Bacterial Vaginosis Free Lifestyle - How to Get There and Stay There

When you are plagued by Bacterial Vaginosis symptoms all you can think of is how you would do almost anything for relief. You are surfing the Internet for information, talking with your girlfriends and taking time off for doctor’s appointments.

With a fraction as much effort, you can start to life a BV free lifestyle. Instead of frantically searching for a cure, you are better off to establish conditions that eliminate recurrence of BV.

Make a chart. Choose the top 5 internal toxins to which you are regularly exposed and list each in the table below. Rate your progress in dealing with these internal toxins as Improved or Needs Improvement.

For each item that you rated as “needs improvement,” list a few ideas in the Action Plan for how your will deal with this toxin. The action plan might include obtaining more information or research, consulting with an alternative medicine practitioner or nutritionist, eliminating unhealthy habits with smoking cessation program or weight loss plan.

The action plan must be ideas that you generate and that you are willing to tackle. Notice that this is not a wish list or a goals list, this is an Action Plan, which means you have to put some action to the words, or nothing changes.

Now repeat the process by choosing the top 5 external toxins to which you are regularly exposed and list each in the table below. Rate your progress in dealing with these internal toxins as Improved or Needs Improvement.

For each item that you rated as “needs improvement,” list a few ideas in the Action Plan for how your will deal with this toxin. 

The action plan might include changing your transportation method, more frequent change of air system filters in your home, avoiding restaurants and public places where there is exposure to second hand smoke or changing from pesticides to natural gardening elements for the outdoor plants as well as indoor plants.

The Big “S” Isn’t for Superwoman

Women who have BV tend to be busy, productive workers, professionals, mothers and students who take push multi-tasking to the limit. When busy becomes the norm, the added pressure puts a strain on the physical and emotional health, both of which can compromise the immune system ability to fight infection.

The “S” words are stress and sleep.  To live a BV free lifestyle, women have to pay attention to these critical issues.

Stress is well researched as the pre-condition for disease.  A body under constant stress abuses the adrenaline system with repeated pressure to go beyond reasonable limits. 

That is negative stress, which leads to headaches, irritability, high blood pressure, stroke, auto accidents and industrial accidents. There is simply nothing useful about this kind of stress.

Positive stress is more like anticipation or excitement; the way you feel as a bride, starting college, new mother, first day on the job or signing a mortgage for your first home. This type of stress is temporary and manageable.

Yes, negative stressors happen, often when least expected. That’s why you can’t fret over everything or hook into other people’s crises to the point that you have no endurance when a stressor hits you. Learning to manage stress is important in living a BV free lifestyle.

Sleep deprivation is a serious problem for many women. Because they are stressed with so much to do, they stay up late and get up early. Stop fooling yourself that it’s okay to exist on 4-5 hours a sleep at night if you “make it up on the weekends.” Sleep deprivation adds up and the damage to your body occurs a little more each day.

To remain healthy an adult female needs 8-9 hours of sleep every night.

That means turning off the television, computer and cell phone at least half hour before bedtime.

Take a bath and relax before bedtime so your body can wind down from a busy day.

Don’t go to sleep with the television or radio turned on. If you want music, choose a CD with instrumental only, no vocals.

Establish a routine time for bed and time to get up in the morning. Sleeping an extra hour on the weekend is fine just don’t vary the times drastically. If you do, you make it harder to follow the sleep pattern when the workweek rolls around.

Avoid exercise, house cleaning, sports or other strenuous activities near bedtime. Don’t think that surfing the Internet is less strenuous. While you may be seated, your mind is running a marathon to keep up with all that input.

Shut down the laptop and make a rule not to work online while in bed. The bed is for sleeping and other intimate pursuits.

Become a Picky Consumer

Because Bacterial Vaginosis can be affected by otherwise innocent appearing consumer products like soaps and scents, you must become a picky consumer. In this case, picky means carefully reading labels and buying the least toxic product.

Some chemicals to avoid in products used on the body are:

·         Propylene glycol

·         Alcohol

·         Menthyl benzethonium chloride

·         Artificial coloring

·         Sodium lauryl sulfate

Also look for “green” products. Detergents, soaps, lotions and sprays that are environmentally friendly are also non-toxic. As the consumer demand increased, more “green” products are found even at grocery stores and discount retailers. You no longer have to go across town to a health food store to get non-toxic products for home and personal use.

Look for products that are hypoallergenic and fragrance free.  These products are also made from primarily natural ingredients, which is good for your body and environmentally friendly as the same time.

Practice safe sex by using condoms, preferably plain varieties. Condoms that contain spermicides, lubricants or fragrances introduce substances into the vagina that upset the balance of good bacteria to bad bacteria.

If vaginal dryness makes sex uncomfortable (particularly after a BV outbreak), choose a natural lubricant from a health food store or alternative medicine center. Natural or organic products give the comfort you want without the chemicals you don’t want.

Living a BV free lifestyle is a woman’s best protection against infection that could lead to serious consequences like Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Women need to take control of their health decisions and get away from dependence on prescription antibiotics. Those drugs are not the answer - prevention of BV is the real answer.

By identifying and reducing or eliminating the internal and external toxins, taking reasonable health precautions, practicing safe sex and building up overall health, any woman can live a BV free lifestyle.

Instead of spending all that money on physician appointments and drugs, spend it on shoes.

Instead of taking off work for medical appointments, take the day off to spend at a spa.

Instead of making excuses to avoid intimacy when the BV outbreak is slimy and smelly, light the candles and set out a trail of rose petals that lead your partner to the bedroom.

That’s the difference it makes to lead a BV free lifestyle.