Vaginal Ozone Therapy (Insufflation): Uses, Evidence and How It Is Done

At a glance:

For equipment recommendations, see our guide to ozone therapy machines for home use.

• Vaginal ozone therapy is the application of medical grade ozone/oxygen for a variety of vaginal issues, infections, and systemic chronic diseases 
• Studies show vaginal ozone can reduce infection-related symptoms while leaving the healthy vaginal flora intact, and many women also report feeling better overall 
• In small clinical trials, ozone performed about as well as standard creams for yeast infections and improved results when added to standard care for bacterial vaginosis. It can be used alongside antibiotics
• Ozone therapy has a long safety record when it is done correctly (see the safety data)
• With the right equipment, vaginal ozone therapy can be done at home or a clinic — ozone oil suppositories can be used as an alternative for simple issues relating to the vagina

What is vaginal ozone therapy?

Vaginal ozone therapy is the application of medical grade ozone/oxygen gas in the vagina in small quantities.

It’s a simple procedure commonly done at home or in a natural health clinic,  using a medical ozone therapy machine that’s hooked up to an oxygen tank.

Ozone therapy has a long safety record when it is done correctly.

If you are looking for a demonstration on how to do vaginal ozone therapy, you can find it here

What is vaginal ozone insufflation used for?

According to the International Scientific Committee of Ozone Therapy, these are situations where vaginal ozone therapy may be considered: 

• Acute and chronic colpitis
• Endo- and exocervicitis, regardless of their etiology
• Bacterial infections
• Vaginosis
• Papilloma virus
• Vaginitis
• Endometritis
• Vaginal candidiasis
• Infertility

In the case of candida albicans causing vaginitis, a study found: 

“Patients (150) were selected … with vulvo-vaginitis for at least 6 months of evolution, refractory to usual drug treatment and positive cultures for candidiasis. … daily intravaginal ozone insufflations (10 sessions), … application of ozonized oil … Results: 85% of patients favourably responded to treatment, 10% remained asymptomatic for a period of less than one year and 5% of patients did not respond to treatment.”

In this study, they used a regimen including vaginal ozone therapy and ozone oil which remediated vaginitis caused by candida albicans.

According to Dr. Mandy Dell, these are situations where vaginal ozone therapy is merited:

• Interstitial Cystitis
• Mold toxicity
• Chronic diseases
• Lyme disease
• Autoimmune conditions
• Vaginal infections

What studies show

The research on vaginal ozone is small but consistent. A few of the human studies:

• Yeast infections (vulvovaginal candidiasis). In a randomized trial of 100 women, ozonated olive oil worked about as well as clotrimazole cream for itching, discharge and clearing the infection on culture; clotrimazole relieved burning faster. (Tara 2016)
• Bacterial vaginosis. In a randomized study of 102 women, adding local and general ozone therapy to standard treatment gave better results than standard treatment alone. (Yarustovskaya 2015)
• Healthy flora. In 40 healthy women, ozonated water lavage did not disturb Lactobacillus or the vaginal microecology. (Zhang 2019)
• Recurrent yeast infections. In a Cuban series of 150 women whose infections had not responded to drugs, 85% responded to vaginal ozone plus ozonated oil (described above).

Note that two of these used ozonated oil or ozonated water rather than gas. Larger trials of vaginal insufflation itself are still needed.

Vaginal Ozone Therapy is a Systemic Therapy

Vaginal ozone therapy is known as a systemic treatment — which means it is beneficial to the entire body, not just the vaginal system.  

Benefits

There are too many clinical uses of vaginal ozone therapy to cover fully in this article.  Which begs the question, why would doctors use vaginal ozone therapy for so many different things?

Infections are obvious because ozone is a strong antiseptic.  But what about issues outside of that?

It comes down to a simple idea — ozone therapy stimulates your body to balance and heal, putting it into a healthier state to fight disease.

We have an entire article that lays out in depth how ozone therapy works with the body. But for the purpose of this article, we’ll cover the basics. Ozone therapy: 

• Eliminates infections
• Stimulates blood flow and detox
• Improves oxygen efficiency
• Modulates the immune system 

How ozone therapy works

Simply put, ozone therapy is an oxidative stress that stimulates your body toward homeostasis, or total body balance.  It is considered a hormetic therapy, which means it stimulates a small amount of stress which causes your body to build back stronger.  Other examples of hormetic therapies include exercise, sauna, or ice baths. 

More specifically, ozone therapy stimulates the NrF2 pathway which is a pathway that restores homeostasis and health of your body.  

Dr. Velio Bocci, the father of ozone therapy, wrote: “The activation of Nrf2 by several different mechanisms (ozone therapy, physical exercise, calorie restriction) can be a way to improve life health.​”

Eliminates infections (without eliminating the healthy biome)

Ozone is a powerful antiseptic that kills off bad bacteria, which is why it works so well with infections in the vagina.

