What's up with the blood?

October 4, 2006 4:35 AM

Women-- Post-coital bleeding? Your experience please. Icky details inside.

Ok, so a few nights ago, I had some very deeply penetrative sex. Immediately afterward, I experienced some unexpected heavy bleeding (from the inside-- not just a few spots). There was no pain involved. It was quite embarrasing (I was with a casual partner) and it pretty much stopped after all was said and done with. I think this happened a few years ago, but at the time I just passed it off as 'spotting' because I didn't want to deal with it. I came home and did some googling, which led me to believe that perhaps I had a 'cervical polyp' pop. I'm headed to the gyno ASAP, but I wanted to know if any women had any experience with cervical polyps, having them pop, and ideally preventing them or their popping in the future. Just to rule out some things, I know it's not an STD. Also, as an aside, how does one get a big blood stain out of a mattress?

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (10 comments total)

What type of birth control (if any) are you on?

I have a polyp, but it is very small (so small that my doctor said it doesn't even need to be removed, which is pretty rare). I have had post-coital bleeding, but never heavy, and not since the polyp was discovered.

I am on Seasonale, so I only get my period 4x a year, but I also spot during the times when I should be menstruating. Sometimes, if I have sex in between quarterly periods, there is some blood, but because it's never associated with pain and it usually stops after intercourse, I usually attribute it to being "stopped up," however gross that sounds.

I say that if the bleeding stopped and you didn't feel any pain you're okay. Also, when was your last gyno exam? Polyps can appear pretty quickly, but in general they are completely harmless and do not indicate other problems. However, polyps typically consist of vessel-rich tissue, so popping or rupturing is common.

Don't be too worried. Just be sure to get it checked out.
posted by Brittanie at 4:49 AM on October 4, 2006

No help on the medical issue, I'm afraid, but a bit on the blood stain:

First, clean it ASAP. If the blood is still fresh: Use a sponge or something absorbent to apply cold water. Blot with a dry towel, repeat. DO NOT apply hot water, yada yada. Oh, and since the stain is relatively fresh, you could first try to use cold water, then some detergent, then let it sit, then use the cold water again and rub vigorously.

If the blood has dried abd set, here's a tip from doityourself.com:

1. Mix one teaspoon of a mild ph balanced detergent (a mild non alkaline non bleaching detergent) with a cup of ice cold water
2. Blot
3. Mix one tablespoon of household ammonia with a half cup of ice cold water
4. Blot
5. Sponge with clean ice cold water
6. Blot

I have a household hints book that suggests some sort of enzyme cleaning product, an ammonia solution, and a vinegar solution. (The book is so super-helpful that it doesn't say what the ratios should be on these solutions.)

If you're going to try ammonia or bleach or anything like that, make sure to do a test spot first.
posted by brina at 4:56 AM on October 4, 2006

Ugh. That would be "dried and set."
posted by brina at 4:57 AM on October 4, 2006

Something like this happened to my girlfriend once and I believe it might be the same thing:
We were having deep penetrative sex (it was towards the end of her period) and afterward she bled a bit. She thought it was just part of the period. A bit later she bled more, then she bled a lot more. She wasn't in exact pain but it didn't feel good. After a midnight session to the ER gyno and a very expensive endoscopy, we found out that I had made a tiny tear near her cervix along the inner lining of her vaginal canal (and I'm not that big). It healed pretty quickly and she took some antibiotics to prevent any sort of infection. Doctor said that period might have had something to do with it, as blood may have coagulated a bit and lowered the lubrication and leading to a tear (we have since had sex many times during period without this problem).
She was totally fine afterwards, it never happened again and after we had waited about a week, we had a lot of sex with no problems.
Sounds similar to your situation except for your bleeding stopping soon. I hope yours is as innocuous. Good luck!
posted by suomynona at 9:03 AM on October 4, 2006

Addendum to brina's excellent comment, just to be on the safe side: do NOT mix ammonia and bleach, or products that are based on those two.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:05 AM on October 4, 2006

For the stain-- oxyclean.
posted by orangemiles at 10:47 AM on October 4, 2006

Something similar happened to my best friend, and it wasn't just a one-time-thing. She was with a long-term boyfriend at the time, but he had a profound fear of blood, and the problem ended up being a factor in the decay of their relationship. I mean, a fear's a fear, but my poor best friend.

Eventually there was physical pain involved, and the treatment wasn't instantaneous, so you're doing the right thing by rushing to a gyno. I wish I had more information. Maybe I'll call her.
posted by changeling at 11:10 AM on October 4, 2006

That can happen if you haven't gotten any in awhile, especially if the nookie was vigorous. I seem to recall reading a thread on a board one time (alas, site seems to be down so I can't link it) where a good chunk of respondents reported having this problem. Usually it didn't happen again with ah, repeated activity.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:12 AM on October 4, 2006

Do you also get spotting in between periods? Your situation has happened to me occasionally, and my gyn discovered a rather overactive blood vessel in my vagina that bled upon minimal contact.

You're wise to go to the gyn.
posted by chronic sublime at 5:36 PM on October 4, 2006

I've had that problem before. Turns out I have a fibroid, which can cause spotting at various times. I just happened to have the spotting more often after sex.

As for blood stains in mattresses, I use my old standby, hydrogen peroxide. It'll eat through a bloodstain in no time.
posted by bedhead at 1:03 AM on October 5, 2006