4. You Think You Might Have an STD But Nothing Adds Up
If you think you might have an STD based on your symptoms, but the symptoms themselves don’t line up with any STD you have read about or you haven’t had any untrustworthy sexual partners recently, then the problem might not be due to an STD at all.
The symptoms of bacterial vaginosis overlap heavily with a lot of different STDs and STIs but are caused by an entirely different underlying problem. With that said, the usual treatment for some types of STDs (like a strong course of antibiotics) can also help cure bacterial vaginosis. Other treatments will remain entirely ineffective.
If you have gone down the path of researching and/or treating STDs or STIs but see no improvement and it doesn’t make sense that you may have contracted a sexual disease based on your recent sexual history, then that makes a stronger case for bacterial vaginosis being your problem.