Boric acid suppositories may be the cost-effective alternative treatment method you need to remedy vaginal infections, including bacterial vaginosis or yeast infections. They can be prescribed by your healthcare provider as an alternative to traditional antibiotics, especially if that method doesn’t yield results. Boric acid suppositories are also available over-the-counter. This article discusses what boric acid suppositories are, what they may be able to treat, and the benefits and risks associated with them.

What Is Boric Acid?

Boric acid is a water-soluble compound that contains oxygen, boron, and hydrogen. It is a white substance that comes in crystal or powder form. According to research, boric acid exhibits anti-fungal and antibacterial properties. Diluted boric acid solutions may be used to treat skin insect bites, athlete’s foot, foot odor, diaper rash, and yeast infections. Boric acid suppositories work to promote proper acid balance in the vagina. It may relieve symptoms like itching and burning. 

Benefits Of Boric Acid Suppositories

As previously mentioned, boric acid exhibits anti-fungal and antibacterial properties. Research indicates that when used appropriately, boric acid suppositories may reduce the risk of recurrent vaginal infections. At times, they may work more effectively than traditional medications, including antifungals that are typically prescribed to treat yeast infections. A 2011 review of 14 studies found that cure rates involving the use of boric acid varied between 40% and 100%. Based on the available research, researchers concluded that boric acid is a safe alternative and affordable option to other treatments. In some cases, boric acid suppositories may be recommended for:

• Trichomoniasis
• Yeast infections
• Bacterial vaginosis

Boric Acid For Yeast Infections

According to several studies, boric acid suppositories may be very effective at treating yeast infections. Researchers note that this is especially true for yeast infections that are not caused by Candida albicans, the usual suspect of yeast infections. A review of studies found that boric acid suppositories are considered safe with only mild side effects. They did a reasonable job eliminating such non-albicans infections, curing between 40% and 100% of such yeast infections. Additionally, yeast infections were no more likely to recur after boric acid treatment than after use of standard antifungal drugs. 

Boric Acid For Bacterial Vaginosis

Bacterial vaginosis occurs when there is an imbalance in vaginal flora. Unfortunately, there is little evidence for the use of boric acid suppositories to treat bacterial vaginosis. That said, small studies suggest that boric acid may be effective when used alone or as a complementary therapy. In one study, about 77% of the participants reported feeling satisfied with how their symptoms resolved; however, the average treatment time was a little over one year. 

Boric Acid For Trichomoniasis 

Trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by Trichomonas vaginalis. The research that is available on boric acid suppositories as a treatment option is limited to small studies. Laboratory studies have shown that boric acid can effectively inhibit the growth of trichomonas bacteria. That supports the fact that boric acid suppositories may be an appropriate treatment option for the condition. That said, trichomonas has difficulty growing in acidic environments in lab settings. People who have a higher than healthy pH balance in the vagina tend to experience this condition more frequently. For infections that are hard to treat, consider discussing boric acid suppositories with your healthcare provider. 

How To Use Boric Acid Suppositories

You always have the option of discussing the use of boric acid suppositories with your healthcare provider prior to using it as a treatment option. If you just want to try it on your own, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly. Use an applicator, or your finger, to insert one suppository into the vagina in the evening. You may want to wear a panty liner or washable period underwear in case of possible discharge. 

Typical instructions for a yeast infection is to leave in the suppository overnight, inserting a new one each night for seven days. For recurring infections, insert one suppository per evening for 14 days, then continue to use for six months to a year twice weekly. Most boric acid suppositories are available at drugstores or online. 

Side Effects

Boric acid suppositories are generally safe for adults, but minor side effects can occur. Tell your healthcare provider about other medications or supplements you take because they may or may not interact with the suppository. Don’t ever take boric acid suppositories orally and do not use them if you are pregnant or plan on becoming pregnant. The most common side effects include:

• Burning at the insertion site
• Vaginal irritation
• Suppository leaking out and not fully absorbing
• Redness in the vaginal area
• Watery discharge
• Harm to fetus (if pregnant)

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If you aren’t hip to calendula oil yet, it’s time to board the train because the health benefits are too good to pass up. The secrets about calendula are out, attracting the interest of scientific researchers and herbal enthusiasts alike. The calendula plant offers a wide range of benefits, and has proven to remedy myriad ailments over the years. 

