Thank you so much for attending the presentation! I hope you find the resources below useful. 

If you enjoyed the class, I encourage you to sign up for my newsletter for practitioners (sent every week or two) and/or to come join us in some of the adventures below.  


Growing in Community

When you're in private practice, it can be nice to have a helping hand from time to time. Here are a few ways that I support other practitioners and advanced herbal students. Click on on any box to learn more!


Herbs for Vaginal Health Webinar Materials

References (Click to Open)

Abdelmonem, A. M., Rasheed, S. M., & Mohamed, A. S. (2012). Bee-honey and yogurt: A novel mixture for treating patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis during pregnancy. Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 286(1), 109–114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-012-2242-5

Abedi, P., Najafian, M., Yaralizadeh, M., & Namjoyan, F. (2018). Effect of fennel vaginal cream on sexual function in postmenopausal women: A double blind randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medicine and Life, 11(1), 24–28.

Abouali, N., Moghimipour, E., Mahmoudabadi, A. Z., Namjouyan, F., & Abbaspoor, Z. (2019). The effect of curcumin-based and clotrimazole vaginal cream in the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8(12), 3920–3924. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_584_19

Ahangari, F., Farshbaf-Khalili, A., Javadzadeh, Y., Adibpour, M., & Sadeghzadeh Oskouei, B. (2019). Comparing the effectiveness of Salvia officinalis, clotrimazole and their combination on vulvovaginal candidiasis: A randomized, controlled clinical trial. The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research, 45(4), 897–907. https://doi.org/10.1111/jog.13918

Anahtar, M. N., Byrne, E. H., Doherty, K. E., Bowman, B. A., Yamamoto, H. S., Soumillon, M., Padavattan, N., Ismail, N., Moodley, A., Sabatini, M. E., Ghebremichael, M. S., Nusbaum, C., Huttenhower, C., Virgin, H. W., Ndung’u, T., Dong, K. L., Walker, B. D., Fichorova, R. N., & Kwon, D. S. (2015). Cervicovaginal bacteria are a major modulator of host inflammatory responses in the female genital tract. Immunity, 42(5), 965–976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2015.04.019

Bertran, T., Brachet, P., Vareille-Delarbre, M., Falenta, J., Dosgilbert, A., Vasson, M.-P., Forestier, C., Tridon, A., & Evrard, B. (2016). Slight Pro-Inflammatory Immunomodulation Properties of Dendritic Cells by Gardnerella vaginalis: The “Invisible Man” of Bacterial Vaginosis? Journal of Immunology Research, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/9747480

Bertuccini, L., Russo, R., Iosi, F., & Superti, F. (2017). Effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus acidophilus on bacterial vaginal pathogens. International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology, 30(2), 163–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/0394632017697987

Bodean, O., Munteanu, O., Cirstoiu, C., Secara, D., & Cirstoiu, M. (2013). Probiotics—A helpful additional therapy for bacterial vaginosis. Journal of Medicine and Life, 6(4), 434–436.

Bradshaw, C. S., & Brotman, R. M. (2015). Making inroads into improving treatment of bacterial vaginosis – striving for long-term cure. BMC Infectious Diseases, 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-015-1027-4

Darvishi, M., Jahdi, F., Hamzegardeshi, Z., Goodarzi, S., & Vahedi, M. (2015). The Comparison of vaginal cream of mixing yogurt, honey and clotrimazole on symptoms of vaginal candidiasis. Global Journal of Health Science, 7(6), 108–116. https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v7n6p108

Di Pierro, F., Polzonetti, V., Patrone, V., & Morelli, L. (2019). Microbiological Assessment of the Quality of Some Commercial Products Marketed as Lactobacillus crispatus-Containing Probiotic Dietary Supplements. Microorganisms, 7(11), 524. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7110524

Edwards, D., & Panay, N. (2016). Treating vulvovaginal atrophy/genitourinary syndrome of menopause: How important is vaginal lubricant and moisturizer composition? Climacteric: The Journal of the International Menopause Society, 19(2), 151–161. https://doi.org/10.3109/13697137.2015.1124259

