Anal/vaginal cross bacterial contamination

[Lanya]

My partner and I had vaginal and anal intercourse without washing in between over a period of almost 2 hours.  Afterwards I douched with a 20%betadine solution.  Will the betadine douche cleanse out any bacteria that might have been transmitted to my vagina?  Or is it inevitable that I will get bacterial vaginosis?

[Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D.]

This question needs to go to an MD- I am not qualified to know if this douche will kill all bacteria- and if it would do it so long after the bacteria has been introduced into the vaginal track. I would definitely go see a gynecologist and see if you have any medical problem .Combining anal and vaginal intercourse is truly very dangerous and my gut instincts are that this later application of a product would not be an effective answer. Please promise me that you will never do that again and when you have anal intercourse you will use a condom since bothof you need protection. There is no reason to suffer  because of sexual passion. Use a lot of lubrication and you will forget about the condom since the anus is tight enough to give a lot of friction. You don't need to do this " bare back{" and you really could do great damage, exposing yourself to a number of dangerous and even deadly backteria and endangering your life as well as your fertility.

[siren of the sea]

betadine douche? where did you read that was good for you?

[Lanya]

from a gyno that I used to see in another city

[oceans3]

hmmm....i certainly dont want to go against a dr.s advice since i have a degree in education and not the medical field BUT....that betadine is a TOPICAL solution. its used mostly in hospitals to clean the instruments and their hands? douching is not a good idea anyway since it can flush bacteria up causing more infection. i dont think there is anything at this point that you can do since you already had vaginal and anal sex.
next time, make sure your partner washes his penis after anal and before he changes over to vaginal. not a good mix. you may need to wait and hope that you didnt get some infection. if so, you can be treated at that time. i wouldnt douch if i were you.

[JJety]

20%?!?  WOW!!!!

You definitely killed everything in there, both good and bad.  That is a very strong mixture.

I hope things turn out well for you.  Now all you can do is sit and wait.

[monkeyflower]

BV is an overgrowth of bacteria already in your vagina. Sometimes something throws off the balance of bacteria, allowing it to overgrow (this is true for yeast infections as well, btw). Anal to vaginal isn't a great idea and should be avoided, but it's not gonna kill you :-)

I did want to stress that douching is not good for you for several reasons - one is that it upsets the balance of vaginal flora, increasing the risk of BV (ironic, huh). Another reason is that you can force the bacteria deeper, into your uterus. You're no doubt fine, but it's not a good idea for the future.

Don't worry. You'll be fine. If you get symptoms of an infection, see your doctor. Otherwise, relax :-)

[Lanya]

UPDATE:  Went to see gyno because of irritation.  Got treated for a yeast infection (as predicted by monkeyflower)and lab test showed no other infections present. I would much rather have a yeast infection than bacterial vaginosis with the resultant exptremely caustic antibiotics like Flagyl.  He thought it was a good idea to douche with the Betadine because it obviously killed any fecal bacteria.  I still won't take a change again -- I feel like I got a lucky reprieve!