What Is Calendula? 

This colorful flower belongs to the Asteraceae/Compositae family and is native to areas in Canada and the United States. As long as the soil is fertile and well-drained, you can grow calendula, especially if it has access to ample sunlight. The leaves are shades or rich oranges and yellow, and have a lovely fragrance. Various animal and in vitro studies have concluded that the flavonoids from these petals exhibit neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic properties. This makes calendula a highly respected plant in the field of alternative medicine. 

Historically, people used calendula to treat kidney stones and gall stones, primarily because it has disinfectant and diuretic properties. Italian folk medicine used to use calendula oil to reduce inflamed wounds and burns. Some cultures brewed the petals into teas and used it as a face wash to reduce freckles or dark spots, or an eye wash to reduce the risk of conjunctivitis. 

Health Benefits Of Calendula Oil

Nowadays, people continue to use calendula oil to remedy a variety of ailments. The most common uses involve topical application to reduce infections or fungus. According to research, however, calendula oil may help to reduce diaper rash, inflamed skin, and vaginal yeast infections. You can thank the triterpene saponins, triterpene alcohols, and flavonoids for calendula’s ability to do all of these things. These naturally occurring chemicals interact with the body to improve collagen synthesis and enhance new skin tissue growth. Continue reading to learn more about the primary benefits. 

Calendula For Wound Healing

According to a recent study in The Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, calendula ointment was tested on cesarean scars in 72 women. The study compared the use of calendula ointment to conventional hospital treatment. The women who used calendula ointment had quicker healing time, and they reported less redness and swelling. Various animal studies tested calendula oil’s efficacy for healing bug bites, scrapes, burns, and bruises. The studies found that topical application of calendula oil encouraged 90% wound closing, compared to a separate controlled group. A newer study concluded that calendula oil may ward off infection, which contributes to faster wound closure.

Calendula As A Sunscreen

During in vitro studies, calendula oil exhibited an ability to encourage cell rejuvenation. The studies tested its efficacy as a sunscreen, showing a slight ability to protect the skin. Unfortunately, the evidence was not substantial enough to deem it acceptable as a sunscreen replacement. Fortunately, more studies are in the works to determine how effective it is at protecting the skin from UV damage. 

Calendula For Vaginal Health

Bacterial vaginosis and vaginal yeast infections are two common occurrences for women. One study with 80 women monitored the use of calendula ointment compared to metronidazole, commonly used to treat bacterial vaginosis. After one week, the study found that both the ointment and metronidazole effectively cured bacterial vaginosis with no side effects. This sparked interest in the participants. The opportunity to use a natural ointment in place of medication excited the women.

Calendula For Muscle Spasms

If you want to ease muscle spasms or tension, get your hands on some calendula oil. According to a Pakistani study, calendula oil was able to relax spontaneous muscle contractions. A different study found that it helped to erase muscle spasms. Because of this ability to reduce muscle spasms, people wonder if it can be beneficial for menstrual cramping. According to anecdotal research, calendula helped induce menstruation for women who experienced irregular periods. It may also ease PMS symptoms like cramping, but more research is necessary to prove this.

How To Make Calendula Oil

Ingredients:

• Dried calendula flowers or petals
• Carrier oil of choice (extra virgin olive oil, jojoba oil, organ oil, sweet almond oil)
• 1 glass container (half-pint jar works great)

Instructions:

• Fill a half-pint glass jar about 3/4 of the way full with calendula flowers or petals. 
• Pour your desired oil into the jar so that the flowers are fully submerged. 
• Place a lid on the container and store it in a sunny, warm location to enhance the infusion process. A windowsill is perfect. It will stay here for three weeks.
• After the three weeks, you have to strain the flowers from the oil. Pour the oil through a cheesecloth into measuring cup with a pour spout. 
• Pour the strained oil into a glass jar and store it in a cool, dry place. Use it on your body, or face at will. 

