Get evaluated by a well being care supplier to get essentially the most correct prognosis, says Dr. Phillips—and discover a new one should you’re not getting good solutions or useful therapy as issues stand.

Give well being care suppliers all the data they should make a whole prognosis.

Bacterial STIs can be strikingly just like BV, symptom-wise. The situation can look rather a lot like trichomoniasis, which normally comes with funky-smelling discharge and itchiness, or Mgen, which causes uncommon or smelly discharge, burning if you pee, and vulvar ache or discomfort. To keep away from a misdiagnosis, Dr. Bovone recommends that suppliers take a look at for all STIs, particularly these with micro organism and parasites as vectors, or which include signs of vaginal itching and discharge with an off odor (like gonorrhea and chlamydia). “We see all of it, and may reassure you what’s regular. And if something is off, we might help,” says Dr. Bovone.

Ask a physician to check you for BV particularly, too. Dr. Phillips begins appointments with a verbal screening to make clear her sufferers’ signs, then takes a vaginal swab pattern to ship out to a lab for evaluation. As soon as she is aware of what’s truly occurring, she’s capable of devise a therapy plan.

When a physician prescribes you therapy, comply with their directions and keep it up for the entire time you’re speculated to—even when your signs get higher.

Relying on the an infection and the clinic, you is likely to be given the choice of oral or vaginal antibiotics (typically, clindamycin or metronidazole) to deal with BV. To focus on recurrent BV, Dr. Bovone explains that medical doctors may prescribe an extended course of therapy than they might for a one-off case, corresponding to utilizing an antibiotic for seven to 10 days, plus a weekly dose of a vaginal antibiotic gel for 4 to 6 months afterward to extend the therapy. There are additionally newer therapies, together with a clindamycin vaginal gel referred to as XACIATO that may be utilized like a tampon to ship a powerful single dose of treatment.

BV can come creeping again should you veer off track with a prescribed therapy, corresponding to not taking the entire antibiotics day by day or stopping earlier than the meant date, even when it looks as if your signs are clearing up. “Insufficient therapy is a setup for a recurrence: BV is a disruption of the traditional vaginal flora, and that flora must be re-established,” says Dr. Bovone. It will possibly change into unclear whether or not the recurrence is a reinfection, or if the an infection by no means actually cleared within the first place.4 So, even should you’re feeling higher, don’t cease taking treatment earlier than the set finish date, or else you may threat a BV an infection creeping again.

Maintain issues moisturized.

One option to hold your vaginal pH as near acidic (and infection-free) as potential is to verify there’s sufficient lubrication on a day-to-day foundation. Vaginal dryness, which may occur resulting from decrease estrogen ranges throughout menopause or throughout a interval of breastfeeding, amongst different issues, can result in a much less acidic pH, based on Dr. Minkin. She recommends a vaginal moisturizing gel like Replens to assist with dryness.

Get a physician’s opinion earlier than you utilize OTC suppositories, like these containing boric acid.

You might have heard of boric acid suppositories and different over-the-counter therapies that purportedly stability the vaginal microbiome. It doesn’t matter what, it is best to communicate along with your well being care supplier to verify you’ve gotten BV earlier than attempting these out, Dr. Phillips says. From there, it is best to know that boric acid dietary supplements should not FDA-approved, and that the jury’s nonetheless out about whether or not boric acid by itself might help with BV. (SELF has a full rundown of how boric acid impacts your vagina, together with you probably have a bacterial or yeast an infection.)