Figuring out if what you have is bacterial vaginosis or a yeast infection is easy: it’s all about the symptoms.
You just need to investigate a few key themes, but just BV or yeast may not be the only questions you need to ask yourself.
BV is:
- Fishy discharge
- Watery/grey/thin discharge, no chunks, all looks the same
- Not itchy, sore or inflamed
- May appear after sex with a new person, your period, or for no reason you can think of
- Can be hard to treat and antibiotic-resistant due to biofilm formation
- You need a test to get an accurate diagnosis
- At-home BV treatments
Yeast is:
- Itchy
- Thick, white discharge
- Discharge doesn’t smell bad at all
- Can get quite raw
- Often appears after antibiotics or if you eat a lot of bread/sugar or drink a lot of beer
- Very diet-related – yeast starts in your intestines and works it’s way down
- Usually easy to treat
- At-home yeast treatments
________
Aerobic vaginitis is:
- Itchy
- Inflamed
- Sore
- Smells bad – may be fishy, may be like rotten meat, ammonia, or faeces
- Usually extremely antibiotic-resistant bacteria involved
- Sometimes very hard to treat
- Requires accurate diagnosis (may be misdiagnosed or co-diagnosed with BV, get comprehensive testing)
- Learn more about aerobic vaginitis
Trich is:
- A sexually transmitted parasitic infection
- Fishy, foul or musty odour
- Greenish discharge
- May be inflamed
- Easy to treat with antibiotics
- Learn more about trich
Lactobacilli overgrowth syndrome (cytolytic vaginosis) is:
- Looks like a yeast infection
- Thick white discharge
- Smells normal
- Itchy
- Sore
- Doesn’t respond to antifungal treatments
- Gets worse the week or two before your period
- Worse if using oestrogen treatments
- Worse in those with histamine intolerance, may be caused by histamine overload
- Feels better after baking soda douche
- Found most often in women who have blood sugar dysregulation and oestrogen excess or have just been treated with vaginal or oral probiotics
- If you are normal, will resolve itself within a few weeks – the vagina is self-limiting with food availability
- Learn more about cytolytic vaginosis