Herbal Health Information on Urine Infections

A one off case of a urine infection is easily dealt with, with antibiotics and like any other acute infection such as earache that is the right course of action to take.

It is with the recurrent or chronic urine infections that the herbs can be of enormous help.

This condition can cause burning and stinging on passing urine, frequency of passing urine, a desperate urge to pass urine and is life affecting due to the need to be near a toilet all the time.

You may be surprised to know that urine is normally sterile and used in the past for sterilising wounds inflicted by war. In olden days surgeons used to get the men to wee directly on to the open wounds as it was probably the only sterile fluid around with which to wash the wound out! Bacteria can only enter the bladder from the skin externally via the urethra, which is the tube carrying urine from the bladder to the outside. So no matter how clean you think you are it is worth taking extra care with your personal hygiene if you suffer from urine infections. Unfortunately the vagina lies on top of the urethra and over enthusiastic sex can cause injury to the urethra in women, leaving it more prone to infection, so you may need to be a little careful.

As usual I am starting with dietary advice.

DRINK LOTS OF WATER. Tea and coffee aggravate the kidneys

Do not eat any oranges or tomatoes or drink their juices. These two fruits seem to be too acidic for the urinary system and will irritate the bladder lining.

Cranberry juice is good and stops bacteria sticking to the wall of the bladder.

As with the gut it is a good idea to coat and protect the bladder wall lining to prevent it being further irritated by bacteria. There is nothing better than Marshmallow to do this job.

We saw the Marshmallow growing profusely in the Cuckmere river video, when I explained to you about the mucilage content of the marshmallow. It is this that coats mucous membranes and for the bladder, it is the leaf of the marshmallow that is used.

St John’s wort is antibacterial and anti viral and can be toning for the bladder. Also seen in the Shingle Beach video.

The best urinary antiseptic is an herb called Buchu which I love to smell, as it smells of blackcurrants and is apparently the flavouring used in the old “Spangles” sweets.

The hairy bit that comes out of the top of a corn on the cob is called corn silk and is a diuretic, but also coats and protects the bladder due to its mucilage content.

An irritated bladder also needs relaxing as it goes into spasm causing a constant feeling of wanting to “go”.

We saw Crampbark in the West rise marsh video and I explained it was a muscle relaxant. Well the bladder wall is just a muscle and Crampbark works very well to relax it if it has gone into spasm. Pulsatilla works well as an anti spasmodic to prevent the bladder cramping up.

A typical mix of herbs in tincture form I would use in clinic for someone presenting with recurrent urine infections is:-

Marshmallow leaf

Buchu

Crampbark Pulsatilla

But it obviously depends on what the patient tells me and what the symptoms are.

It is also worth boosting the immune system generally to avoid bacteria taking hold in the bladder and for this there is the trusty Echinacea. You can get this in tincture form or as tablets. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

You will find over the counter remedies with some of the above herbs in them, but make sure they are licensed or visit a qualified Medical Herbalist.

My Clinic details can be seen by clicking here or on the “Clinic” tab at the top of the page.

Linda Bostock

Medical Herbalist/Herbal Health Information

Herbal Health Information on Headaches

I am assuming here, that you have been to the doctor and eliminated anything serious.

That usually leaves tension headaches which are brought on by unconsciously clenching the muscles in the shoulder which are attached to the back of the head. This then pulls the muscles in the head causing them to pull, resulting in headaches. There are other common causes of headaches such as eye strain, tooth pain, viral infections, neuralgia, sinus infections, arthritis and dehydration.

What I am going to talk about here is the tension headache as the others all need dealing with in their own right.

Stress is a factor in tension headaches so look at the stress article and see if you can reduce the amount of stress you have.

Become conscious of what you are doing with your shoulders. If you find yourself constantly hunched up over the computer or whatever you are doing here is a little yoga exercise you can do three or four times during the day:-

STOP EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING

Close your eyes, sit comfortably, legs uncrossed and feet slightly apart, relax your hands on to your lap.

Breathe normally, but count how long it takes you to breathe in and breathe out. Do this for about a minute.

