Recurrent Bacterial Vaginosis

Bacterial vaginosis (BV), which comes with unpleasant symptoms like fishy odor, watery gray discharge and burning, pain or irritation of the vulva, can commonly recur. According to Suzanne Bovone, M.D., a board-certified OBGYN at Obstetrics and Gynecology of San Jose, part of Pediatrix® Medical Group, if you tend to have three or more BV infections in a year, that’s the threshold for recurrent bacterial vaginosis. For the infections to warrant an official diagnosis of recurrent BV, they all need to be confirmed by a lab or your doctor, she explained. Because symptoms of bacterial sexually transmitted infections can be very similar to BV, Dr. Bovone recommended that providers test for all STIs to avoid a misdiagnosis. “We see it all and can reassure you what is normal. And if anything is off, we can help,” said Dr. Bovone.

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