Vaginal bleeding between periods may not pose as a major health threat if one of the causes of spotting is related to ovulation. Spotting between periods is brought about by the abrupt and transient rise of the estrogen hormone connected with the release of the egg from the ovary during ovulation.
This sudden increase of estrogen may contribute to light bleeding in between periods, especially if it occurs during the 13th to 16th day of the menstrual cycle. Ovulation spotting is characterized by a light blood flow and is either pinkish or brownish in color. Sometimes, the vaginal blood discharges of ovulation related to spotting in between periods are accompanied by a white-colored cervical mucus and mild lower abdominal cramping.
Severe physical, emotional and mental stress may also trigger Spotting Between Periods. This type of light bleeding in between periods usually happens two to five days before or after the period starts. Stressors may elicit the brain to alter the menstrual process which leads to brown-colored discharge during the beginning half of the cycle. In cases when the ovulation does not occur or partially takes place, light spotting in between periods emerges at the last half of the menstrual cycle.
Other causes of spotting are incidences of implantation and bleeding or light spotting between periods associated with pregnancy. This mild spotting generally happens a week after ovulation or a week before the menstrual cycle is expected to start. Brown spotting between periods is evident because of the extended length of time for the blood to be expelled from the woman's body.
Perimenopausal spotting may most likely be expected among women nearing the age of late forties until the early fifties when menopause sets in. The primary causes of spotting during the menopause period are related to hormones in the woman's body that are undergoing extreme changes. Failure or inability to ovulate as menopause progresses contribute to spotting between periods as well as other symptoms, such as dryness of the external parts of the reproductive organ and lowered sexual desires.
Commonly experienced among women in the perimenopausal stages are irregular and shortened length of menstruation, in which spotting between periods just happens a few days before the menstrual cycle starts. However, if perimenopausal spotting between periods is accompanied by any varying degree of abdominal or vaginal pain, immediate medical attention is needed.
Certain types of birth control methods may also cause spotting in between periods. Intrauterine device, or IUD, and birth control injections among the birth control methods are most likely to bring about spotting between periods. Vaginal spotting between periods is also manifested in medical conditions like endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, uterine polyps, malignancies in the reproductive organs, vaginal infections, thyroid disorders and diabetes.