Ozone therapy in the treatment of recurrent vulvo-vaginitis by Candida albicans

“Intravaginal ozone therapy, offers an effective alternative to conventional treatment with usual fungicides, not only achieved a remission of symptoms and negative cultures of vaginal exudates in patients with vulvo-vaginitis, but also… serves to restore the body's own defense abilities by stimulating the normalization of vaginal mucosa local immunity. Without producing a disturbing effect on the saprophytes.”

In this uncontrolled series of 150 women, 85% responded well to the combination of vaginal ozone therapy and ozone oil.

This is also why it’s a great adjunctive for Lyme disease and mold toxicity.

Another study compared vaginal ozone therapy to the use of antibiotics.  The authors wrote:

“Results have shown that ozone (40 µg/L) can efficiently deactivate the growth of Streptococcus Group B more than Ampicillin (AMP), Cotrimoxazole (SXT), Erythromycin (E), Gentamycin (GN), Ofloxacin (OFX), Peflloxacine (PEF), Tetracycline (TE), Trimethoprim (W).”

This was a lab study on bacteria in a dish, not a study in women, but it shows how strongly ozone acts against Group B strep compared with common antibiotics.

Improves oxygen efficiency

Oxygen efficiency is your body’s ability to convert oxygen into energy — the process of metabolism.

As you age or face a health issue, oxygen efficiency deteriorates.  It is so important that Dr. Frank Shallenberger directly correlates oxygen efficiency with overall health.

That’s because oxygen efficiency is tied to the health of your mitochondria, the parts of your cells that make energy. Simply put, reduced oxygen efficiency equals less energy production.

Dr. Velio Bocci adds to the conversation of ozone therapy and oxygen efficiency by writing:

“It must be added that ozonated erythrocytes show an improved glycolysis with an increase of ATP… Extensive data have been reported in reviews and two books. It is now clear that a “physiological” ozone dose… triggers an acute and precisely calculated oxidative stress able to activate several biological processes…”

In short, reduced oxygen efficiency makes energy-creating mitochondria deteriorate with age and sickness.  Ozone therapy researchers have found that ozone improves how red blood cells release oxygen and make energy, which is one reason so many people report feeling more energetic.

Immune Modulation

Many people focus on boosting the immune system, when they actually need to balance it.

That’s what immune modulation is: your immune system functioning appropriately by getting rid of the bad guys without attacking your body.

Autoimmune disorders cause your immune system to attack your body.  On the other side, Lyme disease, mold toxicity, and other present infections make your body incapable of removing the infection.

A well balanced immune system is the key to retaining health.

Ozone therapy helps modulate the immune system and bring it into balance.  

This study writes about ozone therapy, 

“O3 therapy can alter the natural history of several diseases and disorders, with potentially many more yet untested. A plethora of laboratory studies have provided evidence of O3's antioxidant capabilities, as well as vascular, hematological, and immune system modulations.”

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(an example of an autoimmune condition after ozone therapy)

Stimulates blood flow and detox

Ozone therapy is well known to increase microcirculation, which is the ability of blood to flow throughout your body.

Improved blood flow might not sound like a huge deal, but it could spell the difference between a naturally healthy body and one that’s simply managing symptoms with drugs (and the side effects of those drugs with more drugs).

Microcirculation, aka blood flow, is important for blood getting to needed areas and getting rid of toxicity while giving it needed nutrients.

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How does ozone therapy fit in when it comes to helping blood flow?

Ozone is studied for its ability to improve microcirculation, and it is not a blood thinner.  

If your body is more capable of managing itself, it’s more capable of fighting disease.  This is the idea of improving your body’s terrain, rather than forcing it to do something unnatural with a drug (although many drugs are useful and necessary at times). 

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(A live blood analysis for ozone therapy)

Side Effects

Since the ozone causes dryness of the vaginal epithelium, it is advised to lubricate the vagina right after the procedure with any vaginal lubricator. Because vaginal ozone is a systemic therapy, a Herxheimer-type reaction (fatigue, rash, fever or chills) can occur, so start low and build up. The usual local side effects are mild, such as discomfort on speculum withdrawal. 

A carbon mask is advised during the therapy to avoid breathing ozone.  The carbon turns ozone back into oxygen.

Prolongation of the procedure at higher rates of the flow and concentration of ozone can lead to dryness of the vaginal walls, suppression of the saprophytic flora and induce local oxidative stress. 

Over a course of treatment, existing discharge, unpleasant odor, itch, redness, discomfort and pain during sex usually decrease or disappear.

Discharge can happen but it’s due to elimination of pathogens

Effects of vaginal ozone therapy on the vaginal biome

Some people use Lactobacillus vaginal tablets in combination with vaginal ozone therapy to help the vaginal biome restore quicker.  There may be a connection between vaginal flora and recurrent UTIs, so you want to make sure the biome is healthy.

However, it does not appear necessary to repopulate the vaginal flora after ozone therapy.  A study of 40 women showed normal and healthy vaginal biomes after repeated ozone therapies.

