usually very easy to sort out.

But if you really can’t face your GP you could contact Brook, a charity that offers free and confidential advice for under-25s. It has clinics around the country.

Take a look at the rest of our body problems resources here or chat about your body and health on our discussion boards.