subject: Finding Natural Remedies For Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment [print this page] Although there are many treatment options for bacterial vaginosis that affects many women, finding natural remedies for bacterial vaginosis treatment is always ideal. Natural remedies for bacterial vaginosis seek to treat the root cause of the problem and not merely the symptoms of this condition.
What is Bacterial Vaginosis
This is often an embarrassing condition for the many women that experience the various symptoms of this condition. This condition is a vaginal infection caused by the excessive growth of the bacteria that is normally found in a healthy vagina.
This particular infection is different from a vaginal yeast infection which is another common vaginal infection because it results from an overgrowth of certain bacteria. A vaginal yeast infection (candidiasis) is caused by the excessive growth of a fungus known as candida albicans. Bacterial vaginaosis is the most common vaginal infection and affects about a third of adult women in the U.S or approximately 22 million women.
Causes
Various good and bad bacteria dwell in a normal vagina. Although it remains unknown why certain bad bacteria decide to excessively grow leading to this vaginal infection, here are a few risk factors that have been identified that may increase a woman's chance of developing this particular vaginal infection;
1. Using a vaginal douche,
2. Having multiple sexual partners,
3. Extremely frequent sexual intercourse,
4. Having a sexual relationship with another woman,
5. Smoking tobacco
6. Frequent use of other feminine hygiene products,
7. The use of an IUD (intrauterine device) for birth control
8. Having a sexually transmitted disease (STD)
These are only a few factors that can increase the risk of developing this infection and seeking bacterial vaginosis treatment as a result. It is important to note that although having multiple sexual partners or the engaging in frequent sexual intercourse can increase the risk of developing this vaginal infection, a woman who does not have sexual intercourse may still develop this vaginal infection.
Bacterial Vaginosis Symptoms
Although many women with this vaginal infection may not report any symptoms, other women may suffer from the following bacterial vaginosis symptoms;
1. The main identifier of this infection that separates it from other vaginal infections such as yeast infections is that women with bacterial vaginosis have reported having a vaginal stench that has been described as "fishy". This can be very embarrassing for the women with this symptom. This odor is usually most noticeable after sexual intercourse.
2. Excessive vaginal discharge is another of the symptoms related to this condition. The vaginal discharge is described as being thin and gray or white in color. There may be small bubbles in the vaginal discharge.
Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment
Bacterial vaginosis treatment using traditional medicine methods mainly involves the use of various antibiotics that are either taken orally or topical gels and creams that are applied directly to the vagina. This vaginal infection is not considered an STD and if the woman has a male sexual partner, treatment for him is unnecessary.
The various medications that are used for bacterial vaginosis treatment include but are not limited to antibiotics such as Metronidazole, a clindamycin cream, Tinidazole, etc. Many of these antibiotics can result in various side effects in addition to increasing the risk of developing other vaginal infections such as yeast infections. These antibiotics can be expensive as well. Many of the women who choose traditional medicine remedies for bacterial vaginosis treatment will develop this condition again usually in the year following bacterial vaginosis treatment.
Natural Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment Options
It is good to know for suffers of this embarrassing condition that there are various natural options for the treatment of this vaginal infection which do not come with the expense and the various side effects associated with conventional treatment options.
Natural treatment options for this infection seek to deal with the root cause of this infection so that a woman does not keep having recurrences of this vaginal infection. Conventional methods do not try to treat the root cause of the problem. Instead, they simply seek to treat the symptoms. Since the root cause is not dealt with, the infection will return over and over again. Natural treatment options use many ingredients that are easily available at local health stores that are relatively inexpensive especially when compared to conventional treatment options.
