EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Basketball Wives' star Laura Govan describes her painful yeast infections - and how she beat them by ditching thongs and sugar

• Laura Govan describes her yeast infection pain on The Doctors today
• Govan, 37, appeared on Basketball Wives in 2011 with ex Gilbert Arenas (former point guard for the NBA squad Washington Wizards)
• After 4 children, she started battling yeast infections and put on weight
• Now she has beaten the reoccurring infections - and shares her top tips 

She was among the glamorous line-up on Basketball Wives in 2011.

But Laura Govan, former girlfriend of Washington Wizards alum Gilbert Arenas, reveals that moment in the spotlight coincided with the start of a difficult journey.

Having just delivered her fourth child, Govan faced her first real battle with losing weight. She was more than 100lbs over her target weight, and it wouldn't shift.

Amid that struggle, she experienced a chronic unrelenting string of vaginal yeast infections. 

Now, it is under control, thanks to an antibiotic regime and an overhauled diet.

But the ordeal to get a diagnosis was so arduous, Govan, 37, is now appearing on The Doctors to share the details of her experience, in a bid to empower other women to understand how to seek treatment.

In an exclusive preview clip shared with DailyMail.com ahead of today's episode, Govan can be seen fielding normally taboo questions about smell and feeling down there.

And she reveals swapping thongs for white cotton underwear has been a game changer. 

'My biggest problem was getting yeast infections because I can't break sugar down,' Govan tells the syndicated daytime TV show.

'There's so much sugar in so many things, and changing my diet... it was hard, it was a struggle.'

She then sits down with the show's gynecologist Dr Nita Landry to explain her symptoms. 

'I just wasn't happy. Although everybody else was happy and healthy, I felt uncomfortable and not good. I just didn't feel good,' Govan says.

Dr Landry asks her the crucial question that all women face when they go to their gynecologist with itching: 'Is there a smell associated with it?'

'Well for me... I don't go around smelling like salmon croquette! Like I'm not... you know, I'm fresh,' Govan said.

'But, there's still like... you know when you start rubbing? And the smell?' she says, rubbing her thumb and fingers together and holding it up to her nose.

'It's like anything - if you start rubbing cottage cheese after a while it's like, it's smells like a little cardboard with a little hint of, you know, something.'

Dr Landry nods. 

The smell is a key part of diagnosing a yeast infection over other conditions, which have similar symptoms.   

Bacterial infections, such as bacterial vaginosis, can cause pain and itching and a fishy vaginal discharge.

In some cases, women are irritated by their underwear or have eczema in that area.

Yeast infections, however, are characterized by a discharge that is similar in smell and consistency to cottage cheese. 

The problem, Dr Landry explains, is that many women aren't aware of these differences, rush to get treatment for a yeast infection, and don't tackle the underlying problem. 

And, she warns, there are different strains of yeast, which might not respond to certain kinds of yeast infection treatments. 

'A lot of people will just call the doctor's office and they'll get a prescription for a vaginal yeast infection without being properly diagnosed,' she says. 

'So it's important for women to go in, and have a swab, so that your doctor look at the swab under the microscope to make sure we're treating the appropriate thing.'

Govan agrees: 'I knew it would be a yeast infection because I would have it - like, my first one I had it for like a village, and I was like... ok, oh my god.'

Dr Landry: 'It was the cottage cheese discharge?'

'Yeah, it was like "oh god, what's happening here?",' Govan said.

'And then, when I went in we did the whole swabbing, we did the whole gammit, but I feel like - you're right - if it's not diagnosed properly and treated properly they're reoccurring.

'It's like, let's deal with the issue - I don't want to see you again.'

Her diet now mainly consists of greens, apples, and less sugar. 

She has also stopped wearing thongs.

'Oooo them thongs boy! Won't they do it, won't they do it,' she says to Dr Landry as they discuss the virtues of white cotton underwear. 

• Visit local listings or The Doctors' website to find out when it screens in your area