If you are reading this blog, you most likely experienced bacterial vaginosis or a yeast infection in the past (or now!). It could be confusing to know exactly which vaginal infection decided to make its appearance, so in this blog post, we’ll go over the similarities and differences between BV and yeast infections.

The Cause:

The main and most important difference between bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections is the cause of the vaginal infection. BV is caused by an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the vagina, while yeast infection is caused by an overgrowth of yeast in the vagina.

The treatments for each vaginal infection are different as well. Your doctor will most likely prescribe you antibiotics for bacterial vaginosis and with a Diflucan for a yeast infection (1 pill that stops the growth of yeast).

The Symptoms:

BV and yeast infections share some of the same symptoms, that’s the reason it could be challenging for you to spot which infection you have without a doctor consultation.

You will probably feel itching, burning, soreness, and overall inflammation in the vagina with both infections.

BV is usually associated with a bad odor/smell that resembles fish. The smell can get more intense after sex or during your period. If you’ve had bacterial vaginosis in the past, you’ll probably be able to recognize that familiar smell right away and know that you have BV rather than a yeast infection. Another common symptom of BV is abnormal vaginal discharge. That discharge could be gray, yellow, or even greenish color.

A common symptom of a yeast infection is the cottage-cheese like discharge. Yeast produces a vaginal discharge that looks more “clunky” and does not have the same fishy odor as bacterial vaginosis discharge.

Your Vaginal pH Level & Triggers For BV & Yeast Infections:

Our vaginal pH level plays a huge role when it comes to both BV and yeast infections. With bacterial vaginosis, a change in your vaginal pH level may be the cause of the bad bacteria overgrowth. Our vagina is host to many organisms, some are good for us (they are called probiotics), and others are bad (bad bacteria, candida, etc). Think about it this way – the “good guys” aka the probiotics, are responsible for keeping the vagina balanced – as long as you have enough good bacteria that will protect you from the bad bacteria and yeast, you’re aren’t as likely to suffer from vaginal infections. However, the vaginal environment is extremely delicate and the good bacteria can easily be wiped off by many different triggers. When that happens, we lose our “gate-keepers”, aka the probiotics, and we give the bad bacteria and yeast a chance to overgrow and cause a vaginal infection.

A healthy and balanced vaginal pH level is between 3.5 – 4.5, but what could make it go out of balance?

Unfortunately, so many things! We already mentioned that the most common treatment to get rid of BV is antibiotics, sadly, antibiotics do not distinguish between good and bad bacteria – they will kill any bacteria that they come across. This means that an antibiotic treatment can kill your probiotics and make you more prone to bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections. It’s no wonder that antibiotic treatments for BV are not effective for 50% of women! It’s also the reason why it’s so common to get a yeast infection after taking antibiotics to treat BV – your vaginal pH level simply gets out of balance and allows the bad micro-organisms to overgrow.

Other triggers that can make your vaginal pH level increase include the type of condoms you use, lube, diet, tight clothes that don’t let the vajayjay breathe, and even the laundry detergent you use!

So, what can you do today to start and elevate your vaginal health?

Here at V-Luxe, we put women’s vaginal health first. We love educating our customers about simple lifestyle changes you can do to reduce the chances of getting bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections, and we hope that this blog post has helped you!

Since a healthy vaginal pH level (between 3.5 – 4.5) is key in preventing future BV and yeast infections. Luckily, you can easily monitor your vaginal pH level at home with a simple-to-use test! You can purchase our V-Luxe vaginal pH tester here. Each roll of pH paper includes approximately 100 tests. We want you to test your vaginal pH level at least once a day so you can hopefully find the trigger of what makes it go up and down (try testing before and after sex, after eating foods that are high in sugar and fat, after working out in tight leggings, etc).

As we mentioned above, probiotics are the “good guys” and they are the ones that will keep our vaginal pH level healthy and balanced and prevent future infections that way. V-Luxe probiotics are the best for recurring bacterial vaginosis, yeast infections, and even UTIs! Here’s what makes the V-Luxe probiotics so amazing and different than other ones on the market:

1) We include 8 strains of good bacteria that have been tested to help with women’s health. We basically use good bacteria strains that are naturally found in healthy vaginas and are believed to naturally prevent BV, yeast infections, and UTIs.

2) We include prebiotics in our formula. Prebiotics are the food that good bacteria love to eat (it’s basically fiber!). We add the fiber to give the probiotics the best chance to colonize and multiply in the vagina and create a healthy environment that makes it very hard for bad bacteria and yeast to overgrow.

3) Our good bacteria strains can survive extreme heat, humidity, and cold. We do this to ensure they will stay viable after shipping and storage, all the way through their expiration date. If you look at the fine letters of other probiotics, you’ll find that most companies only guarantee the CFU (colony forming units) count at the manufacturing stage, but not afterward. That’s a red flag when it comes to probiotics as the probiotics may not be viable by the time you consume them which could be months after they have left the manufacturer.

4) Our probiotics also survive extreme acidic environments, like our stomach acid. We do this to make sure the probiotics will stay alive after consumption and get to the vagina safely. From our experience, oral probiotics are easier to consume on a daily basis, compared to vaginal suppositories probiotics. That’s the reason you only need to take 1 pill per day (preferably with a meal) and have the confidence that those good bacteria will arrive to your vagina safely and alive, ready to naturally protect you from bad bacteria and yeast overgrowth.

In addition to taking probiotics, we also recommend taking care of and boosting your immune system. A strong immune system will be able to spot vaginal infections faster! We offer additional supplements like mushrooms immune support and oregano oil to help you with that! These are all available to be purchased separately, or through our starter kits.

We created our V-Luxe starter kits that will help you with each condition.

Please click here to view the Be Gone BV V-Luxe Starter Kit.

Please click here to view the Be Gone Yeast Infection V-Luxe Starter Kit.

We’re always here to help with any questions!