Before thinking about the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis you should know that this is a mild vaginal infection. It is known that the vagina has good and bad bacteria.

The good bacteria control the bad ones. Vaginosis means that a woman has too many bad bacteria and too few good bacteria to fight the bad ones.

Causes of the bacterial vaginosis symptoms

The truth is that the experts don’t really know what brings an imbalance to the vaginal bacteria. There are some risk factors that increase the chances of women of being affected.

Symptoms-of-bacterial-vaginosisThese include having several sexual partners or having a new one, smoking, and douche. You can limit your risks of being affected if you control these risk factors.

What are the signs of bacterial vaginosis?

The most common symptom is having vaginal discharge with a foul smell. It is possible that it has a gray or yellow color.

The most specific sign is the ‘fishy’ smell that is even worse after intercourse. About 50% of the affected women don’t see the signs of the infection.

When thinking about the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis, you should keep in mind that there are many other factors as well for having vaginal discharge.

These include some of the STDs or sexually transmitted diseases. This is why it is important to see your doctor and to get an accurate diagnosis.

How is the problem diagnosed?

If you see the bacterial vaginosis signs, your doctor will ask you about the symptoms that you notice.

You may go through a pelvic exam and it is possible that your doctor will take a sample of the discharge.

This sample is tested and based on the results you will know whether you have vaginosis or not.

Problems associated

The symptoms of bacterial vaginosis shouldn’t be ignored because it could lead to serious health problems. However these appear only in rare cases. If you have the infection during pregnancy, you will have higher chances of a miscarriage, early delivery or of having a uterine infection after childbirth.

If you see the warning signs of bacterial vaginosis and you have some kind of pelvic procedure, like an abortion, C-section or a hysterectomy, you will have higher chances of being affected by an infection. Also you are more likely to be affected by some kind of sexually transmitted diseases if you are exposed to it.

Treating the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis

BV can be treated effectively with the help of prescription antibiotics. The most commonly used ones include clindamycin, and metronidazole. They can have the form of a pill that you have to swallow or the form of a cream that you have to apply on your vagina.

If you see the bacterial vaginosis warning signs and you take antibiotics, you have to make sure that you don’t have alcohol. In the same time the creams can weaken latex, so use another contraception method.

Now you know a lot more about the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis.