What is cystitis, and what are the home remedies, medicinal herbs, and recipes for infusions and herbal teas?
Symptoms of Cystitis and Their Prevention
Hypothermia is one of the causes of bladder inflammation, the most common urological condition among women, affecting nearly half of the female population. In addition to lower abdominal pain and a burning sensation during urination, symptoms may include frequent urges to empty the bladder with little urine produced, bloody discharge, cloudy urine, and nausea accompanied by vomiting.
To prevent cystitis, it’s essential to protect the body from weakening due to hypothermia, chronic stress, and lack of sleep.
Doctors recommend taking breaks every half hour during sedentary activities, drinking at least two liters of fluids daily, and limiting salty, spicy, fried, and heavily seasoned foods. Regularly emptying the bladder, getting tested for sexually transmitted infections, using the restroom after intimate contact, maintaining hygiene, avoiding tight clothing around the pelvic area, and steering clear of synthetic underwear are also crucial.
Alongside medication, natural remedies and homeopathic treatments can be effective. For instance, a mixture of honey and pine nuts can help cleanse the kidneys and bladder. Eating cranberries or drinking a glass of cranberry juice daily is also beneficial. The secret to this berry’s healing power lies in its ability to prevent harmful bacteria from adhering to the bladder walls. Treatment with natural remedies typically lasts for two months, with a two-week break between courses.
Herbs with diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties include: marshmallow root, common burdock, St. John’s wort, burdock, chamomile, plantain, celery (seeds), meadowsweet, and bearberry. A blend of these plants has antiseptic effects and acts on swollen tissues as an astringent and tonic. Combining herbal therapy, a proper diet, and warming procedures can alleviate acute symptoms of cystitis and flare-ups of chronic conditions. Improvement is usually noted within two to three weeks of herbal treatment for cystitis.
Treating Cystitis with Herbs
- For cystitis tea, combine equal parts chamomile flowers and horsetail herb. Drink the tea hot, in small sips, three cups a day. This tea can help alleviate painful urination.
- Prepare tea from corn silk or cherry (sweet cherry) stems. Drink it with honey on an empty stomach.
- Pour 1 liter of boiling water over 20 grams of marshmallow flowers, 5 grams of wild mallow flowers, and 5 grams of flax seeds. Let it steep until cool. Drink half a cup three times a day.
- Mix linden flowers, common horsetail, white dead-nettle, and burdock root in equal proportions. Place 2 tablespoons of the mixture in a liter thermos, pour boiling water over it, and let it steep for three hours. Strain and drink one-third of a cup three times a day before meals.
- Extract juice from chopped nasturtium herb and take half a teaspoon three times a day.
- Steep 1 tablespoon of fireweed in a cup of boiling water for two hours, strain, and drink the infusion warm, 20 minutes before meals, three times a day (one-third of a cup).
- Mix 10 drops of birch tar in a glass of warm milk and take one-third of a cup three times a day.
- Combine equal parts wormwood, plantain, sage, lungwort, and goldenrod. Pour 1 tablespoon of the mixture with a cup of boiling water and add 1 tablespoon of honey. After warming it in a water bath for five minutes, let the healing drink steep for half an hour. Strain and take 1 tablespoon three times a day, 20 minutes before meals.
- For the collection, take 3 teaspoons of marshmallow root, 3 teaspoons of stinging nettle leaves, 2 teaspoons of dandelion leaves, and 2 teaspoons of crushed juniper berries. Pour 1 liter of water over the marshmallow root, boil, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and boil for another 15 minutes, then strain and drink one cup three times a day.
- In a thermos, combine 1 teaspoon of dill seeds and prickly thistle herb, pour a cup of boiling water over it, and let it steep for an hour. After straining, drink a quarter cup three times a day. The treatment course lasts for a month, and you can repeat it up to six times.
- Chop and mix parsley and carrot tops. Pour 1 tablespoon of the mixture with 0.5 liters of boiling water, cover the container, wrap it up, and let it steep for 2 hours. Drink 1 tablespoon three times a day before meals.
- Mix equal parts honey and celery seeds, taking 1 teaspoon three times a day.
- Pour 200 ml of boiling water over 1 tablespoon of rowan berries and 1 tablespoon of cranberry leaves (ratio 3:1) and let it steep in a thermos for three hours. Strain and take half a cup three times a day before meals. This infusion, known for its effectiveness in inflammatory bladder conditions, can also be used as a diuretic for cystitis and pyelonephritis.
If the herbal infusion is unpalatable, “sweeten the pill” by adding 1 teaspoon of honey to the drink.