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 in 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 urinate with only small amounts of urine passed, bloody discharge, cloudy urine, and nausea that may be accompanied by vomiting.
To prevent cystitis, 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 empty the bladder, get tested for sexually transmitted infections, urinate after sexual activity, maintain hygiene, avoid tight clothing around the pelvic area, and steer clear of synthetic underwear.
Alongside medication, natural remedies and homeopathic treatments can be effective. For example, a mixture of honey and pine nuts can help cleanse the kidneys and bladder. Eat cranberries or drink a glass of cranberry juice daily; this berry helps prevent harmful bacteria from adhering to the bladder walls. Treatment with natural remedies typically lasts two months, with a two-week break between courses.
Herbs with diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties include marshmallow root, burdock, St. John’s wort, chamomile, plantain, celery seeds, meadowsweet, and bearberry. A blend of these plants can have antiseptic effects and act on inflamed tissues as an astringent and tonic. Combine herbal therapy, a proper diet, and warming procedures to 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.
- Prepare tea from corn silk or 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 the mixture 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 1-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 into 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 a cup of boiling water over 1 tablespoon of the mixture and add 1 tablespoon of honey. Warm it in a water bath for five minutes, then let the drink steep for half an hour. Strain and take 1 tablespoon three times a day, 20 minutes before meals.
- For this blend, 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, 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. Make the treatment course one month; repeat it up to six times.
- Chop and mix parsley and carrot tops. Pour 0.5 liters of boiling water over 1 tablespoon of the mixture, 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. Take 1 teaspoon three times a day.
- Pour 200 ml of boiling water over 1 tablespoon of rowan berries and 1 tablespoon of cranberry leaves and let it steep in a thermos for three hours. Strain and take half a cup three times a day before meals. This infusion can be used as a diuretic for cystitis and pyelonephritis and is traditionally used for inflammatory bladder conditions.
If the herbal infusion is unpalatable, add 1 teaspoon of honey to the drink.
