What is the treatment for bacterial vaginosis?

Treatment is with antibiotics – either oral tablets or vaginal cream – although recurrence rates are high. Using condoms doesn’t seem to help many people in my experience, so what’s a girl to do? Well, this is where my beloved probiotics come in. The published evidence isn’t as strong as it could be, but (in my opinion) that’s because the patients in the studies didn’t take the probiotics long term, so most studies have shown good cure rates but still high recurrence. For recurrent bacterial vaginosis you need to continue taking the probiotic long term because there’s probably a tiny population of the BV-causing bacteria that live dormant in your vagina, taking over whenever the opportunity presents itself and resulting in further episodes. By feeding your vagina with Lactobacillus on a daily basis, you have the best chance of stopping this from happening.

There are also a lot of over-the-counter vaginal creams and ‘pH-balancing’ products. For every person who says they work there seems to be another who says they are a waste of money and just make a mess, but I don’t have a problem with them, and if they work for you, that’s fine.

Again, treating your male partner doesn’t seem to help either, and not because he has a dirty penis, as one of my patients was once told.

In reality, there are probably a multitude of factors that cause BV that we’ll never get to the bottom of, but it does seem that some women are just more likely to get it due to their genes, so if that’s you, please don’t blame yourself and remember it’s not a sign that you or your partner are dirty.

Ask Gynae Geek: your most Googled questions about bacterial vaginosis, answered