Vaginal Infections: Which One, and What Works

No. Healthy discharge changes through the cycle and is normal. A change in colour, smell, amount or consistency, or discharge with itching or soreness, is what is worth checking.

Thick white discharge like curd, with intense itching and soreness, sometimes burning when passing urine or during sex, and usually no smell.

Thin greyish discharge with a distinctive fishy smell, often stronger after sex or around a period, and frequently no itching at all.

Frothy greenish-yellow discharge with a strong smell, soreness, and sometimes pain passing urine. It is sexually transmitted.

It has traditionally been described as an imbalance of normal bacteria rather than an infection caught from a partner. Newer evidence on partner treatment suggests sexual transmission plays a bigger part than was thought.

A 2025 trial of 164 couples found that treating male partners as well as the woman cut recurrence from 63% to 35%, with a hazard ratio of 0.37, and it was stopped early because the difference was so clear. It is worth discussing where BV keeps returning.

More than half of women have a recurrence within a year. Douching, a new partner, smoking and the loss of protective lactobacilli all contribute, and partner treatment is now part of the conversation.

Four or more episodes in a year. It is treated with a longer planned course rather than repeated single doses, and it is a reason to check blood sugar.

It works about as often as a coin toss. Antifungal cream does nothing for BV or trichomonas, and repeated use delays the right diagnosis.

No. It washes out the protective bacteria and makes bacterial vaginosis more likely. The vagina cleans itself; soap and water on the outside is enough.

At best neutral and often irritant. They are a frequent cause of the itching they are sold to treat.

Antibiotics kill the protective lactobacilli along with the target bacteria, which lets yeast overgrow. It is common and treatable.

Poorly controlled blood sugar and thrush travel together, so repeated episodes are a reason to have sugar checked.

Yes, which is another reason a swab is more useful than guessing from symptoms.

No. Vulval skin conditions such as lichen sclerosus and eczema are often treated as thrush for years, and dryness after menopause causes itching that antifungals will never fix.

Local vaginal oestrogen, which restores the tissue. Antifungal creams do nothing for it.

Usually not, unless he has symptoms. Thrush is not generally passed back and forth in the way patients fear.

Yes, always. It is sexually transmitted, and treating only one person means it comes straight back.

They are treated, and carefully. India's 2024 national guidance now permits the standard treatment for BV and trichomonas in the first trimester, which it previously avoided.

Untreated bacterial vaginosis and trichomonas are associated with preterm birth, which is why symptoms in pregnancy are assessed rather than tolerated.

Thrush and BV do not. Untreated sexually transmitted infections can, by damaging the tubes, which is why a swab that identifies the actual organism matters.

The evidence is weak and inconsistent. They are unlikely to harm, but they are not a substitute for identifying why infections keep happening.

No reliable evidence supports yoghurt, vinegar washes or similar remedies, and some irritate the skin further.

It could, and most STIs cause no symptoms at all. If there is a new partner, or any sore, ulcer or bleeding after sex, testing is the sensible step.

Fever, pelvic pain, pain deep inside during sex, bleeding between periods or after sex, symptoms in pregnancy, sores or ulcers, or no improvement after treatment.

No. A smear screens the cervix for changes caused by HPV over time. Infections are identified on swabs.

It is better to wait until treatment is finished and symptoms have settled, particularly with trichomonas, where the partner must also be treated.

Thrush and BV can. That is why the plan matters more than the prescription: a longer regimen for recurrent thrush, and partner treatment and avoiding douching for recurrent BV.

What you have already taken and roughly when. The pattern of what worked and what did not is usually the fastest route to the right diagnosis.

Consultation, examination, swabs, urine tests, blood sugar, Pap smear and HPV testing where due, treatment and partner advice. Scans, where pelvic infection needs one, are arranged by referral.