Blood on hefsek – from wound?

One may attribute a stain found on a bedikah to a wound if there is actual confirmation of the wound. One way of confirming a wound is to have a doctor or bodeket taharah perform an examination. If s/he actually sees a wound on the vaginal wall or on the cervix, the stain found may be attributed to that source.

However, it may possible for a woman to confirm the presence of a wound on her own. If she performs a bedikah and finds a stain in a specific part of the cloth, and suspects the blood is coming from a wound, she can perform a second bedikah to check if there is indeed a wound. If the cloth is again stained only in the area where she suspects she has a wound, she can assume there is a wound there. This is particularly true if the stained area is on the side/edge of the bedikah cloth, and if the bedikah caused her pain or discomfort.

In your situation, where it seems from repeated bedikot that you indeed have a wound, you should perform a bedikah taking care to avoid the area of the wound. While the stains found on the earlier cloths may indeed be attributed to the wound, it is necessary to get a clean hefsek taharah to begin counting the clean days. You should not perform a moch dachuk.

Once you get an acceptable hefsek taharah, you may then reduce the number of bedikot required to one bedikah each on days 1, 7, and one additional intermediate clean day. For those bedikot as well, try to avoid the area of the wound. If you find a stain from the area of the wound, that stain does not invalidate the clean days, but you should try again to get a clean bedikah.

In general, when making repeated attempts a hefsek taharah, we recommend taking a break between bedikot to let natural lubrication return. Too many attempts, or attempts too close together, can lead to or exacerbate irritation.

Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.