Prevention

To help prevent bacterial vaginosis:

• Limit the number of sex partners you have. Multiple sex partners increase your risk of getting bacterial vaginosis by changing the normal environment of the vagina.
• Avoid douching.

Bacterial vaginosis may be passed between women during sexual contact. If you have a female sexual partner, you may benefit from using condoms with or careful washing of shared sex toys.⁴

Bacterial vaginosis is not passed between men and women and is not considered a sexually transmitted infection (STI). But if you are exposed to an STI while you have bacterial vaginosis, you are more likely to be infected by that disease.

It is always important to practice safe sex to prevent sexually transmitted infection, whether or not you have bacterial vaginosis. Preventing an STI is easier than treating an infection after it occurs.

Home Treatment

Some women have used Lactobacillus acidophilus in yogurt or supplements to treat bacterial vaginosis. But dairy lactobacillus does not work for bacterial vaginosis. This is because dairy lactobacillus is not the kind of bacteria that normally live in the vagina.⁴

More research is needed to find out if the types of lactobacillus normally found in a healthy vagina may work to treat bacterial vaginosis.