You want me to put WHAT… WHERE? Fight yeast infections without medication.
How to Fight Yeast Infections Without Medication
They say 3 out of 4 women will have a yeast infection in their lifetime and many women battle them again and again. They are horrible. The itching, the oozing (if any guys made it past the title of this post, we just got rid of them) and the embarrassment. I started getting them regularly after my first child was born (I think it had something to do with mold that I couldn’t seem to get rid of in our unventilated bathroom). I was un-aquainted with any natural remedies at the time and my doctor recommended an over the counter medication, which I was VERY allergic to. After trying several brands we finally found one that I could use, but it only stopped the symptoms temporarily and within a month or two the yeast infection always came back. I lived with this for a couple of years, but after my second baby was born I tried a Candida diet (yeast infections are caused by Candida Albicans, to learn more and to take a simple test to see if you have Candida, click here). This was moderately successful, but once I went back to normal, the yeast came back. It was my nemesis. But… we were locked in combat and although it won some battles, I eventually won the war.
How I got immediate symptom relief
The drugs hadn’t worked anyways and now I was determined to find a way to yeast infections without medication. Although there are many different home remedies for yeast infections, mine was so persistent. I finally read about Boric Acid and decided to try it.
Wait. What did she just say?
Yes, you read that right. Boric acid, which some may recognize as a way to get rid of roaches, can also fight yeast. Successfully. Stay with me on this. But wait. Acid? That sounds dangerous. Boric Acid is a mild chemical that is used as an anti-septic. It is not safe to ingest, but it is very mild and is even used as an eye flush when diluted. It changes the acidity of the vagina to make it inhospitable to the yeast, so they can no longer survive there. Read here to see what WebMD says about it. Some people may not feel comfortable with this, which is fine. Check out the home remedy link I listed above for lots of wonderful suggestions. But read on if you want to know how I treated my yeast infections with boric acid.
It was really pretty simple. First, I bought a medical grade boric acid, which came in powdered form. Then I bought empty gelatin capsules and filled them with the boric acid. If you don’t want to fill the capsules yourself, this company has done it for you in a product designed for this! I inserted one (into my lady parts) every morning and night for 3 days. It’s a good idea to wear a pad to catch any extra fluids this produces. Within a couple of hours the itching and other symptoms stopped. Battle won.
But I wanted to win more than the battle. I wanted to win the war.
From my research I found out that it is normal for candida to live in our bodies in small numbers, but when we don’t have enough other “good” bacterias in our system to balance out the harmful ones, the bad ones like candida start to take over. So, killing them off is all well and good, but unless you replace them with the good guys, they will just move back in. So here is where pro-biotics come in. Pro-biotics help replenish your body with good bacterias it needs to keeping a healthy balance. Pro-biotics exist naturally in fermented foods like yogurt, kefir and sauerkraut (the homemade kind that actually ferments), but even though every culture in the world has eaten fermented foods throughout all of history, due to recent inventions of refrigeration and pasteurization, it has fallen out of common practice. I started by taking a good pro-biotic supplement (which you can find here), but I knew I needed to do more.
The biggest key to fight yeast infections without medication was for me to eat fermented foods every single day.
I started simple. I was given milk kefir grains (not really a grain, but a bacterial culture that lacto-ferments milk), which are the key to making homemade milk kefir. For the first year I drank milk kefir in the form of a smoothie every morning. My yeast infections disappeared, but if I skipped a morning, they would start to come back. So, I never skipped. I learned how to make sauerkraut and tried to eat it regularly too. A little over a year ago I started making water kefir (homemade soda) and started drinking it all the time. About six months ago I realized that it had been months since I had had even a twinge of feeling a yeast infection coming on. I have fully integrated fermented foods into my daily life and love them. Plus, I am healthy and happy. My kids love them. Not only do they fight yeast, but they are great for digestion and overall immune health. But the best part is… I won the war.
Resources:
great source for starter cultures for fermentation.
25 fermentation recipes you will want to try (including some that require no starter cultures)
How to Get Rid of Candida a great article that explains signs and symptoms and how to correct with diet.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and the statements on this blog have not been evaluated by the FDA. Any products or techniques mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and the statements on this blog have not been evaluated by the FDA. Any products or techniques mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. I am just a mom who shares what works for me!
January 20, 2014 @ 2:36 am
Speaking of putting what where…
Switching from tampons and commercial pads to a menstrual cup undoubtedly solved my problems with yeast and bacterial infections. Tampons allow growth of harmful bacteria while in keeping flow in contact with the vagina effects pH which in turn effects flora even more, commercial pads prevent air-flow to the genitals making the perfect environment for yeast to thrive – both commercial tampons and pads contain bleach, pesticides, and lord knows what else that also effect vaginal flora. Options like menstrual cups don’t allow bacterial growth, effect pH, or contain any harmful ingredients, since switching I’ve gone from reoccurring infections to having not a single infection in ten years!
If you don’t know what menstrual cups are, here’s a link to Mooncup – http://www.mooncup.co.uk/wc.php?u=1741 (yes, this is an affiliate link, but Mooncup remain my top brand as they’ve been around for so long and are the biggest brand in the UK, they show time and time again how much they care for customers and environment, plus they’re a good mid-size mid-flexibility cup so great for newbies).
January 20, 2014 @ 3:16 am
Yes! I love my menstrual cup! thanks for mentioning this!
January 27, 2014 @ 3:43 am
My Aunt taught me this trick years ago and it works very well and fairly quickly as well. It also works very well for BV. I love the fact that my Aunt shared her wisdom with me and my sister. We both use it. I wish more people would take this advice.
Side note, if my infection is really bad then it will burn a little because my skin is already raw from the infection but other than that I do not have any problems with this.
February 1, 2014 @ 2:49 pm
Women in my family seem to battle this too… and I remember my mom going through some major health stuff when I was a kid due to her doc having her do those OTC yeast “treatments” for years. The yeast became resistant, etc… awful. Boric acid was definitely the thing that helped me most—mom’s herbalist would put it in these little molds that were kept in the fridge. Later, I manufactured my own (I had to beg a compounding pharmacist to sell me the molds) out of coconut oil and boric acid… miracle.
Thanks for sharing—so many women suffer, and there are many parts to address—symptoms and prevention! I did corporate wellness coaching for a long time and I can’t even begin to tell you how many women would tell me they had yeast infection… and they were eating yogurt for it, but it was like dannon light and fit or something with basically no live bacteria and way too much sugar!
How To Completely Prevent Yeast Infections With One Easy Addition To Your Diet
February 3, 2014 @ 4:09 pm
[…] Nobody likes yeast infections. Seriously. Itchy, oozy and uncomfortable. Not to mention embarassing. I battled yeast infections for years, willing to try just about anything to get relief. I found out early on that I was allergic to the most popular over the counter product, so this led me on a quest to fight yeast infections without medication. […]
March 30, 2014 @ 9:10 pm
For me it was very helpfull to put organic coconut oil on and in my lady parts when I had a yeast infection. I did it every time after I had gone to the bathroom. First i washed myself and then used the coconut oil. Mine dissapeard within 2-3 days. Have had no problems since (knock on wood!)
May 4, 2014 @ 5:52 pm
This is great. I’d never heard of boric acid for this. Thanks. My natural doctor and colleague actually recommends putting raw kefir and yogurt (good yeast and bacteria) in a syringe and injecting…as well as eating. Hopefully, we all never have to experience this but once and eat it to enjoy the benefits. ;_)
May 4, 2014 @ 5:53 pm
I mean ONLY have to use for eating instead!