Symptoms of bacterial vaginosis (BV) may or may not be present during an infection. Before you say, "Lucky you!" to women who don't have symptoms, here's something to think about. If you have BV but don't know it (because you have no symptoms) you could be at greater risk, long term, from complications.
That being said, most women with bacterial vaginosis do have one or more symptoms. Let's take a look at them.
Symptoms of Bacterial Vaginosis
These are the three most common symptoms of BV:
- Vaginal discharge, which can be thick or thin, greyish or white, but is almost always "fishy" smelling.
- Itching feeling around and in the vagina
- Burning sensation while urinating.
If you have all three symptoms, it's a positive diagnosis for BV. If you don't have all three symptoms, further tests are in order. Why?
Say you have the itching and burning symptoms, but you don't have the discharge. It could be BV, but it could also be something else. For example, it could be a candida (yeast) infection. And the treatment for a candida infection is opposite of what you would be prescribed for a BV infection! So you see why it's important to have a positive diagnosis.
What If You Have No Symptoms?
You can still have bacterial vaginosis, but it's a lot harder to discover. If you have nothing in the way of symptoms to report to your doctor, he or she probably won't run any tests for BV. And without the tests, you won't get the diagnosis.
OK, so you have BV, but without symptoms. Does it affect you in other ways? It possibly can.
Bacterial Vaginosis Complications
Whether you have or don't have BV symptoms, an untreated case (or recurrent cases) can lead to other complications. Because it depresses your immune system, here are some ways untreated bacterial vaginosis can affect your body.
- Increases your susceptibility to HIV (if you're exposed to the virus).
- Increases your susceptibility to STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).
- Increases the chance of an infection following surgery, especially surgery involving the reproductive organs.
- If you're pregnant, it puts you at an increased risk of a pre-term birth.
- Can lead to PID (pelvic inflammatory disease), as it involves the same type of bacteria.
So now you know the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis, and the complications it can cause. If you think you have BV, a visit to your medical provider is in order, to receive a positive diagnosis.