If you’re a woman who’s never had a bout of vaginitis, you’re lucky, but the odds are good that you’ll have to deal with it at some point in your life. It’s all part of being a woman. Vaginitis is an umbrella term for inflammation, irritation, and redness of the vulva and vagina. The most common form is bacterial vaginosis, an infection characterized by a yellowish, fishy-smelling discharge. Yeast infection is another form, which reveals itself with a white, cottage cheese–like discharge, intense itching, and burning.
Trichomoniasis is yet another type, an inflammation triggered by a single-celled organism that’s transmitted sexually and causes itching, burning, and a frothy green or yellowish, foul-smelling discharge. Due to hormone level changes, women are more likely to be plagued by vaginitis before menstruation, during pregnancy, or after menopause, when thinning vaginal walls caused by decreasing estrogen become more susceptible to infection. This same lack of estrogen also causes vaginal dryness, which can lead to irritation, inflammation, and a higher risk of developing a bacterial infection.
Whatever the cause or the symptoms, vaginitis needs attention. If left untreated, trichomoniasis can put you at risk for other sexually transmitted diseases, and untreated bacterial vaginosis may lead to urinary tract infections and pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause infertility. Be sure to see your doctor without delay if you have any of these symptoms. After a proper diagnosis, your doctor can help you decide if supplements are right for you.
If you’re plagued by chronic yeast infections that are causing vaginitis, you can make some dietary changes that could help prevent recurrences. Try to eliminate sugar and milk and other dairy products from your diet, naturopathic doctors advise. You also should avoid foods that contain mold and yeast, including alcoholic beverages, cheeses, dried fruit, melons, mushrooms, and peanuts.
There’s a clear rationale behind the ban on these foods, naturopathic doctors believe. Candida albicans, the fungus that causes yeast infections, thrives on sugar, and because milk is high in lactose—also a sugar—it may contribute to a yeast infection.
While you’re dodging those foods, naturopathic doctors say that you can also take a number of nutritional supplements that have been known to clear up more than one stubborn case of vaginitis. Vitamins and minerals can reduce the severity of symptoms and boost your immune system at the same time. Supplementing with a type of "good bacteria" called Lactobacillus acidophilus can create a more stable and healthy environment in your vaginal area, thus quickly chasing out the yeast infection.
Certain herbs such as licorice and black cohosh, which contain estrogen-like compounds, can restore the vaginal moisture that some women lose when they have hormonal changes during menopause. Other herbs laced with powerful immune-stimulating properties, such as garlic, can destroy fungi and bacteria on contact.
Fight Back with Vitamin A
Whether your bout with vaginitis is caused by bacteria, yeast, or hormonal changes, supplementing with a powerful arsenal of vitamins and minerals may help shorten the duration and lessen the severity of the infection, says Pamela Jeanne, N.D., a naturopathic doctor and owner of Mount Hood Holistic Health in Gresham, Oregon.
Among these stars are vitamins A,
