What Causes Vaginal Bleeding After Menopause?
Post menopausal bleeding can be a symptom of uterine cancer
Detailed Answer:
Hello, and I will be happy to answer your question today.
Vaginal bleeding after menopause, unfortunately can be a symptom of certain types of gynecologic cancer, but ovarian and cervical cancer typically do not present that way.
However cancer of the uterus most commonly presents with bleeding after menopause. For that reason, postmenopausal bleeding always should be investigated by gynecologist. However, there are many benign reasons also why older women may see a small stain of blood at the end of their urination.
One of the reasons why women have postmenopausal bleeding is due to severe skin thinning and dryness of the vagina itself,due to lack of estrogen after menopause. This can cause the skin around the urinary opening to become red and inflamed, resulting in some blood seen after urination. An infection of the lower urinary tract, or UTI, can also cause these symptoms.
So there is reason for concern when we see vaginal bleeding in a woman after menopause, but there are many brrnign reasons why this may happen. It is important that you have a gynecologic evaluation, which most likely will include a physical examination, a test of your urine, and most likely a pelvic ultrasound. If there are any findings on the ultrasound to suggest a growth in the uterus, then the gynecologist may recommend a procedure called an endometrial biopsy, which is a sampling of the lining tissue of the uterus that then can be analyzed in the laboratory to determine if there is any concern.
I hope that I was able to adequately answer your question today, and that this information I gave you was reassuring. If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best wishes,
Dr. Brown