Fettweis, J. M., Brooks, J. P., Serrano, M. G., Sheth, N. U., Girerd, P. H., Edwards, D. J., Strauss, J. F., The Vaginal Microbiome Consortium, null, Jefferson, K. K., & Buck, G. A. (2014). Differences in vaginal microbiome in African American women versus women of European ancestry. Microbiology (Reading, England), 160(Pt 10), 2272–2282. https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.081034-0

Foxman, B., Wen, A., Srinivasan, U., Goldberg, D., Marrs, C. F., Owen, J., Wing, D. A., & Misra, D. (2014). Mycoplasma, bacterial vaginosis-associated bacteria BVAB3, race, and risk of preterm birth in a high-risk cohort. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 210(3), 226.e1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2013.10.003

Hasslöf, P., Hedberg, M., Twetman, S., & Stecksén-Blicks, C. (2010). Growth inhibition of oral mutans streptococci and candida by commercial probiotic lactobacilli—An in vitro study. BMC Oral Health, 10, 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6831-10-18

Hickey, R. J., Zhou, X., Settles, M. L., Erb, J., Malone, K., Hansmann, M. A., Shew, M. L., Van Der Pol, B., Fortenberry, J. D., & Forney, L. J. (2015). Vaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women. MBio, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00097-15

Homayouni, A., Bastani, P., Ziyadi, S., Mohammad-Alizadeh-Charandabi, S., Ghalibaf, M., Mortazavian, A. M., & Mehrabany, E. V. (2014). Effects of probiotics on the recurrence of bacterial vaginosis: A review. Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease, 18(1), 79–86. https://doi.org/10.1097/LGT.0b013e31829156ec

Huang, B., Fettweis, J. M., Brooks, J. P., Jefferson, K. K., & Buck, G. A. (2014). The Changing Landscape of the Vaginal Microbiome. Clinics in Laboratory Medicine, 34(4), 747–761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cll.2014.08.006

Husain, S., Allotey, J., Drymoussi, Z., Wilks, M., Fernandez-Felix, B. M., Whiley, A., Dodds, J., Thangaratinam, S., McCourt, C., Prosdocimi, E. M., Wade, W. G., de Tejada, B. M., Zamora, J., Khan, K., & Millar, M. (2019). Effects of oral probiotic supplements on vaginal microbiota during pregnancy: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with microbiome analysis. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.15675

Iavazzo, C., Gkegkes, I. D., Zarkada, I. M., & Falagas, M. E. (2011). Boric acid for recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis: The clinical evidence. Journal of Women’s Health (2002), 20(8), 1245–1255. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2010.2708

Khadivzadeh, T., Najafi, M. N., Kargarfard, L., Ghazanfarpour, M., Dizavandi, F. R., & Khorsand, I. (2018). Effect of Fennel on the Health Status of Menopausal Women: A Systematic and Meta-analysis. Journal of Menopausal Medicine, 24(1), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.6118/jmm.2018.24.1.67

Krasnopolsky, V. N., Prilepskaya, V. N., Polatti, F., Zarochentseva, N. V., Bayramova, G. R., Caserini, M., & Palmieri, R. (2013). Efficacy of Vitamin C Vaginal Tablets as Prophylaxis for Recurrent Bacterial Vaginosis: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Journal of Clinical Medicine Research, 5(4), 309–315. https://doi.org/10.4021/jocmr1489w

Ling, Z., Liu, X., Chen, W., Luo, Y., Yuan, L., Xia, Y., Nelson, K. E., Huang, S., Zhang, S., Wang, Y., Yuan, J., Li, L., & Xiang, C. (2013). The restoration of the vaginal microbiota after treatment for bacterial vaginosis with metronidazole or probiotics. Microbial Ecology, 65(3), 773–780. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-012-0154-3

Machado, A., & Cerca, N. (2015). Influence of Biofilm Formation by Gardnerella vaginalis and Other Anaerobes on Bacterial Vaginosis. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 212(12), 1856–1861. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiv338

MacIntyre, D. A., Chandiramani, M., Lee, Y. S., Kindinger, L., Smith, A., Angelopoulos, N., Lehne, B., Arulkumaran, S., Brown, R., Teoh, T. G., Holmes, E., Nicoholson, J. K., Marchesi, J. R., & Bennett, P. R. (2015). The vaginal microbiome during pregnancy and the postpartum period in a European population. Scientific Reports, 5, 8988. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08988

