If You’re Prescribing Long-Term Antibiotics to a Woman, Also Consider Suggesting This

We all know the way to treat chronic blepharitis is by using Doxycycline 50mg daily for three to six months, but have you considered also advising your female patients using this treatment to eat yogurt? Antibiotics encourage yeast overgrowth by making the vaginal environment less acidic thereby disrupting the proper PH balance. Using probiotics helps the body replace the good bacteria that antibiotics eliminate. This is most easily accomplished by eating organic yogurt with live bacterial cultures — lactobacillus or acidophilus on the label. So, next time you prescribe long-term antibiotics for women, consider also suggesting yogurt.

Scott Keating, OD, is a 1989 graduate of Ohio State University of Optometry and is a fully licensed therapeutic optometrist with two practices in Eastern Ohio. Dr. Keating has been treating patients with ocular medicines for 25 years.