# Please advise - very scared about vaginal bleeding (WARNING GORY PICTURES) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042 "2013-11-16T03:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/41 "2013-11-18T15:02:38Z")
I hope you’ve taken care of yourself by now. I just wanted to add something. I’m 37 years old. When I was your age, I too was shy about telling my gyno everything. As the years went by, I realized: they’ve seen it, heard it, done it. They have seen so many different kinds of vaginas and heard of so many problems they aren’t even bothered. They’ve seen every reaction there is. Just be honest with them and tell them everything. It will be awkward but mostly for you, if they are professional. And if they are not? It’s OK to fire a doctor. Go to a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/42 "2013-11-18T15:27:49Z")
I’m going to wager a guess that you have polyp(s) on your cervix. I had these during my second pregnancy. I found at I had them after I experienced heavy bleeding after sex - terrifying when you’re 5 mos pregnant! They were benign–just a nuisance - esp when they ruptured during sex. The blood in your photos is about how much blood I lost, and as someone else mentioned, it is not actually that much. Best of luck. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/43 "2013-11-18T15:42:19Z")
Quit “not telling” your doctor things because you’re embarrassed. If you don’t give them a complete picture, then they can’t properly diagnose you. They are professionals and have seen and heard it all. FYI, normal masturbation should not cause blood. Consider discontinue using whatever you are using or quit doing it so vigorously. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/44 "2013-11-18T17:05:09Z")
My advice is to go see a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/45 "2013-11-18T21:29:19Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Seriously? She’s worried she has something serious and this is your bon mot? Thirded. AND: you’re comparing having hemorrhoids to unexplained vaginal bleeding? You _do_ realize that those are two completely different systems, right? I think it’d be good for someone to talk about an unexpected nosebleed next. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/46 "2013-11-18T23:25:31Z")
OP – how are things? How are you feeling? Did you get through to the Dr yet? ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/47 "2013-11-19T01:01:45Z")
I hope you are not jamming things up your hoohah without adequately cleaning them. Something tells me you didn’t autoclave that speculum… ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/48 "2013-11-19T01:17:38Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > I hope you are not jamming things up your hoohah without adequately cleaning them. Something tells me you didn’t autoclave that speculum… Autoclave? Seriously? I don’t autoclave my husband before sex. A little soap and water is perfectly fine for cleaning sex toys, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be enough sanitization for a speculum intended for personal home use. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/49 "2013-11-19T02:03:47Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Autoclave? Seriously? I don’t autoclave my husband before sex. A little soap and water is perfectly fine for cleaning sex toys, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be enough sanitization for a speculum intended for personal home use. _giggle_ Don’t your bring your vibrators into work to autoclave them? I double-dog-dare you. 😉 Frankly, I’m not even sure a \*little \*bleeding during masturbation is a horror show, either. I mean, the amount in the OP is worth getting checked out, but…well…some people like it rough. As long as everything, including you, is relatively clean and you’re not getting infections from abraded tissues while they heal, what’s the big deal? Small vaginal tears happen during masturbation and sex and \*\*childbirth \*\*all the time. Vaginas are designed to heal from tearing. (For an evolutionist’s definition of “designed”.) ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/50 "2013-11-19T08:00:30Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > _ **Autoclave? Seriously? I don’t autoclave my husband before sex.** _ A little soap and water is perfectly fine for cleaning sex toys, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be enough sanitization for a speculum intended for personal home use. (bolding mine) That’s funny as hell, in a weird sort of way! 😛 I’m bettin’ hubby wouldn’t find being put in one funny, at all! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/51 "2013-11-19T11:16:12Z")