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It’s crazy to think that bacteria can be beneficial for your health. We have been conditioned to ward off bacteria to keep the body health, often resorting to antibiotics to kill bacterial infections or using antibacterial soaps to wash away germs. The wrong bacteria can obviously be problematic, but the right bacteria may be exactly what you need to boost overall health.

Enter probiotics…

A growing body of scientific research suggests that consuming healthy live bacteria can prevent some illnesses, especially those that originate in the gut. Probiotics are microorganisms that are friendly bacteria, which are typically from fermented foods. Northern Europeans have actually been consuming probiotics for years because their diet contains a lot of fermented drinks, yogurts, and vegetables.

A Brief History Of Probiotics

The root of probiotic comes from the Greek pro, promoting, and biotic, life. Probiotics are a relatively recent discovery, considering that the “father of probiotics,” a man named Elie Metchnikoff, discovered their significance in the early 20^th century. He observed rural life in Bulgaria, and the people seemed to live very long lives, despite poverty and harsh climate. He found that these people consumed fermented foods, which he studied and found that intestinal microbiome could be influenced by these friendly bacteria. He also found that senility could be delayed by increasing the presence of friendly bacteria in the gut.

Great Probiotic Foods

• Sauerkraut
• Kimchi
• Kombucha
• Fermented vegetables
• Miso
• Kefir

What Are Microbes And Why Do They Matter?

Microbes are incredibly tiny organisms that include fungi, parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Millions of microbes can fit into the eye of a needle, and yet these microorganisms are powerful enough to influence overall health. Microorganisms in the body outnumber human cells ten to one, with trillions of microorganisms inhabiting the gut, nose, skin, and other areas of the body. The National Institute of Health (NIH) sponsors the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), an organization that researches microbial communities and how they affect health and disease.

The Benefits Of Probiotics

Probiotics For Your Gut

Probiotics have been used to help treat both diarrhea and constipation, which is a more common problem in the United States. For diarrhea, large scientific reviews suggest that probiotics work to reduce antibiotic-related diarrhea in adults by 60%. Other studies found that probiotics shortened the duration of infectious diarrhea in infants and children. The digestive tract needs a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria, but lifestyle and diet (stress, lack of sleep, poor food choices, drugs, antibiotics, and more) often tip the scales in favor of bad bacteria. Probiotics won’t solve your gastrointestinal problems if you continue to make poor lifestyle and dietary choices, but they can offer assistance in establishing a healthy gut microbiome. Further dietary and lifestyle changes need to accompany probiotic consumption to reach optimal gut health.

Probiotics For Vaginal Health

Probiotics may be every woman’s new go-to for maintaining urogenital health. The vagina is a delicately balanced ecosystem, just like the gastrointestinal tract, meaning that an imbalanced system can result in urinary tract infections, bacterial vaginosis, or yeast infections, to name some common female urogenital problems. Oral contraceptives, antibiotics, and spermicides can throw the balance out of whack, but probiotics can help restore healthy vaginal flora. The consumption of probiotics has helped improve bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections, but more research needs to be done on how they affect urinary tract infections.

Probiotics For Heart Health

As you have learned in this article, there are many strains of probiotics, some of which may have the ability to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. By breaking down bile in the gut, lactic acid-producing bacteria help reduce cholesterol levels. Since bile is primarily comprised of cholesterol, it tends to be reabsorbed in the gut, where it enters the bloodstream. Probiotics may prevent this reabsorption from occurring.

Probiotics For Eczema

Eczema is a common skin problem in infants and children. Recent studies have found that the addition of probiotics to a child’s diet may reduce the severity of eczema breakouts. Another study examined how probiotics affected pregnant women and their babies. The findings indicated that the children had an 83% lower risk of developing eczema during their first tow years of life. More research needs to be done in this field, but early anti-inflammatory results are promising.