In the study they write, 

“By evaluating the proportion and type of Lactobacillus, the dominant flora in the vagina of healthy women, and vaginal microecology before and after ozonated water lavage, we have confirmed that ozonated water lavage has no obvious side effects on intravaginal microecology and Lactobacillus. As far as we know, there are no reports on the effects of ozone water on Lactobacillus and vaginal microecology so far. The results of this study can be seen as extremely important evidence that ozonated water to treat vaginitis has a minor side effect on vaginal microecology and Lactobacillus… Ozonated water is a new treatment for vaginitis, which not only kills pathogens but also protects Lactobacillus and vaginal microecology from disorders.”

It certainly doesn’t hurt to supplement with tablets for the vaginal biome, but it does not seem to be necessary according to the research.

Contraindications (when not to do it)

According to the International Scientific Committee of Ozone Therapy (ISCO3) and the MediSkill clinic guide, these are reasons to avoid vaginal ozone therapy.

Absolute contraindications (always avoided)

• Virginity 
• Bleeding from the vagina and/or the cervix
• External huge genital condyloma or anatomical abnormalities, preventing insertion of a speculum into vagina.
• Pregnancy (ISCO3 lists the first 3 months; the MediSkill clinic guide avoids vaginal ozone throughout pregnancy)

Also absolute in the MediSkill clinic guide

• Heart disease that has not been reviewed with a physician
• Recent acute myocardial infarction
• Severe cardiovascular instability
• Toxic hyperthyroidism (uncompensated, Basedow Graves status)
• Thrombocytopenia (platelets under 50,000) and serious coagulation disorders
• Massive and acute hemorrhage
• Acute alcohol intoxication
• Convulsive states

Considerations (up to practitioner discretion)

• G6PD deficiency: lower antioxidant capacity. Start low, follow the titration and monitor. It is an absolute contraindication only for high-dose treatments (10-Pass, EBOO and HiDose).
• Patients on blood thinners
• High or low blood pressure
• Hemochromatosis
• Patients receiving treatment with copper or iron

Use with drugs

According to the international Scientific Committee of Ozone Therapy, ozone therapy does not exclude the use of antibacterial, antifungal or antiviral drugs.  They can be done together if you and your doctor choose to.

Vaginal Ozone Oil Suppositories

If you’re not facing something difficult to eradicate and don’t want to get all the equipment, you can give ozone oil suppositories a try.  Although not as potent, they still have antiseptic properties and stimulate growth factor to speed healing.

How is vaginal ozone insufflation done?

You need an oxygen tank and regulator, a medical ozone generator and a vaginal insufflation kit.

1. Connect the kit to the generator (or fill a bag with the gas).
2. Insert the applicator and let the gas flow at a very low rate for a few minutes.
3. Turn the generator off before removing the applicator.

Typical starting point: about 5 minutes, twice a week, at the low end of the range, building over several weeks to about 10 minutes, up to 5 times a week.

How often: 2 to 5 times a week. If your plan also includes rectal or IV ozone, they're usually not done on the same day.

Safety essentials: this method can release more gas into the room than others, so use a well-ventilated space and a fan, and never breathe the gas. A body-safe lubricant helps with dryness. Cramping, bloating or discomfort means lower the dose and frequency. Don't use it during pregnancy.

New to home ozone? Our free guide covers equipment, safety and getting started.

Frequently asked questions

What is vaginal ozone insufflation therapy?

Vaginal ozone insufflation therapy is the application of small amounts of medical-grade ozone and oxygen gas into the vagina using an ozone generator connected to an oxygen source to address infections and provide systemic therapeutic effects.

What equipment is required for vaginal ozone therapy?

Required equipment includes a medical-grade ozone generator, an oxygen tank, an oxygen regulator, and a vaginal insufflation kit. Proper ventilation and ozone safety precautions are also necessary.

Is vaginal ozone therapy a systemic treatment?

Yes. Vaginal ozone therapy is considered systemic because ozone-derived signaling molecules are absorbed through the vaginal mucosa and influence immune modulation, circulation, detoxification, and oxygen efficiency throughout the body.

What conditions is vaginal ozone insufflation used for?

It is commonly used for vaginal infections, bacterial vaginosis, candidiasis, HPV-related conditions, endometritis, infertility-associated infections, Lyme disease, mold toxicity, autoimmune conditions, and chronic inflammatory disorders.

What are the side effects of vaginal ozone therapy?

Side effects are generally mild and localized, including temporary dryness, mild discomfort, or discharge related to pathogen elimination. Systemic side effects are rare when protocols are followed correctly.

Can vaginal ozone therapy be done at home?

Yes. With proper training, medical-grade ozone equipment, and safety precautions, vaginal ozone therapy can be performed at home. Ozone oil suppositories may be used as a lower-intensity alternative for simpler cases.

Is vaginal ozone therapy safe during pregnancy?

No. Our clinic guide lists pregnancy as a reason not to do vaginal ozone, at any stage. Talk to your doctor about other options.

Can I use ozone oil or cream on the outside of the vagina for itching?

Some women apply a thin layer of ozonated oil externally for itching. Patch test on your inner arm first, since contact dermatitis has been reported, and see a doctor if itching lasts more than a few days or keeps coming back. For internal use, see ozone oil suppositories.