I've noticed that on the days after my period ends, I often get vaginitis. What should I do?

Hello Ma'am,

It is not normal to have vaginitis after your period. What exactly are your symptoms?

For your information, I would first like to mention that it is completely normal to have vaginal discharge, as it is the vagina's way of being "self-cleaning". A slight odor in the genitals is also normal, considering the moisture and possible sweating in the groin after a day.

However, there is a possibility of a vaginal infection known as "Yeast Vaginitis" where vaginal discharge is present in larger amounts (resembling "cottage cheese") with the presence of itching, pain during intercourse, irritation, and swelling in the labia. Wearing synthetic clothing that is too tight, taking antibiotics or corticosteroids, having sex, or even certain methods of birth control (spermicides, hormonal contraception, IUDs), can be risk factors. If you have had a treatment prescribed by a doctor in the past, your pharmacist may even prescribe it for you (under certain conditions). Otherwise, you can simply ask your pharmacist to recommend the appropriate treatment for you from the products available in the pharmacy.

In the event that the infection is characterized by a "fishy" odor, which is persistent even after getting out of the shower or worsens after sex and/or with increased moisture (tight clothing), it could very likely be a vaginal infection known as "Bacterial Vaginosis". This infection is also more likely to appear after unprotected sex (or with a new partner) or the use of irritating products in the vulva or vagina, such as "douches", perfumed soaps or Vagisil brand products. At this point, you will need to see your doctor to get a prescription for an antibiotic.

If the discharge is beige or yellow-greenish and you have pain when you urinate, it may be more of a sexually transmitted infection. A consultation with your doctor will also need to be done to treat it.

I hope this answers your question.

Maeva Di-Ré, Pharmacy Student

Supervised by Alexandre Chagnon, Pharmacist

Thanks for the details. I understand that you are therefore already being followed by a doctor for this condition? Menstruation can indeed be a trigger for vaginal yeast infections, however, since you say you have regular vaginitis, it may be pertinent to check with your doctor to see if you could benefit from taking birth control continuously (to avoid menstruation) and refer you to a specialist (gynecologist).

I would like to take this opportunity to mention the preventive measures to be applied to avoid recurrence of infections;

Maeva Di-Ré, Pharmacy Student

Supervised by Alexandre Chagnon, Pharmacist

It's not impossible that it's related to the lack of hormonal birth control, because that has an impact in some women in terms of vaginal flora.

The best thing to try, if it's possible for you to go back on the pill, would be to try to not menstruate for a few months by taking it continuously. If we see that you don't develop symptoms, we'll have a good idea if that could be it.

Also, you could try not wearing tampons during your period, but using pads instead. This has less of an impact on the vaginal flora as well.

Happy day,

Alexander