Smudge
Member
Hey folks! If you're reading this you probably know that having a vagina makes you vulnerable to some diseases and other issues that people without them don't have to deal with. I'm going to go through the two most annoying and teach you how to deal with and cure them.
1. Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)
To prevent a UTI:
So if you're like me, these preventative measures help, but don't eliminate the problem. For a lot of you, this will be all you need to do, however if you've tried all this and you STILL get a UTI, you might need to look into 'cures'.
To cure a UTI:
To prevent a yeast infection:
There you have it! If you found any of the information above to be false or misleading, PLEASE let me know. I don't want to spread misinformation. Good luck!
1. Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)
To prevent a UTI:
- Try not to touch your vulva, vagina or urethra. If you need to touch any of these areas, wash your hands first.
- Wear breathable, cotton underwear and change them once a day. Only wear them once before washing.
- Eat a low sugar diet if possible and try to eat whole foods with lots of nutrition.
- Make all your sex partners wash their junk and their hands before doing the act. (Wash yourself too)
- Pee before sex, especially penetrative.
- Pee after sex, especially penetrative.
- Drink heaps of water each day. Like, 2.5L.
So if you're like me, these preventative measures help, but don't eliminate the problem. For a lot of you, this will be all you need to do, however if you've tried all this and you STILL get a UTI, you might need to look into 'cures'.
To cure a UTI:
- Throw away your fucking cranberry pills, drinks and juices. Seriously. Put them in the bin. They can actually irritate your urinary tract more due to the high sugar content, and if you're still getting UTI's after following the above preventative advice they aren't going to do shit. I'm convinced that drinking shitloads of cranberry juice only 'works' for some people because they're in the very early stages of a UTI and flushing it out with ANY huge quantity of liquid would work. Fuck cranberry.
- The holy grail of fixing UTI's is D-Mannose powder. You can buy it from pharmacies or online. Make sure you get them in capsule form. Take 1-3 a day when you have a UTI and it will clear right up. You can also take 1 a day for prevention if you're super prone to them like I am. Because of D-Mannose, I haven't had to see a GP for an antibiotics script in six months. They work because they contain some kind of sugar that the UTI bacteria likes more than your urinary tract lining, so they attach to the sugar and then you pass it through your system. Warning: If you have a corn allergy, you won't be able to take most brands of D-Mannose. Here's one you can. If you've taken D-Mannose for two days and your symptoms have stayed the same, or worsened, SEE A DOCTOR. It doesn't work for all strains of bacteria unfortunately. Don't wait for the infection to reach your bladder or kidneys.
- You can also get a script from your GP for a course of antibiotics. Make sure that you give them a urine sample to send off to the lab before they write the script. If the antibiotics don't work, then you have a different strain of bacteria and will need a different type of antibiotics. I personally fucking hate antibiotics because they're expensive, annoying to get (the doctors in my area are often booked out for two weeks in advance) and they ALWAYS give me a yeast infection after. If you keep getting UTIs you can ask your doctor for a couple of 'spare' scripts that you can use when you get another one in the future so that you don't have to keep coming back to the doctor. You can also apparently ask for 'preventive' pills, but I've had no luck obtaining these.
- If your D-Mannose is in the mail or you're waiting a couple of days to get a script, you can use Ural, or any effervescent powder that you add to water. This will reduce the pain and urgency to pee that you're feeling.
- Another good option if you can't get your hands on Ural is ibuprofen; it works to reduce pain by reducing swelling in the urinary tract. Generic brands are the exact same as name brands, don't overspend.
To prevent a yeast infection:
- Wear breathable, cotton underwear and change them once a day. Only wear them once before washing.
- Wash your vulva at least once a day with a non-harsh soap. Be careful not to over-clean as this can also lead to thrush. Even if you only have baby wipes, this is better than nothing.
- You can take some probiotic supplements daily. This helped me a little, however probiotics can be prohibitively expensive for the effect they have.
- Again, before you have sex, wash your hands and genitals and make your partner wash their hands and genitals too. (A full shower is best if possible)
- Have a shower and get changed after exercise, don't let the area stay sweaty for too long. Again, even if it's just baby wipes it's better than nothing.
- Don't wear leggings, they for whatever reason seem to be a haven for candida.
- In most countries you can buy an over-the-counter cure for thrush. There are several different ones to choose from; pessaries, 3 to 7 day courses and even creams. Personally I prefer the single pill as it's the simplest, however if you have a particularly nasty infection you might need a longer course. To ask for the single pill, say "Can I please get the single oral capsule for thrush?", otherwise they might give you a pessary. DON'T BE EMBARRASSED ASKING FOR THIS!!!! Pretty much all people with vaginas have to deal with this at some point. Pharmacists give this shit out every day of their lives, they don't give a fuck about you. If you're trans they'll just assume it's for your gf, you can even say as much.
- You probably won't need a cream if you've taken the pill, but it can help with discomfort. Most pharmacies will recommend this, don't feel bad saying no.
- For the love of god, don't shove garlic up your snatch! Just please....don't.
- I've found boric acid pessaries very useful in curing yeast infections. This is the brand I buy but there are obviously many others. You just insert one as far as you can into the vaginal canal when you have a yeast infection and it clears up. Sometimes you might have to do this more than once depending on the severity of your symptoms. DON'T INGEST THE PILLS. Never swallow them, they go in your vagina. Only use one a day. I like this solution because you can buy them in bulk and don't need to tell a random stranger that you've got thrush in order to cure it. However, I'm the only person I know who uses this, so let me know if you've tried it and whether or not it worked. As with D-Mannose, if you find this ineffective, go to a doctor or pharmacist.
- Use the cream that the pharmacist recommends you.
- Try not to take super hot showers or expose your vulva to high temperatures.
- Don't itch! You can tear the skin and create a world of agony for yourself. Just try to relax and power through.
- Don't have sex. Apart from being extremely painful in terms of penetration, it will also irritate the area and you can pass the infection to your partner.
- If you're on your period (poor soul) use pads instead of tampons for a bit to avoid extra irritation. No matter what you do, your experience is going to be at least doubly as annoying however. If you find that the extra heat and moisture from the pad is worse than the pain from inserting and removing the tampon, by all means use tampons instead.
There you have it! If you found any of the information above to be false or misleading, PLEASE let me know. I don't want to spread misinformation. Good luck!
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