is daily discharge normal?

since i have daily discharges, i need to wear pantyliners. my mom is a gynocologist and says it is normal to have it. i know some girls have it and some don't. my mother says it's genetic as well. it isn't cottage-cheese, green, or anything like the symptoms. sometimes it's clear and milky. my question is, is it curable or not? i think it's a bit embarrassing and uncomfortable. especially since i'm not sexually active, i think it would be humiliating if i were. what should i do about it and how should i treat it?

[Machelle Seibel, MD]

It is a little more difficult to answer your question without knowing your age, if you are on any medications, or several other helpful bits of history. Checking the discharge is the real way to tell. Most discharges are curable.

But in general, though many women do have a discharge they consider normal, it could be something that is not normal for you. If you are not sexually active and menstruating, the most common vaginal discharge is one due to an unbalanced pH called bacterial vaginosis. It occurs when the vaginal pH becomes more alkaline and changes the balance of the bacteria levels that normally live in the vagina. The normal vaginal pH is about 4.5. Your gynecologist can do a check up and culture the discharge and look at it under the microscope to be sure there is not an infection.

You can try going to the drug store in the feminine products area and buying a product called RePhresh. It comes in a box with several applicators that have a 'bulb' area at one end and a plastic 'T' tip at the other. Break off the 'T' and you will find a small hole. Insert that end into the vagina about an inch or two and squeeze the bulb. A small amount of gel will come out that will balance the pH if you use it daily for one week and twice a week after that. It takes about a week or so to see a difference and the discharge will stop. Sometimes, the RePhresh will cause a small amount of whitish discharge after a while. This is normal.
Machelle Seibel, MD