do-it-yourself treatments (yeast)

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do-it-yourself treatments (yeast)

if you are reasonably aware of your body and can catch yeast

infections early enough, you almost never need to rely on "medical"

treatments.

when i'm getting a yeast infection, i always start by treating it

myself with one or more of the remedies listed below. there lots of

reasons for this: i like to have control over my own body and not

have to rely on the medical establishment except when really

necessary; doing it myself is generally easier and cheaper than

using medical treatments; and home remedies tend to be milder,

cleaner, better-smelling, and have fewer side effects than drugs do.

in addition, some of these treatments rely on substances that you

can grow yourself, so you have can minimal participation in our

increasingly corporate culture. still, if your infection seems

resistant or you can't get these to work soon enough to make you

happy, you may want to escalate to the more powerful fungicides

available over the counter in most pharmacies.

the remedies listed below are in no particular order, except that

the more common ones are towards the top of the list. these

treatments should clear up most candida infections; do feel free to

combine 2 or 3 of them if you think you need it.

yogurt is the #1 choice of do-it-yourselfers everywhere, and is so

common that even some professional medical types recommend it.

yogurt contains Lactobacillus acidophilus, a bacterium that also

happens to be found in healthy vaginas. acidophilus kills yeast by

producing hydrogen peroxide. most wimmin using yogurt to treat a

yeast infection simply apply it directly to the vulva and gently

inject some into the vagina by any means necessary. but how to get

in there? here's a method suggested by one reader: put the yogurt in

plastic tampon applicators and freeze them, and then you've got

little yogurt-sicles to use next time you get a yeast infection. she

says "It is really cold, of course, inserting the tampon, but i find

it actually soothing compared to the fires of a damn yeast

infection." i love it! another reader who has access to disposable

gloves says she fills the fingers with yogurt and freezes them to

make her yogurt -sicles. (given that freeze-dried acidophilus

tablets are available in health food stores, i'm guessing

acidophilus can survive being made into a popsicle.) other people

use syringes (with no needle!) to squirt it up there. however you do

it, be sure to use plain, unflavored yogurt with no added sugar, and

be double sure that it contains live acidophilus cultures (available

in natural foods stores and many supermarkets). apply once or twice

a day until at least a day after your symptoms clear up. another

possibility is to insert acidophilus pills from your local

supermarket or health food store (look in the refrigerated section);

check and make sure the capsule is made of something soft enough to

melt inside you.

also, it appears that you may be able to get some of the same

effects by eating a lot of yogurt, the idea being that some of the

acidophilus will make it through your digestive system and then

crawl from your anus over to where you want them, i.e., in your

vagina. seems to me like a hell of journey; i say if you want 'em in

your crotch, just put 'em there. but some people do use this method

to try ward off yeast infections, and report good success. also, if

you are the parent of a young child with a yeast infection and don't

want to try suppositories or strong drugs, this may be your best

option.

unfortunately, the production of dairy products is a definite

downer from the cow's point of view, given today's factory farming

methods. if you are a vegan, you may want to think about getting

some of the same benefits by using acidophilus pills from a natural

foods store. you can easily open up the capsules and powder your

vulva with the contents, or you can mix with water and then squirt

it inside or dip a tampon in it and use it that way. i bet this

delivers far more acidophili than you would get from applying

yogurt. i don't know if this is really such a great solution,

though: i don't know where this acidophilus comes from (how vegan is

it?), and the capsules used by most companies contain gelatin, which

is an animal product.

garlic contains natural antifungal substances that kill off yeast.

it's my favorite home remedy for yeast infections; i always try it

first, and it usually does the trick. to try it, find yourself a

fresh clove of garlic and carefully peel all the papery skin off it.

next, make a little tampony thing by wrapping it in gauze or

cheesecloth, tying the ends with unwaxed dental floss, and leaving a

bit of string dangling so you'll be able to pull it out afterward.

now, believe it or not, insert it into your vagina. don't worry

about losing it up there, because of course it can't get through

your cervix. leave it in for several hours at a time, like

overnight, and be sure to remove it in the morning. for early or

mild infections, nighttime treatments may be enough; try several

nights in a row, until one day after the symptoms disappear. if your

infection is more severe, put a fresh clove in every morning and

every night. (i find the dry gauze painful to insert, and

unnecessary. most of my friends and i have found that an unwrapped

clove shoved up there will eventually work its way out, and even if

it doesn't just fall out it can usually be expelled by bearing down

and squeezing like you are trying to take a dump. but don't try this

unless you are willing to face the possibility of asking a friend or

doctor to retrieve it later!) most sources say to be careful not to

nick the clove as you are peeling it, maybe because the juice stings

some people, but i don't know anyone who has had a problem with

that. if this makes you nervous, you could also try the garlic

capsules that are sold as a dietary supplement in many health food

stores, but be sure to get the kind with a soft coating that will

dissolve inside you. either way, it's fun to try: it makes your

crotch taste divine, and you can walk around all day smirking to

yourself, thinking how shocked people would be if they knew why it

is that you reek of garlic. the downsides are that it's a fairly

moderate treatment and won't work by itself for some really stubborn

infections, and that a few people are allergic to garlic and can't

go shoving it in their orifices without getting really sick.

