Vaginitis - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment of Vaginitis

Vaginitis is short fo vulvovaginitis — any irritation in the vagina. It often causes an abnormal discharge. Vaginitis is a diagnosis based on the presence of symptoms of abnormal discharge, vulvovaginal discomfort, or both. Discharge flows from the vagina daily as the body's way of maintaining a healthy environment. Normal discharge is usually clear or milky with no malodor. A change in the amount, color, or smell; irritation; or itching or burning could be due to an imbalance of healthy bacteria in the vagina, leading to vaginitis.

Causes of Vaginitis

Vaginitis has various causes. It may result from bacterial infections, fungal infection, protozoan infection, contact dermatitis or even an allergic reaction. Vaginitis affects millions of women and is one of the primary reasons women visit their doctor. Trichomonas is sexually transmitted, but other vaginitis infections are not usually sexually transmitted.

What are the signs or symptoms of vaginitis?

The signs or symptoms of vaginitis are different, depending on the germ that you have.

• bacterial vaginosis
• yeast
• trichomoniasis

Types of vaginitis

1. Bacterial
2. Yeast - Yeast vaginitis can be indolent without severe symptoms or it can be quite severe. Eventually a yeast infection goes away but it always requires some sort of treatment to reduce the amount of yeast present. This may involve frequent washing or protective salves on the perineum and douching or washing out the vaginal secretions. Because the burning symptoms can be fairly intense, there are no studies of how long it takes the natural course of yeast vaginitis to run.
3. Protozoan

Vaginitis Treatment

The antibiotic metronidazole is prescribed to treat trichmonas vaginitis. It may have some unpleasant side effects such as nausea and an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Please consult your physician for more details.

Gardnerella vaginitis

Atrophic vaginitis

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