Any change in the vagina's balance of normal bacteria can affect the smell, color, or discharge texture. These are a few of the things that can upset that balance:
- Antibiotic or steroid use
- Bacterial vaginosis, a bacterial infection more common in pregnant women or women who have multiple sexual partners
- Birth control pills
- Cervical cancer
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Diabetes
- Douches, scented soaps or lotions, bubble bath
- Pelvic infection after surgery
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
- Trichomoniasis, a parasitic infection typically contracted and caused by having unprotected sex
- Vaginal atrophy, the thinning and drying out of the vaginal walls during menopause
- Vaginitis, irritation in or around the vagina
- Yeast infections