Vaginal Treatment Techniques

There are three stages to working on your vagina health:

  • Eradication of opportunistic bacteria or fungus.

  • Re-inoculation with commensal (standard/positive) bacteria.

  • Feeding and growing the commensal bacteria.

How to perform vaginal irrigation

Vaginal irrigation and sitz baths allow us to incorporate medicinal elements into our vagina. This can be used during both the eradication and feeding stage of treatment.

How to:

  • Boil and cool water.

  • Mix 5ml of boiled/cooled water plus 5ml of irrigation solution (raw apple cider vinegar or lactulose) as directed by your practitioner.

  • Fill a clean and sterilised syringe with the solution. These can be bought from the chemist. Here is an affordable option.

  • Lie down in the bath or shower with your hips raised.

  • Insert syringe into your vagina and allow all fluid from syringe to be released into vaginal canal.

  • Stay there with hips raised for 30-60 seconds.

  • Allow liquid to drain out.

  • REPEAT 1x daily for 5 days at a time specific by your practitioner. (This is usually between end of period and ovulation).

NOTE: there should be no irritation or discomfort when doing this. If there is, please cease immediately and let your practitioner know. They will update your treatment method.

How to perform vaginal sitz bath

A sitz bath can be performed two ways:
– in a bathtub with 5-10 cm of water
– using a specific ‘sitz’ basin that fits inside your toilet lid (here is an affordable option).

In order to perform a sitz bath please:

  • Use cooled and boiled water.

  • Add your medicated liquid (i.e. ACV or green tea).

  • Sit for 10-15 minutes. Use this time as relaxation.

  • When done, pat the area dry, rinse out the sitz bath and go about your day.

Products to use

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV with the mother) – This is used for the eradication phase of treatment. If directed by your practitioner please buy the Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (a small bottle is plenty) to use. This is administered either via vaginal irrigation or sitz bath.

Probiotics (Biomedica Femex Forte + Activated Probiotics Biome Her) – these two probiotics provide the main lactobacilli commensal bacteria of the vagina. These are used after the ‘clearing out’ phase of treatments to reinoculate the vaginal microbiome. These are available via Vital.ly with a prescription from your practitioner.
To use, insert 1x capsule vaginally every night for 7 days. If you have been prescribed both of these by your practitioner, take one in the am (orally) and the other one in the pm (vaginally). Alternate which one you take am and pm over the 7 days.
NOTE: if your vagina and it’s tissues are quite dry you can quickly rinse the capsule under some running water for a few seconds before inserting it. This will help break down the capsule for quick absorption.
In the morning after insertion you might have some small amounts of powder but no other discharge.

Lactulose – Lactulose feeds the commensal bacteria of the vaginal microbiome allowing them to grow once they have been reinoculated. This is used via vaginal irrigation and is available from the chemist – here is an affordable option.

Green Tea – Green tea is anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-bacterial as well as being very useful to sooth sore/irritated tissues. Standard green tea bags can be used for sitz bath or vaginal irrigation. When doing this we suggest using any good-quality green tea bag (except matcha). The liquid must look and smell like green tea so depending on the strength of the tea 3-5 bags might be needed. Use boiled liquid over the tea bags and wait for it to cool before using as sitz or irrigation.

Kolorex Vaginal Care Wash – contains horopito (Pseudowintera colorata) leaf extract. This is available via Vital.ly with a prescription from your practitioner. Please chat to them if you think this is more appropriate for you. This is also very helpful for partners that need co-treating.

Vee for Me Grow – These capsules contain both green tea and lactulose. They are used during the third growth stage of treatment.

Vee for Me Plump – sea buckthorn oil is exceptional at soothing irritation, excoriation (cuts/itching marks) or dry tissues. This is bright orange so we suggest applying at night and wearing old undies/pajamas whilst using this. This can be applied with a finger as needed.

How to co-treat a male partner

When one person has a bacterial, fungal or microbiome issue and is having unprotected intercourse with their partner, these microbes are freely shared between them. We highly recommend using barrier protection for the duration of treatment and also treating your partner so that once your treatment has finished the microbiome imbalance isn’t passed straight back to you.

In order to do this, do the same eradication wash (5ml boiled/cooled water + 5ml raw ACV) in a bowl. Liberally wash/douse the penis in this. Repeat daily for 7 days. This can be done quickly and in the shower. Kolorex wash can also be used for this. We would also suggest that a partner take a course of probiotics while undergoing treatment to make sure that his microbiome is reinoculated.