Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment Facts

First of all may I say if you have bacterial vaginosis do not panic. It is very very treatable. I know first hand how unpleasant it can be to have bacterial vaginosis, I suffer for nearly 3 years on and off and my quality of life really did suffer greatly.

OK what is bacterial vaginosis, well simply put it is an infection of the vagina caused by an unbalance of the bacteria within the vagina, many things can cause this unbalance it can be difficult to pinpoint it exactly.

Many women confuse bacterial vaginosis with a yeast infection so make sure you are dealing with the right thing. What are the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis. Well bacterial vaginosis usually brings with it a discharge that is thin and watery, the color is generally grayish but can be yellowy. That is different to a yeast infection which has a thicker cottage cheese type discharge. The discharge brings with it a nasty odor that is fishy or musty. other symptoms include vaginal itching, swelling of the vagina, stomach cramps and a general feeling of being unwell.

Bacterial vaginosis can be very embarrassing for the women and seeking help can be difficult. I would always recommend visiting your doctor if you suspect you have bacterial vaginosis they will be able to check you over and make sure you have no other health problems. As for bacterial vaginosis treatment your doctor will more than likely prescribe a course of antibiotics. these can be taken orally or locally applied in a cream or gel.

Antibiotic treatments for bacterial vaginosis include, Cleocin which can be taken orally or directly applied to the vagina. Clindesse, which is a vagianl application. Flagyl and Tindermax which are both taken orally and metrogel which is another directly applied gel. If you do not like taking tablets or have problems swallowing them you can use the applied creams or gels, these usually have less chance of any other side effects such as nausea and vomiting.If you are pregnant it is recommended that you take metronidazole as this is a safer alternative to you and the unborn child.

All of the antibiotics work in the same way by destroying the bacteria causing the infection, this in itself can bring on another problem in that all of the bacteria within the vagina is destroyed including any good bacteria used to balance the vagina. this can lead to recurrent bacterial vaginosis once the antibiotics are stopped.

So are there any alternative treatments for bacterial vaginosis well actually there are and many women are turning to these alternative and sometimes more natural treatments for their bacterial vaginosis either because they have had bad experiences with antibiotics or just choose not to take them.

One of the simplist and most popular forms of bacterial vaginosis treatment is with yogurt. You will need to find a good natural yogurt with live cultures. Activia is a good example of this. Obviously the yogurt can be eaten as part of your regualr diet and this will help but an alternative to that is to soak a tampon in the yogurt and apply directly to the vagina this has agreat effective of giving the vagina a boost of good bacteria.

I will be updatting and adding to the list of bacterial vaginosis treatments that I have tried and tested or I have had good reports on. feel free to comment here about bacterial vaginosis treatments you have tried whether they worked or not for you, it is always good to get real life stories success or not they can all be helpful to sufferers of bacterial vaginosis.