teatree oil is available in the US at many natural foods stores. a

terrifically helpful woman wrote to tell me that in italy, teatree

oil is widely used for yeast infections. she said that her

pharmacist told her to coat the top half of a non-applicator type

tampon with a lubricant (such as K.Y. jelly or even olive oil), then

apply a few drops of pure tea tree oil and insert. the lubricant

keeps the teatree oil from absorbing into the tampon. she also said

that she finds that the teatree oil can sting if it comes in contact

with the vulva, so she uses an applicator tampon, by just lifting

off the top part of the applicator to expose the tampon, applying

the K.Y. jelly and tea tree oil, and putting the tampon back into

the applicator. what a great idea!

boric acid is a great remedy for a cockroach-ridden apartment, and

it turns out to kill yeasty pests, too. amazing. the idea is load up

some size 00 capsules from a pharmacy or natural foods store with

boric acid to use as suppositories*; the heat and moisture in your

vagina will melt the capsules and release the boric acid. insert 2

capsules filled with boric acid, about 600 mg total, into your

vagina every night for a week. (to be extra sure, continue this

treatment twice a week for the next 3 weeks.) this is a pretty

strong treatment, and is capable of effectively treating even severe

or persistent yeast infections. some wimmin find that the boric acid

causes some superficial burning and discomfort for the first few

days, and may cause large amounts of vaginal discharge. discontinue

use if the burning is severe. (*note to readers in the UK:

by "suppository" i mean "pessary"; don't put this in your arse!)

potassium sorbate is a potent fungicide that is widely used in

preserving foods, and is often used in brewing beer to stop the

growth of the yeast at the correct time. potassium sorbate is

therefore available at places that sell home-brewing supplies, and

at some natural foods stores. to use it, make a 3% solution by

adding 8 gm (about 1 tablespoon) potassium sorbate to a cup of

water. the idea is to dip a cotton tampon in the solution, insert it

at bedtime, remove it in the morning, and continue this treatment

for a few days until the symptoms are gone. for the life of me, i

can't figure out how you'd get a soaking-wet, expanded tampon into a

vagina, so i've never tried it. maybe if you used a tampon in one of

those horrible plastic applicators you could manage it. another

idea, suggested to me by a doctor friend, is to insert a dry tampon

and then squirt a bunch of the solution up afterward, so the tampon

will absorb the fluid and hold it in place. sounds like it should

work...

gentian violet is a traditional remedy for yeast and other

infections that pre-dates most modern antifungals and antibiotics.

it used to be carried in pharmacies; some still have it, usually in

the same section as iodine, and some friendly pharmacists will order

it for you if you ask. the idea is to swab it all over the vulva and

up into the vagina once or twice a day for a few days. wear black

clothes or use thick pads, because the stuff is brilliant purple and

stains everything it touches. i should warn you though that some

wimmin are allergic to it, and i received this email from a very

distressed woman: "It was recommended to me, and my experience was

frightening. A friend ... advised me to dip a tampon into the

solution and insert. The next day I was in so much pain, my mom had

to drive me to the doctor, who painfully investigated the area, and

after inspecting a swollen, itchy, PURPLE twat, told me I had a

reaction. She gave me some medication ... I hope you can pass the

word of caution on to other women!" also, i heard from a reader in

the UK that the stuff is a suspected carcinogen and is now

unavailable in some EU countries. you might want to think twice

about using it, but it's your call.

cranberries are often used in treating urinary tract infections,

which apparently works because the berries contain substances that

inhibit bacteria from clinging to the walls of your urinary tract.

cranberries also lower the pH of your urine, which may be useful in

helping combat yeast infections, since the acidic urine passes over

some of your infected parts on its way out. as such, it's a pretty

mild remedy, which is great if you think you may be coming down with

a yeast infection; for more serious infections, it can be used in

combination with other remedies. because i can't handle the extreme

sourness of the unsweetened juice, i often take small handfuls of

cranberry pills (available in natural foods stores) during the

entire course of a yeast infection as a supplement to other home

remedies.

 

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Version: 7.1.361 / Virus Database: 267.12.4/146 - Release 10/21/2005