If you’ve ever struggled with concerning discharge, funky smells or other bothersome symptoms in your lady parts, you know how uncomfortable and concerning it can be.
And if you’ve made changes like wearing looser clothing, avoiding spandex and pantyliners, changing lubrication and avoiding soaps or other chemicals in your vaginal area, but your symptoms continue – its important to consider an even bigger picture.
Vulvovaginitis is a term that refers to inflammatory lower genital tract disorders which may involve infection, allergy, irritation or disease.
Let’s break them down:
If your Symptoms are:
Redness & irritation of the vulva or vaginal area. No discharge or odor.
There’s probably a chemical to blame for this.
Make changes to your Feminine hygiene products, get rid of latex condoms, spermicides, colored/perfumed soaps, change your toilet paper, take a break from bubble baths, change your lubrication, sanitary products, etc
In these cases getting rid of the offending chemicals usually does the trick. 🤞🏼
If your Symptoms are:
Redness & irritation of the vulva or vaginal area including swelling, itchiness & discomfort, No discharge or odor
This is considered allergic vulvovaginitis and has many of the same culprits as chemical vulvovaginitis such as Latex condoms, topical antifungal agents, preservatives and other agents in lubricants, but can also include foods or even perfumes.
Again – removing the offending chemical or allergen takes care of this.
If your symptoms are:
thin, off-white discharge that may stick to vaginal walls, fishy odor, and often also includes irritation, itchiness & urgency.
This is called bacterial Vaginosis- your PH will be greater than 4.5, its caused by an overgrowth of bacteria and often needs to be treated with antibiotics. (but keep reading – there’s often more to this if you are experiencing symptoms regularly)
If your symptoms are:
Curdy white or yellow discharge, no smell or yeast bread smell, often there is redness, irritation, swelling, sometimes tears or cracks (fissures) in the skin and normal ph.
These can be symptoms of candida, also often called a yeast infection. Western medicine Drs often prescribe anti-fungals ..but chronic candida needs more than a simple prescription.
When Bacterial Vaginosis or Candida/Yeast infections recur or become chronic (more than 4 times a year) its a sign that you need to look at the bigger picture:
What can you do?
1-clean up your diet – remove sugar & alcohol which feed the unhealthy bacteria.
2- Add beneficial foods – prebiotics like green beans, onions, garlic, 🧄 and herbs like goldenseal, turmeric, thyme and oregano.
3- restore beneficial bacteria – PROBIOTICS – both adding probiotic foods to your diet like plain yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, etc and choosing a high quality supplement that has been third party tested for efficacy and contains a wide variety of microbes.
Specifically, L.crispatus CTV05, L. rhamnosus GR-1, & L.fermentum RC-14 have all shown to improve vaginal health & restore vaginal ecology.
Its been my experience that adding probiotics that support both the vaginal ecology AND the overall gastrointestinal system, along with dietary changes and removing chemical irritants is the best approach to creating long term wellness.
If you’d like to try adding a probiotic supplement and are looking for a recommendation I have a section in my Fullscript account under Catalog>Favorites>Probiotics .
If you’ve never ordered from Fullscript before, you’ll be prompted to set up an account. I’ve found it to be a great resource.
Looking for more personal guidance? New clients can schedule a free 15 minute meeting here.