How is Evvy’s Care Different from What You’d Get at the Doctor?

Many of you have shared the same experience with us: you notice something's up down there, so you visit the doctor to find out what's going on. You either get dismissed, or you're sent home with an antibiotic or antifungal treatment for the umpteenth time. While you might find some relief in the short term, the problem just keeps coming back — again and again. 

We get it. You're frustrated and looking for a better solution. But is Evvy the right choice for you? Here, we explain how receiving care through Evvy’s compares to the standard care provided at a doctor’s office.

Vaginal microbiome-informed diagnosis

The methods used to diagnose vaginal infections can be confusing and they can vary depending on the preference of the clinician you see. Some clinicians diagnose solely based on symptoms, others look at a slide of your vaginal discharge under a microscope or send off a sample for PCR testing in a lab, but none of these methods take into account the full picture. 

Diagnosis based on symptoms alone does not tell you the cause of symptoms, microscopy lacks detail and can be inaccurate, and PCR only looks at a small subset of organisms. 
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Sequencing-based technologies, such as Evvy’s Vaginal Health Test, provide a full picture of the microbiome and can tell you about all the bacteria and fungi that are present. This allows for a more complete understanding, which can inform treatment decisions. For example, did you know that certain antibiotics work better on some bacteria but not as well for others? Knowing all the organisms that are present helps the clinician choose the correct antibiotic or antifungal for your problem. 

That is why Evvy’s Vaginal Health Test uses the most comprehensive sequencing technology, shotgun metagenomics, to provide you and your physician with the most detailed and complete information possible.

Antibiotics and antifungals

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has specific recommendations for the treatment of yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis (BV), that primarily determine the correct dosing of antifungals and antibiotics.

These drugs are often prescription medications that kill yeast (antifungal) and bacteria (antibiotic). They’re the main ingredient that helps you get lasting relief because they kill off the bacteria and yeast that are causing itching, burning, and unusual discharge. So if you go to the doctor’s office with vaginal symptoms, chances are you’re walking away with a prescription for one of these medications. 

They’re really good at what they are designed to do — killing bugs. But as we all know, this is only part of the solution. Evvy’s care programs are designed to go beyond simply prescribing antibiotics and antifungals. 

We start with prescribing soothing products for immediate relief while the antibiotics work. Next, once the problematic organisms are out of your microbiome, what’s there to help your microbiome recover? Some people are lucky, and a protective microbiome can take hold after a round of antibiotics. But for the rest of us, we need a little bit of help getting our microbiome back to a healthy state. That is why, unlike the standard of care, Evvy’s care program includes additional treatments to help your healthy microbiome bounce back.

Additional microbiome-boosting treatments

Evvy’s care program includes various options, all tailored to your specific symptoms and needs. Each option is chosen based on either your starting microbiome profile or the symptoms you have at the time of the test. 
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For example, if your microbiome shows the presence of biofilm-forming bacteria or non-Candida yeast, you might be prescribed boric acid. Or if you mention that you’re experiencing vaginal dryness and are in menopause you might be prescribed vaginal estrogen, which helps healthy bacteria flourish and improves symptoms. Each person is different and will get different recommendations that are tailored to them. 

We know that antibiotics can completely destroy microbiomes, and not all microbiomes can bounce back. That is why we also offer probiotics, to help restore a healthy vaginal flora after treatment. Evvy’s probiotics include only evidence-backed strains. Studies have shown that taking probiotics following antibiotic treatment for BV has both short and long-term benefits. They help replenish the healthy vaginal microbiome after antibiotic treatment and can keep BV symptoms away longer. 

When you buy additional treatments like boric acid over the counter you never really know if the quality is as good as expected. That is why a compounding pharmacy makes all our treatments, so you know that you are getting the highest quality ingredients in your individual treatments. And everything is shipped directly to your door so you can do it from the comfort of your own home. 

While most of these treatments are available from a doctor’s office or over the counter, Evvy is the only place that puts everything together for you along with a personalized treatment calendar, so you know what to take and when. 

Re-testing

In medicine, it’s common to re-test the following treatment to make sure it worked. For example, you might need to come in to provide a follow-up blood sample, or if you break a bone they do an additional x-ray to make sure the bone is healing appropriately. This gives you confidence that the treatment worked as it was intended. But the standard of care for vaginitis doesn’t do a test for cure. So once you finish your course of antibiotics or antifungals you are left wondering what happened. Or left waiting to see if and when symptoms will return. 

With Evvy, you can know how our treatment affected your microbiome. All you have to do is re-test! You can see if your protective score has gone up and your disruptive score has gone down. You can get the information you need about your body to make further treatment decisions. 

Support throughout the process

The last and probably most important difference between Evvy and the standard of care is that we’re here for you every step of the way. Each Vaginal Health Test comes with a complimentary visit with one of our knowledgeable certified health coaches. They can help you interpret your results or answer any questions you may have about your treatment program. In our user portal, we provide a treatment calendar to help you keep track of what treatments to take and when. And we have online resources to answer all of your questions — from “What is this bacteria I see on my results” to “Can I have sex when using boric acid”? And we’re always adding more features and resources to help you feel supported in your health journey.