Lately I've been getting really into feminism, and part of that is understanding my reproductive health. Now, I've always been anti FDA and usually only take midol when I *need* to. I also take antibiotics when necessary but other than that, I try to go all-natural.
A few weeks ago I had a yeast infection. It was the third I had gotten in my life. The first one, when I was 18, I just used cream. The second one, I stopped having sex for a while and I guess it eventually went away. Well, this one was SUPER uncomfortable. I don't know how many of my lady friends have had one, but they just are a bummer.
I learned some things about them and found out they yeast thrives on sugar, multiplies in water, is killed by garlic, and can be fought with acidophilus, a bacteria found in plain yogurt.
This might sound weird, but as I am not a vagina expert my first thought was to douche. I'd never douched before, mainly because I never felt the need to. However, all the sources I read online told me NOT to douche because yeast multiplies in water. Instead, I did something a lot more fun- I made a yogurt popsicle!
Take a tampon applicator and put some plain, unsweetened yogurt in it. Not greek yogurt- regular, plain, yogurt. Freeze it! During the day, just pop the yogurt popsicle in your vag, put on a pantiliner, and allow the cold acidophilus smoothie to soothe your vagina! It was a GREAT relief from the itching that I had been experiencing.
To treat the yeast infection overnight, I took a clean clove of garlic (peel it ALL THE WAY) and poked a hole in it with a toothpick. I took some thread and put it through the hole and tied it, leaving a length of about six inches. Then, I popped it in my hoo-hah! The string was so I could pull it out easily. Don't worry about TSS- TSS is associated with tampon absorbency. Garlic isn't absorbent.
If you bake, you might have known that garlic kills yeast. Putting the garlic where the sun doesn't shine can get rid of the worst symptoms overnight-- in fact, it started working for me in just a few minutes. The awesome part was that I woke up the next morning without the nasty morning-breath taste in my mouth. Everything tasted like garlic! But not strongly of garlic, just enough to make me crave spaghetti.
The reason I don't recommend doing the garlic during the day is because apparently, other people can detect the odor.
Another thing to do, while you're stocked up on garlic and yogurt, is to make chip dip. I minced up a clove of garlic or two, added some minced onion, and stirred it in the about a cup of plain yogurt. It tasted like ranch, and my fiance loved it, too!
Anyway, repeat these two things until the day after symptoms are gone, and you'll have a happy vagina!
Oh, an AWESOME thing about the garlic is that the next day, I had some of the most healthy looking discharge I'd seen. My vagina was working hard to get its environment back to normal, and it made me feel proud I did it without the use of any over-the-counter meds.
Speaking of happy vaginas, have you heard of the menstrual cup?
I think they're awesome enough to deserve their own post, so ta-ta for now!
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