Vaginitis

For a lay person:

Vaginitis is inflammation of the vagina that causes discharge, itching, soreness or odour. The most common causes are bacterial vaginosis, thrush (yeast infection) and trichomonas, and it can affect women of any age.

For a trained medical person:

Main causes are bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis and Trichomonas vaginalis, with atrophic and irritant vaginitis as non-infectious causes. Diagnosis uses symptoms, vaginal pH, microscopy and nucleic acid amplification tests, with screening for other STIs where appropriate. Treatment is cause-specific: metronidazole or clindamycin for bacterial vaginosis and trichomonas (with partner treatment for trichomonas), azole antifungals for candida, and topical oestrogen for atrophy.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Internal Treatment. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: See a doctor for a first episode, symptoms in pregnancy, recurrent infections, fever or pelvic pain, or a possible sexually transmitted infection.