How taking a probiotic pill to nurture your intimate area's microbiome may solve UTIs, itchy...

Picking up her sixth prescription of antibiotics for a urinary tract infection in ten months, Kate Elgood was at her wit’s end.

It’s only in recent years that experts have started learning more about the micro-organisms living in the vagina — and what happens when the delicate balance of good and bad bacteria goes out of kilter. Kate, a 44-year-old illustrator from Norwich, started to experience UTIs — caused when bacteria enter the urethra — aged 40.

Kate turned to a private physiotherapist specialising in women’s health, as the UTIs had caused pelvic pain because her pelvic floor muscle had become permanently tense from the constant feeling of holding urine in.‘I started taking a probiotic designed for the vagina, which differs completely from the probiotics for the gut; as well as one for the gut to counter the effect of the antibiotics,’ says Kate, who has a son, Max, nine, with her partner Ben, 44, a restaurant manager.

Lactobacilli produce lactic acid, lowering the pH in the vagina to a slightly acidic level . Without it, the environment can become more neutral, allowing infections such as thrush and bacterial vaginosis to thrive. Symptoms include itching, soreness, vaginal discharge and odour; the infection is also linked to an increased risk of preterm labour and late miscarriage.

‘Then I did my own research and came across probiotics aimed at improving the vaginal microbiome,’ explains Claire, who runs the Executive Menopause Coach company.While antibiotics can be effective, they don’t work for everyone. ‘I see women in clinic who’ve had thrush or BV and have tried everything out there and it’s been frustrating when I don’t have anything else to offer if antibiotics aren’t the answer,’ says Dr Bailey.

The results showed that after four weeks the women who had thrush or BV who were taking the probiotic reported a reduction in their symptoms, whereas the placebo group did not — furthermore, swabs indicated that the BV patients’ bacteria levels were almost back to normal, reported the independent study which was part-funded by the Estonian Research Council.

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