What causes yellow vaginal discharge during menopause?

In daily life, women often have yellow leucorrhea. The most common reason behind this is vaginitis, such as the well-known trichomonal vaginitis and candidal vaginitis, as well as non-specific vaginitis, etc. These vaginitis will cause yellow leucorrhea and be accompanied by a very unpleasant odor. In addition, if a menopausal woman finds that her leucorrhea has turned yellow, she should pay special attention to the following factors.

What causes yellow vaginal discharge during menopause?

Leucorrhea is composed of fluids secreted by many tissues, including the mucus secreted by the paraurethral glands, Bartholin's glands, cervical glands, and endometrial glands, and the exudate from the capillaries and lymphatic vessels in the vaginal wall. The mixed mucus contains exfoliated cells of the vaginal epithelium and a small amount of white blood cells, which form leucorrhea. To evaluate whether leucorrhea is normal, it is necessary to observe the amount, color, texture, and smell.

Normal leucorrhea should be milky white or colorless and transparent, with a slightly fishy smell or no smell; its secretion amount and texture are affected by the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the body, and vary cyclically with the menstrual cycle, with the amount increasing, the texture becoming thinner or thicker.

Generally, the amount of leucorrhea is less after the menstrual period; before ovulation, due to the increase in estrogen levels in the body, the epithelial cells of the cervical glands are proliferated, the secretion of cervical mucus increases, and the sodium chloride content in the mucus increases, which can absorb more water, causing the leucorrhea to increase during the ovulation period. The leucorrhea is thin, clear in color, and looks like egg white, and can be stretched into long threads; after ovulation, the estrogen level gradually decreases, the progesterone level increases, the secretion of cervical mucus is inhibited, and the sodium chloride content in the mucus also decreases, making the leucorrhea at this time thick, milky white, less ductile, and easy to break when stretched.

The amount of vaginal discharge is closely related to sexual thoughts and sexual life. During the honeymoon and frequent sexual life, the secretion of vaginal discharge will naturally increase. In addition, there are also some physiological phenomena such as women of childbearing age, pregnancy, and oral contraceptives, which will cause an increase in vaginal discharge. The reason is also related to the changes in the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the body.

The secretion of leucorrhea in menopausal women is sparse and thin. These are all normal. If there are abnormalities in leucorrhea, such as an increase in leucorrhea for no reason, or changes in color, texture, or odor, you should be alert and go to a regular hospital for examination immediately.