Probiotics For Immune Function

The increased presence of beneficial gut bacteria has been know to give your immune system a little boost. By adding probiotics to your diet, you help to increase the production of antibodies and other immune cells like T lymphocytes and IgA-producing cells. A large scientific review found that adults who took probiotics had a decreased risk of respiratory infections.

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The concept of “you are what you eat” applies to your overall health, including your precious lady parts. Some women may take probiotics and use mild soaps to maintain a healthy vagina, but these measures can still result in conditions like bacterial vaginosis (BV), for instance. According to research, the foods you eat can influence your vaginal health, from having BV or yeast infections to maintaining a healthy pH to ward off infections and bacteria.

A healthy vagina will have a naturally acidic pH to keep everything normal and free of infection. The foods you eat, however, can influence that pH level. Asparagus, broccoli, certain spices, red meat, dairy products, and alcohol can all affect the vagina’s natural balance. Similar to the gut microbes in the stomach, the vagina manages a delicate balance of naturally occurring bacteria. There is a link between gut bacteria and vaginal bacteria, and while it may not be a direct connection, they are linked nonetheless.

This theory presents the fact that a dietary change can influence your vaginal health for the worse or better. If the amount of bad bacteria in the gut or vagina outnumbers the amount of good bacteria, women may be more susceptible to infections, despite the hygienic measures that are taken. If good bacteria exceed the amount of bad bacteria, the vagina has a better chance of staying as healthy as possible.

Eating For Two: You And Your Vagina

To maintain vaginal health, Mary Rosser, M.D., Ph.D., ob-gyn at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, recommends filling up on plenty of water, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. It is also acceptable to consume unsweetened Greek yogurt or kefir, known sources of probiotics that are intended to improve gut and vaginal health. These probiotics can also help maintain a healthy acidic pH balance in the vagina. You’ll find the best dietary recommendations for vaginal health below.

Avoid Processed Foods

Processed foods have no positive effect on the body. In fact, they can impair the immune system’s ability to function optimally, which can allow bad bacteria to overpopulate down there. When this happens, a woman can experience vaginal dryness, pain during sexual intercourse, urinary tract infections, yeast infections, or BV.

Eat Prebiotics And Probiotics

The vagina, much like the digestive system, requires healthy bacteria to fight infections. Prebiotics and probiotics are some of the best foods to promote a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut and vagina. According to research, women with vaginitis and chronic vaginal discomfort have decreased symptoms and when they consume more pre and probiotics. If the goal is to improve gut and vaginal health, start eating prebiotics like onions, garlic, and raw leeks along with probiotics like kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh, and yogurt. Strive to eat these food sources of prebiotics and probiotics because the supplements are not always as beneficial.

Stay Hydrated

If you are thirsty or experiencing mild dehydration, it is safe to assume that the vagina is too. Many unusual odors can emit from down there when the body is not sufficiently hydrated. If you didn’t believe in consuming half of your bodyweight in ounces of water before, you sure should now!

Avoid Meat And Dairy Products

Meat, meat products, and dairy products are often high in fat and calories, both of which may increase the risk of BV. Meats and dairy products often contain xenoestrogens, which are artificial hormones that imitate estrogen. Research suggests that these hormones can block estrogen from the vagina, preventing the formation of the mucosal lining and increasing a woman’s risk of infection.

Focus On Fresh Foods

There is no single ingredient or food that will magically improve your vaginal health, or your overall health for that matter. You shouldn’t look to only consume one food; rather, it is beneficial to consume a well-balanced, vitamin-rich, plant-based diet. Healthy fats from nuts, olive oil, and avocados can help balance estrogen levels, creating a healthy mucosal lining. Almonds and other nuts, on the other hand, contain essential B-vitamins and calcium, both of which help to prevent vaginitis. Eat the rainbow to diversify your nutrient and antioxidant intake!

