Is it normal for a 10 year old girl to have discharge?

It is normal for women to have secretions, mainly leucorrhea, but leucorrhea often occurs in adults, and some parents have found similar conditions in their children. A 10-year-old girl has discharge, which logically means she has reached the stage of physical development, but the normal age should be around 13 years old. One would definitely worry that the discharge is caused by disease or inflammation. So, is it normal for a 10-year-old girl to have discharge? Let’s take a look below.

It is not always abnormal for young girls to have leucorrhea. Some of them are physiological, some are caused by diseases and other reasons, which need to be carefully distinguished. Leucorrhea is a mixture of vaginal mucosal exudate, cervical glands and some secretions from the endometrium, and contains vaginal epithelial exfoliated cells, white blood cells and lactobacilli. Normal leucorrhea is white, thin and paste-like, generally odorless, and the amount is related to the level of estrogen. Newborns and pre-pubertal children will have physiological leucorrhea due to the influence of endocrine system in the body.

In the first few days after delivery, the high estrogen level obtained from the mother continues to exist in the newborn. These estrogens act on the epithelium of the vagina and cervix, resulting in a large number of shed epithelial cells and some mucus discharged from the vagina. This is the source of the newborn's own semen. Some newborns even have bloody secretions within a few days after birth, which is also caused by the influence of the mother's estrogen. These are physiological phenomena in the neonatal period and are normal. Of course, it can also be caused by diseases in young girls, the most common of which is vulvovaginitis in young girls.

It is more common in children aged 2 to 9 years old. Girls of this age have very low estrogen levels, the vaginal epithelium continues to fall off, cellular glycogen disappears, and the acidity of the vagina decreases. Therefore, the local defense ability of the vulva and vagina is very weak. If you do not pay attention to keeping the vulva clean and hygienic, such as wiping from back to front after each bowel movement, the feces will contaminate the vulva. This is the most common cause. Other factors such as wearing tight, non-breathable underwear and excessive scrubbing of the vulva with soap or other cleansers can also lead to the disease. The symptoms include watery or purulent vaginal discharge, redness or edema of the vulva, and even epidermal exfoliation. Itching and scratching often lead to more vaginal exudate, and dry scabs often form on the underwear. The labia minora of some young girls may become ulcerated due to being soaked by secretions, and may adhere to the opposite side, and even the urethral and vaginal openings may be covered by the adhered labia, causing urethral symptoms such as urinary pain, frequent urination, burning sensation or difficulty urinating.