By now, you must have heard about boric acid suppositories. You must have heard how they are being used to treat persistent yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis (BV). Like any logical human, you don’t want to pop something into your body without first understanding how it works, and this is where we come in. Let’s talk about boric acid and how it is the wonder pill if you’ve been struggling with vaginal infections

What is boric acid?

Boric acid is a naturally occurring compound like salt. Boric acid contains antiseptic (antibacterial and antifungal qualities) which helps kill certain kinds of bacteria and fungi. Boric acid has been used for years to make antiseptic solutions for treating acne, scrapes, wounds and other ailments that can be easily infected. It has also been used in making eye drops and preventing or treating eye infections.

Generally, boric acid is safe, unless when consumed by mouth. It is safe when applied on wounds in solution forms, when inserted inside the vagina, and when in eye drop solutions, as long as you don’t take it by mouth.

What is a boric acid suppository?

A boric acid suppository is a 600mg capsule containing pure, medical boric acid powder. The capsule/suppository is inserted into one’s vagina using an applicator or a finger.

How does boric acid work in treating vaginal infections?

Boric acid works by killing bad bacteria and bad yeast that may be present in the vagina. Bad bacteria in the vagina may be caused by semen, douching, or the introduction of foreign material into the vagina. In such a case, the bad bacteria accumulate, causing a pH imbalance, bad odour, and greyish or greenish discharge.

The pH of the vagina becomes more alkaline encouraging the growth of bad bacteria. When you use boric acid suppositories, it kills the bad bacteria and creates an acidic environment for good bacteria to grow and thrive.

Boric acid also kills bad yeast that may have accumulated in the vagina due to semen, douching, too much sugar, and other factors that bring about a yeast infection. Boric acid also creates the right environment for the growth of good vaginal flora.

Do boric acid suppositories completely treat bacterial vaginosis?

How does boric acid work in treating vaginal infections?

Boric acid suppositories will kill all the bad bacteria that have been causing bacterial vaginosis, often characterised by a bad odour. However, boric acid suppositories do not introduce good vaginal flora. They may need help from probiotics to introduce good vaginal flora into the vagina to ensure that bacterial vaginosis does not recur. Therefore, for effective treatment of bacterial vaginosis, we recommend you use both boric acid suppositories and probiotics.