Is My Period Late Because of Fingering?

Hi Aunt Vadge,

What does it mean if you were fingered, and did it like a few times, and your period is late?

He never had any live sperm on him so what could be the problem?

Also, I’ve had more white chunks than usual – could that be my period?

Best,
I.
Age: 16
Country: Texas, Tomball

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Hey there I,

Your periods are independent of being fingered. You can read more about this in our article on how you can get pregnant via fingering.

If you aren’t already, you should be using a period tracker app or calendar.

If you check back on your other cycles, you will see that the number of days between the first day of each period (Day 1 of your menstrual cycle) is always a little different.

A normal menstrual cycle length (Day 1 to Day 1, first day of bleeding to first day of bleeding) is 21 days long at minimum or a maximum of 35 days.

To get your period, you need to ovulate, about two weeks before you get your period. The number of days from when you ovulate until when you get your period is always the same for each of us – between 12 and 16 days. It’s smart to learn when you ovulate, then you can usually start to learn when you’re likely to get your period next. It’s really useful for planning!

What a late period means is that you have ovulated a little later this cycle than other cycles, if you’ve been keeping track. That’s perfectly normal and nothing is amiss. You’ll very likely get your period soon. In times of stress, such as the global pandemic (!), you may skip a period or ovulate later, as your body responds to the stress hormones.

It’s not unusual for travel, emotional distress or other big personal events to cause a delay of your period, so even if you skip a period this cycle, you’re still going just fine.

You may want to learn when you ovulate each cycle, as once you know what to look for, it becomes quite clear.

Don’t worry about your period this time – just wait and see. If you usually have irregular periods, it’s likely to be that again. If you’re usually very regular, it’ll come soon, so don’t fret. (You are not pregnant!)

Getting chunky white discharge may mean you have a yeast infection, but it could also be just regular discharge.

It can be hard to tell if you have a yeast infection, but it’s really common and nothing to worry about. You do not catch a yeast infection from being fingered, but if it was rough, it can result in some after-effects like pain and cuts.

To help with a possible yeast infection at home, it’s best to avoid antifungal medications from the pharmacy as much as possible (to avoid yeast becoming resistant), and work on things you can do by yourself at home like reduce carbs (bread, pasta, pizza, burgers, potatoes, rice) for a couple of days. It often clears up by itself.

We’ve written a lot about yeast infections, so have a look and see if that seems possible. My advice would be to do nothing and see what happens, if it’s not causing you any unpleasant symptoms like itching or soreness.

If you’ve recently been on antibiotics, a yeast infection can occur afterwards, as the antibiotics can kill your good bacteria and so yeast can overgrow.

You sound completely normal and you have nothing to worry about! If the discharge gets worse or you experience a worsening of symptoms, it may pay to call a clinic and ask for advice.

Best,
Aunt Vadge