Vaginal Health and Recurrent Infections
Do you experience recurrent thrush, bacterial vaginosis or other pesky symptoms that you can’t seem to get rid of?
Your GP has prescribed you yet another round of antibiotics, canesten or told you everything is normal and you’re left feeling disheartened (and uncomfortable).
You’re not alone. This happens more than you think.
First things first, absolutely see your GP to rule out an STI or anything more sinister. But once you’ve gotten the all clear in that department and you’re feeling incredibly sick of the month to month or week to week flare of symptoms - this is where I come in to help.
The vagina has a *microbiome* - just like your gut (and everywhere else in the body like the skin, the mouth, the uterus, the penis etc), your vagina has its own ecosystem.
Vaginal Microbiome 101
The vagina generally wants a relatively LOW diversity. Unlike the gut which thrives off having an abundance of microbes, the vagina needs a relatively low abundance of microbes. Depending on your ethnicity, the type of microbial dominance can differ (what we call a community state type). There are 5 community state types.
GENERALLY speaking, the vagina wants a Lactobacillus species dominance (again, your dominant microbe will depend on a number of factors)
Lactobacillus species are acid producing as the vagina wants a low pH of around 3.5-4.5 (an acidic pH). This pH is protective to the environment
Vaginal dysbiosis is considered an imbalance or disruption to the composition of the vaginal microbiome
Your stage of life and hormonal balance are both linked to vaginal health. Likewise, nervous system health, sexual activity (type of sex, who you’re having sex with with, toys, barrier methods, douching and personal care), immune health, blood sugar regulation, pregnancy, menstrual cycle health, if you have an IUD or taking the OCP, and even smoking can all affect the health of your vagina and its microbiome.
So what do we do?
It isn’t as simple as taking a probiotic and hoping for the best. We need to do more digging.
First thing is first, I want to have an in depth consultation finding out potential drivers of your symptoms - your hormonal health and menstrual cycle, your metabolic health, sexual practices and if partner treatment has been a consideration in the past, your nervous system, gut health, thyroid health, your diet (& so on).
Functional testing: run a comprehensive vaginal microbiome profile (the swabs your GP ran won’t cut it. There is MORE to your microbiome)
Start you on an individualised protocol with interventions specific to the microbes that are present and the drivers of your symptoms
The Functional Microbiome Profile
To do this test you will do two swabs. It is important to do them when you are symptomatic as this will give us a snapshot of what microbes are present when you have a flare. When there is recurrence I want to find out WHY your vagina isn’t able to hold off infection - what microbes are present, are there any that are keeping you in a pattern of recurrence and resistance to treatment, what are you lactobacillus levels like (if any), is there a pattern to when you are experiencing your flares whether that is hormonally within your cycle, or after sex. If so after sex, has your partner ever been treated? There is SO MUCH that we can do to support you and get to the bottom of your symptom recurrence.
Want to find out more?
If you’re experiencing ongoing vaginal symptoms or hormone-related concerns, naturopathic support may help explore underlying patterns.
Book in a free 15 minute call and let’s chat.