Posts Tagged ‘what is bacterial vaginosis’
Bacterial Vaginosis – What Is it
Bacterial Vaginosis. Years ago, the condition was called Gardnerella Vaginitis. This was because of the fact that the gardnerella bacteria were thought to directly cause the condition. A newer name, Bacterial Vaginosis, indicates that there are large quantities of species of bacteria that live naturally in the vagina and often grow to excess. Bacterial vaginosis will result when the balance between good bacteria and bad bacteria is disturbed, gardnerella the bad bacteria overgorws and inflammation occurs. The “good” bacteria are unable to fight against the “harmful” bacteria thereby causing an imbalance.
bacterial vagitis is very common in fact it is the most common vaginal infection to affect women. There are only two other conditions that are as common, Trichomoniasis and a Vaginal Yeast Infection.
Bacterial vaginosis is very often only a mild inflammation and can sometimes clear up on its own without treatment, this usually takes a few days but if it does not clear it may be a good idea to visit a doctor. If you do not treat your BV at all there is a very good chance that a more serious condition could develope. BV cannot be transferred to a male partner; therefore, to treat the male partner is not beneficial. The infection can be spread from one women to another this is going to more relevent to lesbian or bisexual women.
There are several serious risks to a woman that does not seek treatment for this condition, these being susceptibility to the HIV virus, if she has been exposed to it. The increased chance of spreading HIV to the partner. An increase of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) has also been associated with women that have BV and that have recently had an abortion or hysterectomy. Other STDs, such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea can also be more prevalent in a woman that has BV.
BV is more common in sexually active women although all women can get the infection and according to the CDC 16 percent of pregant women also suffer from the infection. Bacterial Vaginosis is most commonly associated with women that have had multiple sexual partners, a new sex partner, or those that use feminine products, such as douching, using feminine hygiene products and some antibiotics.
Women that are pregnant and have contracted Bacterial Vaginosis should be seen and treated by their OB/GYN as soon as they notice the related symptoms. BV has been found to cause adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm labor, premature rupture of the membranes, postpartum endometritis, and intraamniotic infection. A physician should closely monitor any woman that has BV and is pregnant.
BV is a treatable condition and if you seek help from your physician, either a dose of antibiotics, in pill form, cream or gel will bring the natural balance of your vagina back within its normal good bacterial level. You must take in to account that a recurrence of bacterial vaginosis is very common after treatment.
Although very little is known about how women contract BV and many questions remain about the role that the harmful bacteria play in causing BV. Bacterial vaginosis is a very common inflammation to catch and all women are susceptalbe although common you can not catch it from swimming, sheets or a toilet seat.
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