The truth is, most women never discuss sexual issues with their doctors. However, in our sexual medicine clinic, they do. We were amazed to learn that a number of our patients were bothered by chronic dripping after sex. We did a clinical survey study where we asked 1,000 women about dripping. We found that over half of women who were sexually active without condoms were bothered by dripping, odor, or discomfort after sex.
We’ve learned a lot from our patients. Everyone who is having sex has to do something to clean up afterwards. Most women said they just use a towel, a shirt, or something to wipe up afterwards. We’ve heard from others who say they run to the bathroom, and sit on the toilet and urinate. Others have routines where they’ll shower after sex, and even douche, or rinse inside their vaginas.
The vaginal anatomy is unique, and every vagina is different. There are regions called the “fornices”, which are small pockets adjacent to the cervix, where the semen often gets trapped. While the initial semen may drip out, the fluids trapped in these fornices may remain for a little while longer, and eventually leak out minutes, hours, or even a day later. The pH changes from the semen often cause the vagina to negatively react, leading to odor, dripping and discomfort.