• Investigating the effect of herbal medicines in the treatment of vaginitis: a review study
  • Mobina Hosein Fakhrabadi,1,* Iman Masoumi,2 Rounak Shahoyi,3
    1. Student Research Committee, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
    2. Student Research Committee, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnourd, Iran
    3. Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.


  • Introduction: Vaginitis is characterized by abnormal discharge and discomfort in the vulva, vagina or both. Vaginitis is the most common reason for visiting gynecologists's clinics, which accounts for about ten million visits to the doctor every year. Vaginitis has well known treatments in conventional medicine, however, a group of patients have treatment resistant or recurrent vaginitis and are not satisfied with the adequacy of conventional treatments. Therefore, nowadays, researchers have turned to herbal medicines, which not only have beneficial effects, but also have not side effects caused by the use of chemical drugs. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of herbal medicines in the treatment of vaginitis.
  • Methods: studies related to vaginal infections from reliable common medical sources including reference books of gynecologists and Google Scholar, Iran Doc, SID, Scopus and Science direct databases with key words leukorrhea, traditional vaginitis and vaginal discharge, plant, herbal medicine, complementary Chinese medicine and medicine were searched. All journal articles that were indexed in reliable databases including ISI, Pubmed, ISC, and Scopus or had scientific research points, including human, animal, and In Vitro studies, regardless of the time period of publication, were selected. Finally, according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 28 articles were reviewed.
  • Results: The results of the studies showed that in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis, Hypericum perforatum vaginal gel, Ginger vaginal cream, Zataria multiflora vaginal cream, Garlic vaginal cream and Propolis Vaginal Cream, extracts of St. John's wort, chamomile, calendula, yarrow, shepherd's purse and tea tree oil have been effective. For the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis, vaginal cream with garlic and thyme extract, Shirazi thyme vaginal cream, Shirazi chamomile and bee propolis vaginal cream, licorice vaginal gel, yogurt and honey vaginal cream, honey and cinnamon vaginal cream, honey vaginal cream, vaginal douche with baking soda, vaginal suppository with Nigella Sativa, consumption of unpasteurized yogurt, frankincense vaginal cream, lavender, Artemisa persica, Onosma Chlorotricum, mountain savory, myrtle plant, white alum, fennel, parsley, cumin and black cumin vaginal cream and coconut oil are recommended. Trichomonas vaginitis can be treated with vaginal douching with tea tree essential oil, Allium hirtifulium and propolis vaginal cream.
  • Conclusion: The results of various studies showed that due to the positive effects of herbal treatments, they can be used as complementary or even alternative treatments to chemical treatments.
  • Keywords: leukorrhea, vaginitis, vaginal discharge, plant, herbal medicine