> [@simster](#): > > you already know what is causing the bleeding - you said as much in your OP - I gave you advice for what to do if you are truly ‘freaked out’ (which I sincerely doubt). > > You’re here for attention. > . I can’t see what makes you think that. Plenty of people are terribly freaked out at the thought the might have some serious medical issue, and it wouldn’t be the first time I see one of them seeking reassurance on a message board. For the record, I looked at the pictures, and there wasn’t much blood at all, in fact. Definitely not a “river” of it. So the shocking factor was rather low. > [@Claire98909](#): > > The thing is, I don’t want to worry my parents, and I also don’t want them to know I’ve been masturbating. I suppose I could just say “hey, all of a sudden I had some very heavy vaginal bleeding”, but they’d probably get suspicious. I can’t see why the first thought of your parents upon mentioning a vaginal bleeding would be “Hey! She must have been masturbating!” It wouldn’t occur to me, at any rate. Masturbation isn’t particularly known to cause bleedings. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/52 "2013-11-19T11:30:56Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > AND: you’re comparing having hemorrhoids to unexplained vaginal bleeding? You _do_ realize that those are two completely different systems, right? I think it’d be good for someone to talk about an unexpected nosebleed next. You _do_ realize that anal bleedings might have serious causes too, right? Time for my own TMI : I saw yesterday a colorectal surgeon. Because I was worried about abundant anal bleedings. And I was worried about them because my doctor was worried about them. It turned out that it was, in fact, a mere complication of hemorrhoids. But of course, according to you, I shouldn’t have sought a medical opinion, there. That’s not like I would have a vagina, or like there existed such things as a colorectal cancer. How dare anybody compare any kind of unexplained bleeding of any other part of the body to an extra-special vaginal bleeding, indeed? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/53 "2013-11-19T11:39:15Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Autoclave? Seriously? I don’t autoclave my husband before sex. 😃 > [@](#): > > A little soap and water is perfectly fine for cleaning sex toys, . Does your husband know you’re calling him that? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/54 "2013-11-19T11:41:48Z")
Just to throw in, I do know someone who had such frequent and heavy nosebleeds that medical intervention was required. We’re talking a bleeding nose that didn’t quit for literally _hours_. Never asked for the full details, always wondered if it some sort of abnormal blood vessel(s) that needed to be cauterized or something, but the problem was taken care of and troubled him no more. Bottom line, I hope the OP got it checked out and it’s something entirely benign. I also hope she stops thinking of masturbation as something wrong or naughty or shameful or whatever her issue seems to be. A speculum as a sex toy is pretty tame compared to some things I heard about. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042/55 "2013-11-19T16:08:00Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > You _do_ realize that anal bleedings might have serious causes too, right? > Time for my own TMI : I saw yesterday a colorectal surgeon. Because I was worried about abundant anal bleedings. And I was worried about them because my doctor was worried about them. It turned out that it was, in fact, a mere complication of hemorrhoids. But of course, according to you, I shouldn’t have sought a medical opinion, there. That’s not like I would have a vagina, or like there existed such things as a colorectal cancer. > > How dare anybody compare any kind of unexplained bleeding of any other part of the body to an extra-special vaginal bleeding, indeed? :rolleyes: I wasn’t insinuating that issues WRT the female reproductive system are ~_~_~extra-special~_~_~. :rolleyes: And I also wasn’t insinuating anal bleeding is never a big deal (unexpected nosebleeds can be serious, too). I was insinuating that comparing one person’s symptom in one bodily system to another person’s same symptom in a totally different bodily system where it turned out fine isn’t all that helpful. Keep in mind that if you or someone else had posted the same medical story, I wouldn’t have read it negatively. I’m aware that such a comparison could be made more to sympathize like, “hey, I also had a medical situation that really scared me, but it turned out ok. I know what you’re feeling.” But the guy also thought it’d be totally appropriate to make a worn-out flirting joke _to a woman who is freaking scared about a potentially serious medical condition_. AND he used part of her symptom history to do so. AND he did it _in the same post_. So I’m not exactly going to read the rest of his post in the most charitable light, sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-advise-very-scared-about-vaginal-bleeding-warning-gory-pictures/674042.md?page=2)