Macklaim, J. M., Clemente, J. C., Knight, R., Gloor, G. B., & Reid, G. (2015). Changes in vaginal microbiota following antimicrobial and probiotic therapy. Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease, 26. https://doi.org/10.3402/mehd.v26.27799

Mayer, B. T., Srinivasan, S., Fiedler, T. L., Marrazzo, J. M., Fredricks, D. N., & Schiffer, J. T. (2015). Rapid and Profound Shifts in the Vaginal Microbiota Following Antibiotic Treatment for Bacterial Vaginosis. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 212(5), 793–802. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiv079

Melkumyan, A. R., Priputnevich, T. V., Ankirskaya, A. S., Murav’eva, V. V., & Lubasovskaya, L. A. (2015). Effects of antibiotic treatment on the lactobacillus composition of vaginal microbiota. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 158(6), 766–768. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10517-015-2857-1

Mendling, W. (2016). Vaginal Microbiota. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 902, 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31248-4_6

Mirmonsef, P., Hotton, A. L., Gilbert, D., Burgad, D., Landay, A., Weber, K. M., Cohen, M., Ravel, J., & Spear, G. T. (2014). Free Glycogen in Vaginal Fluids Is Associated with Lactobacillus Colonization and Low Vaginal pH. PLoS ONE, 9(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102467

Mitchell, C., & Marrazzo, J. (2014). Bacterial vaginosis and the cervicovaginal immune response. American Journal of Reproductive Immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989), 71(6), 555–563. https://doi.org/10.1111/aji.12264

Murina, F., Graziottin, A., Vicariotto, F., & De Seta, F. (2014). Can Lactobacillus fermentum LF10 and Lactobacillus acidophilus LA02 in a slow-release vaginal product be useful for prevention of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis?: A clinical study. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 48 Suppl 1, S102-105. https://doi.org/10.1097/MCG.0000000000000225

Muzny, C. A., & Schwebke, J. R. (2015). Biofilms: An Underappreciated Mechanism of Treatment Failure and Recurrence in Vaginal Infections. Clinical Infectious Diseases: An Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 61(4), 601–606. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/civ353

O’Hanlon, D. E., Moench, T. R., & Cone, R. A. (2013). Vaginal pH and Microbicidal Lactic Acid When Lactobacilli Dominate the Microbiota. PLOS ONE, 8(11), e80074. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080074

Pazhohideh, Z., Mohammadi, S., Bahrami, N., Mojab, F., Abedi, P., & Maraghi, E. (2018). The effect of Calendula officinalis versus metronidazole on bacterial vaginosis in women: A double-blind randomized controlled trial. Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research, 9(1), 15–19. https://doi.org/10.4103/japtr.JAPTR_305_17

Pendharkar, S., Brandsborg, E., Hammarström, L., Marcotte, H., & Larsson, P.-G. (2015). Vaginal colonisation by probiotic lactobacilli and clinical outcome in women conventionally treated for bacterial vaginosis and yeast infection. BMC Infectious Diseases, 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-015-0971-3

Pointer, B. R., Boyer, M. P., & Schmidt, M. (2015). Boric acid destabilizes the hyphal cytoskeleton and inhibits invasive growth of Candida albicans. Yeast (Chichester, England), 32(4), 389–398. https://doi.org/10.1002/yea.3066

Rahimikian, F., Rahimi, R., Golzareh, P., Bekhradi, R., & Mehran, A. (2017). Effect of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (fennel) on menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women: A randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 24(9), 1017–1021. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000881

Ravel, J., Gajer, P., Abdo, Z., Schneider, G. M., Koenig, S. S. K., McCulle, S. L., Karlebach, S., Gorle, R., Russell, J., Tacket, C. O., Brotman, R. M., Davis, C. C., Ault, K., Peralta, L., & Forney, L. J. (2011). Vaginal microbiome of reproductive-age women. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108 Suppl 1, 4680–4687. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1002611107

Rönnqvist, P. D. J., Forsgren-Brusk, U. B., & Grahn-Håkansson, E. E. (2006). Lactobacilli in the female genital tract in relation to other genital microbes and vaginal pH. Acta Obstetricia Et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 85(6), 726–735. https://doi.org/10.1080/00016340600578357

