How Do You Treat Long Standing BV?

If you have been struggling to clear up your Bacterial Vaginosis, you might be experiencing chronic or prolonged BV. Chronic BV is when your vaginal bacteria is unbalanced and disrupted regularly; when it is like this it increases your chances of contracting regular bacterial infections that can be a pain to clear up once and for all. However, Bacterial Vaginosis can be treated and will be able to clear up once and for all. Therefore even if you have been suffering from long-standing BV, there are treatments out there that can help. Although it is important to ensure that you are not just focusing on treating an infection but also working to prevent the risk of infection from returning. The best way to treat long-standing BV is to make sure you can support the health of your vagina long after your infection is cleared up and here’s how you can do that…

How do you get rid of prolonged Bacterial Vaginosis?

Prolonged or chronic Bacterial Vaginosis is usually treated with antibiotic tablets or intimate gels applied directly inside the vagina; these treatment methods can help neutralise ‘bad’ bacteria that could be contributing to your infections. Oral antibiotics can be prescribed by a GP whereas antibacterial vaginal gels and creams can be purchased online with discretion and without needing a GP consultation. You can also ‘speak’ to virtual GPS to get suitable antibiotic medication. Probiotics can also help treat, manage and prevent bacterial infections like BV as probiotic bacteria can help with bacterial imbalances and support healthy vaginal flora. A BV infection usually happens when the vaginal bacteria and overall health is compromised by ‘bad’ bacteria therefore treatment is needed to help repopulate ‘good’ bacteria to fight against infection. If you suffer from prolonged BV, this process can take a while even with antibiotics; as they are not always effective right away!

Why won't my BV go away with antibiotics?

Even with antibiotics, some women experience a recurring BV infection within just two to three months after taking prescribed medications like antibiotics or treatment gels. One of the main reasons for antibiotics to be ineffective or less effective is commonly down to the overall health and state of the vagina; it can take longer for the vaginal flora to be healthy again than for the antibiotics to work. This means that if your antibiotics are meant to take only a few days to work - this might still not be enough time for the vaginal bacteria to rebalance and neutralise; to make ‘bad’ bacteria uninhabitable! This can happen whether you take antibiotics or apply treatment gels as your intimate health might need more support than you initially thought. However, knowing this can be near impossible. You might believe that once your treatment course has ended, your intimate health will be instantly balanced and healthy again. No! That is not always the case, and it's in these situations that women believe their antibiotics have been ineffective. Whilst you should always finish your course of antibiotics, if you believe that your intimate health is more susceptible to further bacterial infections, you will want to ensure your follow-up care is just as regular to reduce your risk of new or prolonged infections. Several triggers can cause BV to be chronic; which will therefore be unlikely to clear up with antibiotics alone… 

What triggers chronic BV?

It can be difficult to distinguish your triggers for chronic BV as every women's causes of BV can differ. One of the most common causes or triggers for chronic Bacterial Vaginosis is related to sexual activity. If you are sexually active with multiple partners or you do not have protected sexual intercourse (with condoms) then this can largely disrupt your intimate bacteria thus increasing your risk of Chronic BV. Unprotected sexual intercourse, sex with a new partner or multiple partners can all alter the balance of bacteria inside the vagina; allowing for an influx of ‘bad’ bacteria to populate. When that ‘harmful’ bacteria is overwhelming inside the intimate area, that can be the trigger to BV-related symptoms and then it’s just a matter of time until the infection is more prominent unless you are already taking preventive supplements like probiotics supplements to help keep the vaginal flora support long-term. Now, sexual activity, unprotected or with multiple partners is not the only trigger for chronic BV. There are many triggers not caused by intercourse that you may unknowingly be self-inducing… 

• Douching Products can trigger BV even if you think they help ‘flush’ out your vagina; they can affect your ‘good’ bacteria and allow ‘harmful’ bacteria to thrive. An ideal state for BV!
• Nylon underwear or tight clothing that doesn't allow your vagina to get any air, plus these materials can make you sweaty thus triggering a potential BV infection.
• Scented intimate hygiene products can throw off your natural pH and should be limited if not avoided as the vagina can clean itself. These products unbalanced pH and can trigger BV.
• A high-in-fat and sugary diet can cause an imbalance in your pH which can increase your risk of a BV infection. 
• Smoking cigarettes heavily can lead to an increase in your pH acidity which can make the vagina more habitable for ‘unhealthy’ bacteria to thrive and cause an infection.

If you have been, unknowingly, affecting your intimate health with the above triggers then these can be the main reasons for your Bacterial Vaginosis not clearing up and becoming a chronic issue. They might not appear, at first glance, as too impactful to your vaginal health but along with sexual intercourse; they can all be triggers responsible for chronic as well as persistent BV. Therefore being aware of these triggers, making some small changes to your intimate hygiene & diet as well as continuously supporting your inmate's health can all help you to treat long-standing and chronic BV!

We hope today's blog post has cleared any confusion or concerns you had regarding chronic and long-standing BV. For more advice on this topic, you can read through our Health Insiders Blog page where we have several similar posts. You can also send us a DM on our Instagram if you have any personal questions that you would like one of our experts to assist you with!