Self-Help for Cystitis

Self-treatment for cystitis can be very dangerous. Many people will be surprised to hear that statement, but it’s true! You may even refute it, on the grounds that self treatment has worked for you – but in reality, it may not have worked as well as you think. Most natural remedies only disguise the symptoms: they can’t completely kill off the bugs causing the infection. You may feel fine, but if those bugs survive in your bladder long enough, they can travel “upstream” to your kidneys, where they can become life-threatening.

That’s why most health professionals recommend you see a doctor if you have a bladder infection. If you want to try home remedies, at least see the doctor once you’ve completed your course of treatment, to make sure the infection really has gone. Of course, where self-help is really useful is when an attack suddenly strikes, and you can’t get to a doctor quickly (because it’s the weekend, or the middle of the night, for instance).

If you are self-treating, please take the following precautions:

1. Drink LOTS of fluid – anything except alcohol. The bugs can’t travel upstream if there is a strong flow of water coming downstream!

2. If your home treatment doesn’t start giving relief in a few hours, it’s not going to – see a professional.

3. If you are passing blood (check by drying yourself with a tissue, you will see the blood on it), the infection is beyond effective treatment by a home remedy – see a professional.

4. Even if you’re confident that your home treatment has been successful, visit your doctor to have a urine test, just to make sure.

Natural or herbal remedies – even cranberry tablets – aren’t usually strong enough to clear up a bladder infection on their own, but you can improve their effectiveness by using several together in a Combination Natural Cystitis Remedy.

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Photo with thanks to Faeryboot on Flickr

Tags: Home remedy, Kidney, Urinary bladder, Urinary tract infection