Bacterial Vaginosis Information
What is bacterial vaginosis and how did I get it? You’re a woman, you know what I mean. . . when you go to the ladies room you have a fishy smell that you can’t believe is coming from you . And that discharge : you want to get rid of these symptoms immediately.
And of course, you wonder, can I have sex while I have this? Am I contagious? Is this an STD? But the good news is you’re not alone. Studies have shown that 10- 41% of women have had it at least once. And that’s a conservative study. So what does this mean? You are definitely not alone!
Most people assume that vaginal yeast infection is the most common vaginal infection, however, the truth is that bacterial vaginosis or BV is the number one occurring vaginal infection among women ofchildbearing age. 40-50% of vaginitis cases are caused by bacterial vaginosis.
Bacterial vaginosis is a vaginal condition that can produce vaginal discharge (grey or white, watery, thin consistency – sometimes accompanied by itchiness) and results from an overgrowth of normal bacteria in the vagina. Women who are sexually active are more prone to getting BV, however, it also occurs in women who are not sexually active. Cases most likely occur after sex with a new partner, however, there is no evidence to suggest that BV is a sexually transmitted infection. In fact, it is possible for virgins to get BV.
Studies have shown that BV is linked to an imbalance in the bacteria that are found in a female’s vagina – an imbalance in the vagina’s naturally occurring bacterial flora. Nobody fully understands why this imbalance occurs. The vagina usually contains mostly good bacteria and few harmful bacteria – BV occurs when these harmful bacteria grow in numbers. We do not know what role these harmful bacteria play in causing BV but we do know there are ways to get treated.
