Intimate and embarrassing women's health problems answered by doctors - from lumps and itches to the red-flag signs of cancer you must not ignore By Jo Waters Published: 12:37, 6 June 2024 | Updated: 13:21, 12 June 2024 e-mail 123 shares 154 View comments From rashes to lumps, odours to dryness, redness, itching and more, there are many intimate health complaints that can affect women, and often the symptoms can be easy to confuse. Here’s our definitive expert guide to getting the right diagnosis and treatment for these problems, and what you can do to prevent them coming back. THICK DISCHARGE AND VAGINAL ITCHING IT COULD BE: Thrush This is a fungal overgrowth that can affect the vagina and the surrounding skin.
It’s extremely common, and an estimated 75 per cent of women will have thrush at least once. Thrush can be caused by an overgrowth of Candida albicans, a fungal yeast which is found naturally in the vagina Symptoms include a thick, odourless, white, cottage-cheese-like discharge; a burning or itching sensation around the vulva; and a sore and irritated vagina, particularly after sex, says Dr Sachchidananda Maiti, a consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and the private Pall Mall Medical clinics. ‘It also causes painful sex or stinging when you pass urine,’ he says.
It’s not a sexually transmitted disease, although it can be passed to a partner (in men, it can affect the penis). WHAT CAUSES IT? The main culprit.
