Is Garlic A Safe And Effective Treatment Option For Vaginal Yeast Infection?
About every woman has felt some sensitivity and weird discharge in their vagina at one time or the other, even if it is more common with some than others. If your yeast infection has ever curiously led you to Google “yeast infection home remedies”, then you have probably come across claims that inserting garlic into your vagina will help you feel better.
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The principle behind this natural treatment is that garlic’s anti-fungal properties could help clear up the uncomfortable condition which is caused by a candida overgrowth.
What is a yeast infection?
Yeast is a fungus, so yeast infections are basically fungal infections. The vagina usually contain some yeast, but when that yeast multiplies too rapidly, things get uncomfortable.
Yeast infections produce an odourless, thick, white, and chunky fluid—the infamous “cottage cheese” discharge, with accompanying symptoms as itching in the vulva, along with redness, swelling, and burning while urinating.
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Will Garlic Work For Your Yeast Infection?
According to Doctor Jen Gunter in a blog post, women are attempting to treat vaginal yeast infections with garlic, and it’s definitely not a good idea.
Garlic does seem to have some anti-fungal properties, which is where the whole ‘clove-in-vag’ theory comes from, Dr. Gunter explains. But there are at least two concerns here;
- For the garlic treatment to have any effect, it needs to be chopped. “So putting whole clove in your vagina will do nothing except expose your inflamed vagina to the possible soil bacteria (like Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that causes botulism) that still could be clinging to the garlic,” writes Dr. Gunter.
- If you’re planning to chop up your cloves, and wrap them in gauze, and then put that inside you, that’s also not a great idea: The garlic won’t be in close contact with your tissue, so it’s unlikely to have any major effects, and the fibers from the gauze may cause irritation.