What are the available OTC treatment options for bacterial vaginosis?

Thursday, February 25th, 2010    Subscribe To Our Feed

Bacterial vaginosis is the result of an upset in the vaginal flora balance. An assortment of over the counter bacterial vaginosis products have been made available to women on drugstore shelves.

A survey has reported that about 73% of women who experienced recurring vulvovaginitis, including bacterial vaginosis, turned to over the counter remedies to get rid of their symptoms. This is because most women want to reduce treatment cost and also to avoid costly clinic consultations.

What are the available over the counter bacterial vaginosis treatment options?

Vaginal anti-itch creams that are available in drugstores include Vagisil, Vagi-gard, Summers Eve, and Equate. They are usually grouped on the shelves next to the vaginal yeast infection treatments, and have cheap price tags ranging from 2-5 dollars.

These creams contain ingredients including anesthetics, external analgesics, and anti-pruritics. However, these creams only relieve minor itching and have no antimicrobial effects. They may relieve BV symptoms (e.g. stop vaginal itching), but do not treat the root cause of infection.

If you use vaginal anti-itch creams, you can only expect temporary relief of the symptoms. To some women, these creams may even act as an irritant or worsen their symptoms.

In reality, no OTC remedies for bacterial vaginosis can cure the condition completely when used alone. Often, these creams are used in combination with prescribed antibiotic treatment, and this adds up to the cost.

There are indeed several OTC products to help alleviate bacterial vaginosis by restoring the vaginal pH and supplementing lactobacilli to the body. Some of these products include lactate vaginal gel, tea tree oil pessaries, and oral probiotic supplements.

Tea tree oil pessaries can be used inside the vagina and their natural antibacterial properties can help to control the harmful bacteria, which is present in the vagina when a woman has bacterial vaginosis.

Lactate vaginal gels work as pH balancing gel. One example of lactate vaginal gel is RepHresh, which is inserted into the vagina with an applicator.

Probiotic supplements are such as powder or capsules containing acidophilus or lactobacillus to be taken orally. One example of the over the counter bacterial vaginosis oral supplement is Fem-Dophilus. Femanol is another one of such products; it contains additional nutrients to help boost the body’s immune system (e.g. vitamins B1, B2, B5, and B6).

Natural remedies for BV have shown to be effective for long-term control when compared to conventional antibiotic treatment or OTC remedies. You are able to find from the internet many tips and solutions to deal with bacterial vaginosis naturally.

However, natural bacterial vaginosis cures may not be able to completely cure the condition when used separately. To get rid of bacterial vaginosis permanently, those natural treatments must be used in a systematic approach.

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