Russo, R., Karadja, E., & De Seta, F. (2019). Evidence-based mixture containing Lactobacillus strains and lactoferrin to prevent recurrent bacterial vaginosis: A double blind, placebo controlled, randomised clinical trial. Beneficial Microbes, 10(1), 19–26. https://doi.org/10.3920/BM2018.0075

Saghafi, N., Karjalian, M., Ghazanfarpour, M., Khorsand, I., Rakhshandeh, H., Mirteimouri, M., Babakhanian, M., Khadivzadeh, T., Najafzadeh, M. J., Ghorbani, A., Pourali, L., & Bahman, S. (2018). The effect of a vaginal suppository formulation of dill (Anethum graveolens) in comparison to clotrimazole vaginal tablet on the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: The Journal of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 38(7), 985–988. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443615.2018.1432578

Sgibnev, A., & Kremleva, E. (2019). Probiotics in addition to metronidazole for treatment Trichomonas vaginalis in the presence of BV: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases: Official Publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-019-03731-8

Srinivasan, S., Liu, C., Mitchell, C. M., Fiedler, T. L., Thomas, K. K., Agnew, K. J., Marrazzo, J. M., & Fredricks, D. N. (2010). Temporal Variability of Human Vaginal Bacteria and Relationship with Bacterial Vaginosis. PLoS ONE, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010197

Tachedjian, G., Aldunate, M., Bradshaw, C. S., & Cone, R. A. (2017). The role of lactic acid production by probiotic Lactobacillus species in vaginal health. Research in Microbiology, 168(9), 782–792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resmic.2017.04.001

van de Wijgert, J., & Verwijs, M. C. (2019). Lactobacilli-containing vaginal probiotics to cure or prevent bacterial or fungal vaginal dysbiosis: A systematic review and recommendations for future trial designs. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.15870

Vicariotto, F., Mogna, L., & Del Piano, M. (2014). Effectiveness of the two microorganisms Lactobacillus fermentum LF15 and Lactobacillus plantarum LP01, formulated in slow-release vaginal tablets, in women affected by bacterial vaginosis: A pilot study. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 48 Suppl 1, S106-112. https://doi.org/10.1097/MCG.0000000000000226

Wang, Z., He, Y., & Zheng, Y. (2019). Probiotics for the Treatment of Bacterial Vaginosis: A Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(20), 3859. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16203859

Wilkinson, E. M., Łaniewski, P., Herbst-Kralovetz, M. M., & Brotman, R. M. (2019). Personal and Clinical Vaginal Lubricants: Impact on Local Vaginal Microenvironment and Implications for Epithelial Cell Host Response and Barrier Function. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 220(12), 2009–2018. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiz412

Yang, S., Reid, G., Challis, J. R. G., Kim, S. O., Gloor, G. B., & Bocking, A. D. (2015). Is There a Role for Probiotics in the Prevention of Preterm Birth? Frontiers in Immunology, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2015.00062

Zárate, G., & Nader-Macias, M. E. (2006). Influence of probiotic vaginal lactobacilli on in vitro adhesion of urogenital pathogens to vaginal epithelial cells. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 43(2), 174–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-765X.2006.01934.x

Zhou, X., Brown, C. J., Abdo, Z., Davis, C. C., Hansmann, M. A., Joyce, P., Foster, J. A., & Forney, L. J. (2007). Differences in the composition of vaginal microbial communities found in healthy Caucasian and black women. The ISME Journal, 1(2), 121–133. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2007.12

Additional Resources (Click to Open)



About Camille Freeman, DCN (she/her)

Hi there! I'm a clinical herbalist and nutritionist specializing in fertility and menstrual health. I run the Monday Mentoring community of practice and also offer continuing education programs for practicing herbalists and nutritionists (Check out this year's Deep Dive!). I'm also a former professor with the Maryland University of Integrative Health, where I taught physiology, pathophysiology, and mindful eating for 17 years. 

Sign up for weekly Practitioner Notes from Camille.

Tips, resources, & encouragement for herbalists & nutritionists, delivered to your inbox most Thursdays. 

Unsubscribe anytime. Here's a copy of my privacy policy 🤍

>