Over the counter bacterial vaginosis treatment options

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. You can usually find them on the shelves placed next to vaginal yeast infection treatment products, and usually carry very affordable price tags.

These creams contain ingredients such as anti-pruritics (anti-itch agents), anesthetics and external analgesics. But these creams don’t possess anti-microbial activities (i.e. not able to kill germs); the most they can do is to reduce the itchiness. They may reduce the severity of the 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. Sometimes, these creams may irritate or make symptoms worse in some women.

The truth is, no over the counter bacterial vaginosis treatment alone can eliminate the condition completely. Most of the times these creams are used together with antibiotics; at the end the treatment cost is increased.

There are a few over the counter items that can help to relieve bacterial vaginosis by maintaining the vaginal pH and replenishing lactobacilli in the body. Some of these items include tea tree oil pessaries, lactate vaginal gel, and 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. Another example is Femanol, which also contains additional immune system enhancing nutrients (e.g. vitamins B1, B2, B5, and B6).

Treating bacterial vaginosis with natural remedies seems to have better long-term success rates than antibiotics and conventional OTC treatments for bacterial vaginosis. You are able to find from the internet many tips and solutions to deal with bacterial vaginosis naturally.

However, natural bacterial vaginosis cures are unlikely to provide a complete cure when used individually. Only when the individual remedies are used according to a systematic method that they will work the best to cure BV permanently.