Investigating the therapeutic effect of vaginal cream containing garlic and thyme compared to clotrimazole cream for the treatment of mycotic vaginitis

BACKGROUND: Vaginitis is the most prevalent gynecological problem for which women look for treatment and is responsible for 10 million physician visits annually. Use of herbal treatments has been recorded in many of patient groups as well as in general populations to increase health level. The present study was conducted with the purpose of determination and comparison of the effect of vaginal cream containing garlic and thyme compared to clotrimazole cream for the treatment of mycotic vaginitis. METHODS: This clinical trial is a prospective, multivariate, single-blind, two-stage, two-group study with randomized assignment of samples into the two groups. From the clinics in Isfahan in 2010, 64 cases (32 individuals in each group) entered the study. Data collection was accomplished by demographic information questionnaire and clinical performance checklist, and data analysis was performed by SPSS 16.0 software. RESULTS: Abundance distributions of clinical symptoms (vaginal discharge; vulval erythema and edema), patients’ complaints (secretions, itching, dyspareunia, painful urination, and vaginal irritation) and clinical symptoms (existence of germinating hypha, acidity under 4.5, and culture of vaginal secretions) were different in each group prior to and after the intervention; these factors however were not different between the two groups before and after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The vaginal cream containing garlic and thyme is effective as much as clotrimazole vaginal cream for the treatment of candida vaginitis and there is no difference between responses to treatment by these two drugs.