Take It Easy With Sugar

Bacteria can feed on sugar, and consuming lots of sugary foods can also damage or kill off the beneficial bacteria in the vagina. Think of sugar as the opposite of probiotic because it is no good for the body. As we mentioned before, a bacterial imbalance can lead to soreness, irritation, or infections.

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Bacterial vaginosis is a chronically inflamed vagina, usually caused by bacteria.

Inflammation is a burning sensation that results from acute acidosis. Inflammatory symptoms include redness (rubor), heat (calor), swelling (tumor), and pain (dolor), accompanied by loss of function.

The vagina is inflamed due to excess acid (acidosis). Basically, the vagina has become too acidic. When the tissues become inflamed due to acidosis, the body’s innate healing mechanisms produce mucus to protect the internal skin (mucous membranes), but in most cases due to the severity of the inflammation (acidosis), the body produces too much mucus and so the excess mucus becomes a problem. In order to get rid of some of this mucus, the vagina discharges it, hence the vaginal discharge.

Causes

Bacterial vaginosis is caused by a disruption of vaginal ecology due to acidity, toxicity, and anaerobia. The negative bacteria flourish and consequently outnumber the good bacteria.

The negative bacteria flourish more and more as the ecology of the vagina becomes more acidic, and the more acidic the vagina becomes, the more inflamed the vagina becomes and thus the more mucus is produced which eventually leads to vaginal discharge.

The odor is a combination of toxicity, old vagina debris, and bacterium. The fouler the odor, the more the message conveyed by the vagina that the vagina is greatly acidic and toxic.

Natural Healing Solutions

A sufferer of bacterial vaginosis should fast for a day or two, followed by modifying the diet (raw foods provisionally and then after relief or healing, subsequently strict vegan). Vegetable juice should be consumed daily and should contain parsley, cilantro, garlic, and ginger in addition to other green veggies.

Drink plenty of water and make sure to add liquid oxygen drops and/or liquid chlorophyll.

Do not wear tight clothing. Tight clothing, especially tight pants, chokes the vagina and prevents it from breathing. The vagina is a breathing orifice by nature and needs oxygen. Lack of oxygen causes anaerobia.

Bathe daily in hot water, seas salt (1-2 boxes), essential oils of Tea Tree, Ravensare, Manuka, Leleshwa, Thyme, and Cedar wood. Thyme and Cedar wood greatly counteract itching

if you choose to douche, the solution should be all herbal and consisting of the following herbs: Red Raspberry Leaf, Thyme, Goldenseal, Echinacea, White Oak Bark, Buchu, Black Walnut Hulls, and Mullein leaf.

In addition to the foregoing herbs, a woman could also use 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide (half an ounce), liquid oxygen drops, liquid chlorophyll, and/or extracts of Neem and/or Calophyllum Inophyllum (3-5 drops each) in her douche solution.

Pellets (to be inserted into the vagina overnight) made of shea butter, essential oils of tea tree, cedar wood, and thyme; and extracts of neem and Calophyllum inophyllum would be a better and safer choice.

To make vaginal pellets, simply melt the shea butter (or cocoa butter or coconut oil) in a pan on the stove and add the oils (and/or the herbs supra in powder form) and stir to a consistency. Allow the butter to cool down and harden. Next, make into pellets by rolling the butter in the palms of the hands. Place the pellets in the refrigerator so they can harden. Take the pellets out of the refrigerator about an hour before bedtime. Insert one pellet into the vagina.

A crystal elixir made of Zincite is also very helpful in healing from bacterial vaginosis.

Dietary Intervention

Now clearly poor diet plays a role in disease, and in female reproductive diseases, the culprits are usually the same:

• dairy products (cheese, ice cream, sour cream, butter, and yogurt)
• meat (pork, chicken, turkey, fish, lamb, beef, and seafood)
• refined grains (pastries donuts, cookies, cakes; bagels, bread, crackers, etc.)
• refined starches (potato chips, French fries, etc.)
• sugar
• salt
• chemical preservatives

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