Excessive or unusual vaginal discharge isn’t just uncomfortable, it could even stop you from wanting to get sexually intimate with your partner.Dr Jo Bailey, a consultant gynaecologist working with the vaginal probiotic brand VJJ Health, says that a thick white, sometimes lumpy discharge can be due to thrush.Other symptoms of thrush include a vulval itch, soreness or burning, pain during sex and even small splits in the skin which look like paper cuts.’Thrush is caused by a yeast known as candida,’ says Dr Bailey.’Your vagina contains several types of bacteria and yeasts known as the vaginal microbiome.’A healthy vagina will have dominance of good bacteria, specifically lactobacilli which keep the pH of the vagina low and stop overgrowth of the bad bacteria.’However, problems such as thrush can occur when there is an imbalance of the bacteria in this microbiome.This can lead to an overgrowth of the bad microbes like candida, which causes symptoms.