Your vagina normally has an acidic pH level – this keeps the good and bad bacteria that live in your healthy vagina in check. Any changes to your vaginal pH balance can cause and can also be an indication of vaginal infections such as BV. Canestest tells you if you have a relevant pH shift in your vagina and helps you to understand and diagnose the type of vaginal condition you’re likely to suffer from. A higher vaginal pH indicates that you may be suffering from BV while a normal vaginal pH means your symptoms are probably caused by thrush. Canestest has been proven to help detect changes in vaginal pH with more than 90% accuracy.
Canestest Self-Test for Vaginal Infections
If you’re unsure if you have bacterial vaginosis or thrush, we’ll help you to take control. We’ve developed an innovative and reliable self-test to help you quickly determine which common vaginal infection (bacterial vaginosis or thrush) you could be suffering from and enable you to treat it quickly and effectively.
Canestest links vaginal pH and symptoms to a probable condition: first, the easy-to-use swab helps you to find out whether or not your vaginal pH level is abnormally increased. Then, this result should be interpreted in conjunction with the symptoms table on the pack, helping you to find the right treatment.
Canestest: Confidence to choose the right treatment for you
Dealing with vaginal infections can make you feel less confident and less in control of your body, not to mention very uncomfortable. Canestest allows you independently diagnose yourself in the comfort of your home, quickly giving you results that are over 90% accurate. It’s an innovative solution that will put you back in control of your intimate health and give you the ability to choose the treatment you need to effectively deal with your infection.
Thrush vs. Bacterial Vaginosis
While both thrush and bacterial vaginosis (BV) are very common, they’re two different types of infections and you need to treat them differently. However, they are not always known and not always easy to identify. Thrush is caused by an overgrowth of the yeast (Candida albicans) which often leads to symptoms such as itchiness, soreness or a white discharge. BV is caused by an overgrowth of bacteria regularly found in your vagina. BV symptoms usually include a fishy odour and a greyish-white, watery discharge. With Canestest, you can test before you treat so you know you’re using the right treatment for your infection.
What is Canestest?
Canestest is a convenient self-test that helps you to find out whether you’re likely to suffer from thrush or BV and also helps you to find the right treatment for you. This innovation allows you to regain control of your intimate health – it’s over 90% accurate and it only takes seconds to receive your swab results. The test itself is a simple, easy to use swab to indicate if your vaginal pH level is abnormal. The test results should be interpreted in conjunction with your symptoms, based on the symptoms table on the back of the pack, helping you to understand which common vaginal infection you may be suffering from, such as thrush or bacterial vaginosis.
How does Canestest work?
How do you use Canestest?
It’s easy and straightforward to use Canestest at home, in fact it’s similar to inserting a tampon and it shouldn’t cause you any discomfort. To get the most accurate results you need to make sure you don’t use Canestest less than one day before or after your period or if you have any signs of your period or vaginal bleeding. You also need to allow 12 hours after having sexual or vaginal douching.
Instructions:
1.
Unwrap the Canestest swab (make sure the swab tip does not come into contact with anything before you insert it into your vagina)
2.
Hold the Canestest swab by the handle and insert the yellow tip into your vagina, rotate the swab and then remove
3.
After 10 seconds check the tip of the Canestest swab to see if the colour has stayed the same or changed to blue or green
How to interpret the Test results?
If your Canestest swab didn’t change colour after 10 seconds, it means that you may be suffering from thrush. If you have symptoms such as an itchy or sore vagina, or thick, white discharge, it’s likely that this is the case. If the tip of the swab did not change colour after 10 seconds and you do not have the symptoms of vaginal thrush indicated in the symptoms table, then it is likely that you do not suffer from these common vaginal infections. Click here to learn how to treat thrush.
If your Canestest swab changed colour and the tip becomes blue or green, it means that you may have a BV infection. BV infections are usually accompanied by symptoms such as a thin, grey discharge and an unpleasant fishy smell. However, in case of yellow-green, frothy discharge associated with bad odour and painful urination, you may be suffering from trichomoniasis. In this case, you should consult your doctor. Click here to learn how to treat BV
Precautions and considerations
Do not take any decision of medical relevance without first consulting your medical practitioner. Also, if you're unsure about the right treatment or confused about the result, please consult your doctor. Remember, Canestest won’t be able to give you an accurate diagnosis in any of these situations:
- It’s less than one day before or after your period
- There are signs that your period has arrived or you have any signs of vaginal bleeding
- It’s been less than 12 hours since you’ve had sexual intercourse or used a vaginal douche
If you are pregnant, consult your physician, as interpreting test results during pregnancy and choosing a medication requires professional knowledge.
Some menopausal women may have an elevated vaginal pH, and may therefore receive a green/blue result with the swab even though they are not suffering from Bacterial Vaginosis or Trichomoniasis. As such, you should not use this test if you are menopausal.