VaginaPagina

1: Could you please change "clean" to "STD-free"? STDs don't care about your personal hygiene, and someone who looks fresh-scrubbed may be harboring a bacteria or virus, while the grubbiest vagrant on the street might be perfectly free of such things in the genital region. Using "clean" implies that a virus or bacteria causes someone to be "dirty," and I've personally seen how much pain that false stigma causes.

2: It sounds like Bacterial Vaginosis (BV), and I think less of your doctor for failing to test for that. BV often causes a bad "fishy" smell, and milder cases can only show up with odor after penetration, and pain during penetration (because your vaginal tissues are irritated!). BV is just an imbalance of the vaginal flora; the bad bacteria have gotten a foothold above the good bacteria, and are having a party.

However, BV, left alone for long enough (and what "long enough" is depends on each individual case), can get into the uterus and turn into PID -- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease -- which can cause fertility issues as well as general health issues. Which is why I think less of your doctor for neglecting to test for that.

The usual medical treatment for BV is antibiotics, which often triggers a yeast infection -- take probiotics during and after the treatment, possibly inserting them vaginally, to try to avoid that. If you can't get to a doctor, you may wish to try a vinegar-water rinse (like a douche, but very gently to avoid pushing bacteria into the uterus), or inserting boric acid.

Do NOT NOT NOT use any other kinds of douches, as they will only risk making it worse and/or pushing bacteria into the uterus to become PID. You'll need antibiotics if you get PID.

Good luck!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2567125/ says: "Three vinegar-containing douches selectively inhibited vaginal pathogens associated with bacterial vaginosis, group B streptococcal vaginitis, and candidiasis, but not lactobacilli, suggesting to the investigators that vinegar (5 percent acetic acid) douches may be less harmful or may be beneficial." This isn't very useful, though...

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/lee16.html says:
• 2 tsp. cider vinegar mixed in 1 Cup warm water.
• 1 Tbl. Boric Acid Powder mixed in 1 Qt. warm water. Use 1-2 times per day for 7 days, if symptoms persist call clinic to set up an appointment for more lab work.

http://www.homeremediesyeastinfections.com/white-vinegar-for-yeast-infection.htm -- this is for yeast, not BV, but may provide inspiration -- says: "apply 1 cup of white vinegar to the bath and lay in it for 20-30 minutes." (Especially good for male yeast infections; males without foreskins generally are unlikely to harbor BV (there's no warm, moist place to hide in), but if you want your husband to do a soak, it probably wouldn't hurt.)

Another site suggests a one cup vinegar, one cup water solution.

Since vinegar can sting, you probably want to start with a little vinegar and a fair amount of water, and increase the ratio of vinegar to water as much as is comfortable.


Boric acid can be done in a solution, as above, or in capsules. At the cached version of the Vaginapagina.com (not working right now) Vulvapedia, I found:
can be found fairly easily at most drug stores, and is usually found behind the pharmacy counter. Dilute it one teaspoon to one cup of warm water and mini-douche daily with the barrel of a syringe, or use a diaphragm jelly inserter, which can be bought at the pharmacy without having to buy the jelly. You can also buy empty 00-sized capsules and fill them with boric acid powder and insert two of them nightly. Don't use if the skin is raw or broken, and discontinue if an irritation develops. It can be wet and messy but boric acid is anti-bacterial and will cleanse some non-specific vaginitis as well. (Click here [semi-broken image links there] and here for links to more info about boric acid, including a fabulous how-to photo essay on making your own capsules!)

That second link, to http://vaginapagina.livejournal.com/4554521.html, looks like your best Boric Acid bet.



(Could you please edit your post? Click the icon that looks like a pencil, and it should pop up so you can change it. Thanks!)

**FACEPALM** I'm so sorry!! I had a complete brain-fry and I thought I'd even checked! Sorry!!!!

Sounds a lot like BV or pelvic inflammatory disease. I would suggest going to a gyno instead of a family medicine doctor if you haven't already seen a gyno for this.

I'd also suggest getting tested for BV and PID.

If it's BV, you can use a syringe and insert 30 mL of hydrogen peroxide for 7 days.

The doctor I saw was in an urgent care clinic, not my actual family doctor. I'm not surprised they didn't test for it.
Is there any way I can clear this up without douching? I've never done it before and I'm not really comfortable with it

Also, thanks for letting me know I should use "STD free" instead of "clean". I never thought about that

Definatly sounds like BV. I had it once and my sympotoms were the same. And just a week of antibiotics and it goes away!