Do you have sudden or irregular vaginal bleeding? If this is accompanied by other unusual symptoms, inform your doctor immediately.

Vaginal bleeding is a symptom that needs your attention, especially since it can come from anywhere in the female genital tract. The reason for this includes anything from vigorous sexual intercourse to cancer which usually strikes postmenopausal women. Lei's examine them one by one.

If you're fond of rough romancing, the lips at the vaginal entrance may be injured and bleeding will occur. Naturally, if this is the first lime you've had sex and your hymen was broken, expect some bleeding too.

Masturbation can be tough on the vagina, especially if you use vibrators, bottles or other foreign objects. This can cause bleeding. Another reason is deep penetration which can bruise the cervix, the opening into the uterus. If you're using an IUD (intrauterine device) or are taking oral contraceptives, there may also be bleeding.

Pain and bleeding after intercourse and a persistent vaginal discharge may indicate uterine cancer but this is more likely to occur in women between 50 and 60. Cervical cancer has the same symptoms but it affects women aged 30 to 50.

Sometimes the reason for abnormal bleeding may not be that serious. It may signal the presence of a small polyp (growths that accompany vaginal or cervical infection), an ulcer, warts or varicose veins. Other possible causes are ovarian cysts, hypothyroidism. fibroid tumors or pelvic infection.

In helping your gynecologist establish the cause of abnormal vaginal bleeding, pay attention to other symptoms as well. These may offer clues as to the nature of your condition. Here are some points to consider from “Symptoms” by Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld of the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center:

If you're an alcoholic or have severe liver disease, there's too much estrogen present in your body, which can cause vaginal bleeding.

Is your skin dry and rough? Are you tired and sleepy? If so, the abnormal bleeding may be due to under function of your thyroid gland.

Have you had a fever, one that comes and goes? As luck would have it, it won't be there when you finally get to the doctor. So tell him or her about it. Fever usually means infection.

If you've had little hemorrhages in your skin, or bleed a little too easily in other parts of your body, the problem may lie in a generalized clotting disorder of which the vaginal bleeding is only one manifestation.

"Whenever you wonder why you have abnormal vaginal bleeding, always remember that non-gynecological factors can be responsible, too -- mood thinners, drugs and disorders of coagulation, all of which render you vulnerable to abnormal bleeding not only from the vagina but from anywhere in the body," Rosenfeld said.

So before things get out of hand, see a gynecologist as soon as possible.

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