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Midcycle staining, relations, and medical exam

17 November, 2015

Question:

Hi. I had a supracervical hysterectomy. I do stain every month at the time that I would have gotten my period. I also started to stain midcycle. You had responded to me about kesamim and stated that since I have staining and not a flow, I can avoid becoming a niddah by wearing colored underwear and using colored sheets.

After I had relations, I found some white discharge on the sheet which seemed to have some dark mixed into it. The sheet was colored, I waited a while after relations to see it and my husband did not look to see if any blood was on him as you instructed us to do. My only question is since the stain was found on white discahrge (which was on a colored sheet), would this be a problem?

Should I abstain every month midcycle? Also I am going to the doctor in a few days. What if I am staining at the time and he sees blood on his glove which is white? What if he sees that I am staining and he tells me that he sees some blood? What if I see blood on the white paper on the examining Table? Would any of these things be a problem? According to what was written in the article on kesamin, it seems to me that everything would be fine, but I just wanted to make sure. Thank you very much.


Answer:

The stain found on the colored sheet does not render you niddah, even though it was found on white discharge.

Although it is not halachically required to abstain from intercourse while you experience staining, it is highly recommended. While you can try to be careful to avoid becoming niddah should you find any staining subsequent to intercourse, it is impossible to be completely careful – stains may be found on your husband or your skin which may render you niddah and enter you into the complex halachic situation of bleeding after intercourse. It is best to avoid this problematic situation by abstaining while you experience staining. Please read our article on conduct while staining for further details.

At your doctor's visit, you should avoid looking at his glove after the examination, since any stain found on it would be treated stringently like an internal bedikah, unless he can confirm that the blood did not come from inside the cervix. You also should not ask him if sees any blood internally for the same reason. However, should any staining be found on the white paper on the examining table, they may be disregarded since disposable paper is not mekabel tum'ah (susceptible to ritual impurity) and thus is not subject to the laws of stains. After the examination you should continue to take precautions against becoming niddah from any subsequent staining (wearing colored underwear, avoid looking at toilet paper, etc.).

Assuming you are having a routine doctor's visit (including a manual exam, speculum exam, or Pap smear) the examination itself does not render you niddah, since any intruments used in these examinations only enter the vagina and do not penetrate past the cervix. If your doctor is planning on doing any other procedures, please get back to us with more details to determine whether they would render you niddah.

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


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