Brown discharge before your period

Having in mind the normal menstrual cycle regulated by hormones with the rejection of the functional layer of the endometrium, accompanied by blood discharge, to the question of whether brown discharge before the period is normal, doctors answer in the affirmative. And assure that about such discharges do not need to worry.

However, such vaginal discharge - along with other symptoms - occurs in certain pathological conditions and diseases.

Reasons

We should start with the physiological causes. In most cases, bloody brown discharge before the period - red-brown or dark brown discharge before and after the period - is part of the menstrual cycle. And the intensity of color, such as light brown discharge, is due to the mixing of blood with vaginal secretion and cervical mucus.

Brown discharge before the period in a week or, as they say, before the period smears brown is explained by the rate of excretion of the rejected functional layer of the endometrium from the uterine cavity, in the process of which some women form residual blood with oxidized hemoglobin and appear thick brown discharge before the period.

Due to fluctuations in the level of hormones produced by the ovaries during the menstrual cycle, the level of fluid in the uterine lumen (small amounts of dissolved electrolytes) changes, which explains the watery brown discharge before your period.

A small amount of pinkish-brown discharge before menstruation - a day or two before it begins - can be a sign of impending ovulation and is part of the so-called ovulation syndrome.

And short-lived scanty yellow-brown discharge before your period is observed during ovulation - the rupture of the ovarian follicle and the release of a mature egg.

Pink or brown discharge before your period is a sign of pregnancy, and one of the earliest, which many women do not even notice. Such discharge appears after the implantation of the blastocyst in the endometrium of the uterus and is called implantation bleeding.

Read more - Early pregnancy discharge

Any gynecologist will tell you that brown discharge before periods without pain, as well as violation of their periodicity after 40-45 years - a sign of approaching menopause (menopause), and the period of gradual decline in hormone production by the ovaries before its inevitable onset is called perimenopause. This period may also begin at a younger age, in which case it may be diagnosed as primary ovarian failure.

By the way, are not accompanied by painful sensations scanty brown discharge before your period at anovulaton menstrual cycle (when the ovary does not release an ovum).

Liquid brown discharge before menstruation with OCs - combined oral contraceptives - is associated with the effect on the endometrium of their synthetic analogs of estrogen and progesterone, although the maturation and release of the egg from the ovaries does not occur. It should be borne in mind that at the initial stage of OC use such vaginal discharge can be in the middle of the cycle.

Premenstrual brown discharge as a serious symptom

And when should such vaginal discharge be a cause for concern and a reason to see a gynecologist?

When there is creamy brown discharge, as well as pink-brown discharge before your period, resulting from menstrual irregularities (particularly hypomenorrhea or oligomenorrhea) or from early ectopic pregnancy.

Abundant bloody and brown discharge with clots before menses, accompanied by painful spasms in the abdominal area, radiating to the lumbar region, appear in the case of detachment of the fetal egg in early pregnancy - early miscarriage. In this case, the pathogenesis of discharge with blood clots is due to the reduction of retrochorionic hematoma, which is formed in the uterus when the chorion (fetal membrane) detaches and the vessels are damaged.

If you have abdominal pain and brown discharge before your period, you should suspect a pelvic organ disease, including:

• Ovarian inflammation - oophoritis;
• inflammation of the fallopian (fallopian) tubes and ovaries - inflammation of the uterine appendages (salpingoophoritis) or adnexitis;
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome, which is characterized by mucousy brown discharge before menses;
• presence of polyps in the cervix or endometrial polyp;
• inflammation of the inner mucous membrane of the uterus - endometritis;
• endometriosis (endometrioid disease) - an overgrowth of the inner mucous membrane of the uterus outside the uterus;
• fibroid or uterine myoma (benign neoplasms of the muscle and tissue of the uterus).

Particularly heavy bloody brown discharge before menses occurs when the endometrium grows outside the uterus, where it behaves as it does in the uterine cavity: it thickens, collapses and bleeds with each menstrual cycle. The mechanism of endometriosis development is related to elevated estrogen (estradiol and/or estrone) levels - hyperestrogenism.

Odorless brown discharge, pain during sex followed by bleeding, heavier or longer periods and bleeding between periods are clinical symptoms of cervical inflammation (cervicitis), as well as the first signs of cervical cancer.

A brown smelly discharge is usually one of the symptoms:

• imbalance of vaginal microflora with the growth of opportunistic bacteria - bacterial vaginosis, in which gray-brown discharge before menses is observed;
• acute inflammation of the vaginal mucosa - bacterial vaginitis (colpitis).

Unpleasant odor, itching, and brown discharge before your period most often occur with inflammatory genital disease, which develops due to vaginal sexually transmitted infections (STIs), particularly trichomoniasis.

Diagnosis

To find out the cause of abnormal premenstrual brown discharge associated with a pathologic condition or disease, a diagnosis is made, including:

• Gynecological examination and collection of the patient's medical history;
• colposcopy, diagnostic hysteroscopy, pelvic and uterine ultrasound and other instrumental methods;
• Laboratory tests, including clinical and biochemical blood tests, blood tests for TORCH infections, and tests for sex hormone levels in the blood,

Vaginal smear to analyze microflora, endometrial biopsy, etc.

Based on the data of instrumental diagnostics and test results, differential diagnosis is performed: in order to make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment, it is necessary to exclude possible conditions and diseases that have the same symptoms.

What should you do if you have brown discharge before your period?

Brown discharge before menstruation, caused by common causes, does not require any treatment.

Is it possible to swim in such cases? You should take a shower, but swimming in a river or swimming pool is not recommended. Long-term sun exposure and increased physical activity are also not recommended.

If the vaginal brown discharge is abnormal and there are accompanying symptoms of concern, the only right thing to do is to see a gynecologist.