Types of vaginal discharge: What do they mean?

From white and creamy to clear and stretchy, you might have noticed that your vaginal discharge can look pretty different at different points in your cycle. It’s totally typical to see discharge in your underwear, but why does it change consistency and color? What can it tell you about your cycle and overall health?

With the help of Dr. Jenna Beckham, obstetrician and gynecologist, North Carolina, US, let’s get into it.

Key takeaways

• When it comes to discharge, it can differ from person to person and throughout your cycle. Healthy discharge can appear white or clear; it should only have a faint smell, if any, and might be wet and slippery, sticky and gooey, or thick and creamy. 
• Discharge has a pretty important job. It helps to keep your vagina clean, healthy, and lubricated. It also helps to fight off infections and bacteria. Pretty clever, right?
• It’s typical to notice around .5 to 1 tsp or 2.5 to 5 ml of discharge in your underwear every day. If you’re pregnant, ovulating, or on birth control, you might notice more discharge than usual. If you’re menopausal, you might notice less. This can be chalked up to changes in your hormone levels, but more on that later. 
• If you notice a change in the way that your discharge looks, smells, or feels, then it could be a sign that you have an infection. Abnormal discharge might be foul-smelling, clumpy like cottage cheese, green or yellow, or accompanied by uncomfortable symptoms like pain, itchiness, or sores. If you’re experiencing any of these, make an appointment with your doctor.

What does normal vaginal discharge usually look like?

“Normal vaginal discharge changes based on where you are in your cycle, as well as external factors like medications and arousal,” explains Dr. Beckham off the bat. It’s often clear or whitish and can range from feeling wet and slippery to sticky and gooey or thick and creamy to drier and more pasty. 

Changes to your discharge can be caused by your hormone levels, which naturally fluctuate throughout your cycle. So, let’s dig into this. Your cycle can be split into two phases — the follicular phase and the luteal phase. In between these two phases is ovulation — the point in your cycle when one of your ovaries releases an egg to be potentially fertilized by a sperm.

Ovulation, your period, and the different phases of your cycle are all driven by the rise and fall of your sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen plays an important role in supporting you as you have your period and potentially prepare for pregnancy and can impact the way your discharge looks and feels.

It’s normal to notice around .5 to 1 tsp or 2.5 to 5 ml of mild-odored discharge in your underwear every day. But, since “there isn’t one ‘normal’ appearance of discharge,” Dr. Beckham continues, “it’s usually easier to focus on what’s abnormal.” More on that later.

If you want to keep an eye on changes in your vaginal discharge, you can make a habit of logging it in a period-tracking app like Flo. Just know that discharge is never anything to be ashamed of. It’s just another bodily fluid — like saliva!

What types of vaginal discharge are there? 

As Dr. Beckham said, discharge will change throughout the menstrual cycle. It also varies from person to person and in different stages of life. But there are a few key types you might often see.

Sticky

“Sticky” is a broad term and may overlap with the other types of discharge listed below. But generally, any sticky discharge that is clear or whitish and isn’t accompanied by a foul vaginal odor (or any other pesky symptoms like itching or pain) can be normal throughout your cycle.

Creamy white

A creamy white discharge that is thick and more opaque can also be normal at any time of your cycle. There may be slight variations in texture and color, but this isn’t usually cause for concern (as long as it’s not clumpy or curdled like cottage cheese, which could indicate a yeast infection). 

Clear and slippery like raw egg white 

As ovulation nears — aka when your ovary is due to release an egg — discharge tends to become clear and stretchy; it’s often described as looking and feeling like raw egg whites. (“It has a fun name, too,” says Dr. Beckham. “It’s referred to as ‘spinnbarkeit,’ a German word that means stretchable.”)

This egg white discharge is actually cervical mucus, produced in the cervix, and makes it easier for sperm to swim up the vagina and meet the egg in your uterus. 

Watery

“Many people notice an increase in discharge when sexually aroused,” Dr. Beckham says. 

When you feel turned on, your vagina will often lubricate itself with a clear, wet, slippery fluid (we call it “arousal fluid”). This is in anticipation of sex, to reduce friction and make things more comfortable. The composition and amount of “arousal fluid” you might see can vary. But it’s totally healthy.

What if my discharge isn’t white or clear?

Have you noticed some vaginal discharge that isn’t matching up with the descriptions above? Here’s what some other discharge colors can mean.

• Pink or brown: Pink discharge and brown discharge can happen when a bit of blood (usually from your period or sometimes implantation bleeding in early pregnancy) mixes with your discharge. But if it’s happening in between periods or is accompanied by any uncomfortable vaginal symptoms, consult your doctor.
• Yellow or green: A light yellow discharge on its own can be normal. But if it’s clumpy like cottage cheese, it could be a yeast infection. And if it’s a yellow-green or straight-up green discharge — especially if it’s frothy, with a possibly fishy odor — it could be a sexually transmitted infection (STI) called trichomoniasis.
• Gray: Gray discharge that is thin and watery and has a strong fishy smell could be an infection called bacterial vaginosis (BV).

Read on for what to do if you think you might have abnormal discharge or a possible infection.  

What can affect what type of discharge you have?

Phase of your cycle

“Discharge is very much related to hormones,” says Dr. Beckham. “So it changes as your hormones rise and fall throughout your menstrual cycle.” 

You might notice a white, creamy discharge earlier in your cycle, after your period. It might become clear, slippery, and resemble raw egg whites right before ovulation (so around mid-cycle). Then, it may become white and sticky as you start to approach the end of your cycle (so, shortly before your next period).

Hormonal contraceptives

If you’re on hormonal birth control such as the pill, you might notice heavier or more frequent discharge. If you’re experiencing spotting or breakthrough bleeding from your contraception, your discharge may also, at times, be tinged with a pink or brown color.

Menopause

“Discharge can also change depending on the time of life,” adds Dr. Beckham. “For example, due to the absence of estrogen in a postmenopausal person, their discharge is often different in texture and quantity.” 

Lower estrogen levels in the lead-up to menopause tend to mean less discharge. This period is known as perimenopause. During this time, your discharge could also be tinged with blood (i.e., appear brownish) because the lining of your vagina gets drier and thinner, which can cause light bleeding or spotting. If you notice blood in your discharge or it appears pink or brown, then reach out to a health care professional. They’ll be able to get to the bottom of what could be causing it. 

Infection

Some infections can cause abnormal discharge — for example, discharge that is foul-smelling, clumpy like cottage cheese, green or yellow, pus-like, or accompanied by uncomfortable symptoms like pain, itchiness, or sores.

Possible causes of abnormal discharge include sexually transmitted infections like trichomoniasis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea, as well as nonsexually transmitted ones like bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections.

It’s important to be able to tell the difference between normal and abnormal discharge so that if you do have an infection, you can get the medication you need for it as soon as possible.

When to see a doctor about discharge

“People shouldn’t feel like they need to meticulously keep track of their discharge every day,” says Dr. Beckham, “but try to be aware of any significant changes or associated worrisome symptoms.” 

Some of the biggest telltale signs of an infection are “changes in the volume, color, or odor of vaginal discharge, itching, burning, irritation, redness, pain with sex, or even pain with urination,” she adds. So if you notice any of this, that’s when it’s time to see your doctor. 

If you do have an infection, medication can usually clear it up.