How do I know if I need to see my health care professional?

Pay attention to your body. If you experience any unusual symptoms, such as a change in the color and consistency of vaginal fluid, vulvar irritation, itching and burning or frequent or painful urination, you should call your health care professional.

What if I am allergic to the 5-nitroimidazole drugs [metronidazole or tinidazole] or am not responding well to them?

Five to 10 percent of women do not respond to standard treatment. For those who fail treatment, longer courses of metronidazole or tinidazole are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), usually another single two-gram dose of tinidazole or 500 milligrams twice a day for five days of metronidazole. If this second course of medication fails, the CDC recommends two grams per day for five days of either metronidazole or tinidazole.

For patients who develop rashes in response to the 5-nitroimidazole drugs, there are other medications you can try, but they have significantly lower cure rates (less than 50 percent). If you are allergic to tinidazole and metronidazole, your provider may work with an allergist to help you become desensitized.

What are my chances of having trichomoniasis reoccur?

Treatment is successful in most women, and once the organisms are killed they don't come back unless you are exposed again to an infected partner. That is why it is important that your partner be treated as well.

What is the relationship between vaginitis and excessive douching?

The healthy vaginal ecosystem requires just the right balance of bacteria flora. These bacteria make natural acids that keep unhealthy bacteria from getting out of hand. Douching may disrupt the bacterial balance and may lead to bacterial vaginosis.

What about diagnosing and treating trichomoniasis in men?

The organisms that cause trichomoniasis often don't cause symptoms in males. Consequently, most men never seek treatment because they don't know they are infected. If your sexual partners are not treated, it is likely you will become reinfected.

What is considered normal vaginal discharge?

For uninfected women, vaginal discharge is usually cloudy white in appearance. Discharge often increases in the middle of your menstrual cycle, and during ovulation it changes consistency, becoming more like egg whites. Some women with trichomoniasis, on the other hand, experience a frothy, yellow-green vaginal discharge with a strong odor coupled with discomfort during intercourse and urination, or itching in the genital area.