Lift your shoulders up to your ears as far as you can, without causing yourself pain, whilst you are breathing in.

Slowly relax your shoulders back down whilst breathing out.

Do that for a couple of minutes and it will make you aware of your neck muscles so that you will get to know when you are tensing them up and be able to relax them.

The whole exercise only takes three or four minutes and is easily done sitting at your desk.

DIET

No Caffeine

No Caffeine

No Caffeine

I hope you get the message!

And drink at least two pints of water a day (not juice or hot drinks, just water)

P.S. caffeine withdrawal is dramatic and will give you headaches so come off it slowly, substituting it with herbal teas.

HERBS

The aim is to help you relax.

Crampbark, which we saw on the West Rise marsh video, is a wonderful muscle relaxant taken internally as a tincture. Both Passionflower and Pulsatilla are calming and relaxing as well as being nervous system supporting herbs.

Lavender oil in the bath or as a rub for the shoulders is relaxing and soothing.

Essential oils must always be diluted, so measure out 10 mls of any base oil, such as Grapeseed, into a container. Add 5 drops of lavender oil and there you have a muscle rub.

If you would like to visit the clinic for more help please click on the Clinic tab

Linda Bostock

Medical Herbalist

View Clinic details here

Herbal Health Information on Cystitis

A one off bout off cystitis is easily dealt with, with antibiotics and like any other acute infection such as earache that is the right course of action to take.

It is with the recurrent or chronic form of cystitis that the herbs can be of enormous help.

This condition can cause burning and stinging on passing urine, frequency of passing urine, a desperate urge to pass urine and is life affecting due to the need to be near a toilet all the time.

You may be surprised to know that urine is normally sterile and used in the past  for sterilising wounds inflicted by war. In olden days surgeons used to get the men to wee directly on to the open wounds as it was probably the only sterile fluid around with which to wash the wound out! Bacteria can only enter the bladder from the skin externally via the urethra, which is the tube carrying urine from the bladder to the outside. So no matter how clean you think you are, it is worth taking extra care with your personal hygiene if you suffer from cystitis. Unfortunately the vagina lies on top of the urethra and over enthusiastic sex can cause injury to the urethra leaving it more prone to infection, so you may need to be a little careful.

As usual I am starting with dietary advice.

DRINK LOTS OF WATER. Tea and coffee aggravate the kidneys

Do not eat any oranges or tomatoes or drink their juices. These two fruits seem to be too acidic for the urinary system and will irritate the bladder lining.

Cranberry juice is good and stops bacteria sticking to the wall of the bladder.

As with the gut it is a good idea to coat and protect the bladder wall lining to prevent it being further irritated by bacteria. There is nothing better than Marshmallow to do this job.

We saw the Marshmallow growing profusely in the Cuckmere river video, when I explained to you about the mucilage content of the marshmallow. It is this that coats mucous membranes and for the bladder, it is the leaf of the marshmallow that is used.

St John’s wort is antibacterial and anti viral and can be toning for the bladder.

The best urinary antiseptic is an herb called Buchu which I love to smell, as it smells of blackcurrants and is apparently the flavouring used in the old “Spangles” sweets.

The hairy bit that comes out of the top of a corn on the cob is called corn silk and is a diuretic, but also coats and protects the bladder due to it’s mucilage content.

An irritated bladder also needs relaxing as it goes into spasm causing a constant feeling of wanting to “go”.

We saw Crampbark in the West rise marsh video and I explained it was a muscle relaxant. Well the bladder wall is just a muscle and Crampbark works very well to relax it if it has gone into spasm. Pulsatilla works well as an anti spasmodic to prevent the bladder cramping up.

There is a form of Cystitis which, when the urine is cultured, is found to be sterile. This is often diagnosed as interstitial Cystitis and this form of cystitis needs a similar approach to above as well as herbs to heal the bladder lining. For this I use Marigold, just about the best healer in the herbal pharmacy.

A typical mix of herbs in tincture form I would use in clinic for someone presenting with Cystitis is:-

Marshmallow leaf

Buchu

Crampbark

Pulsatilla

But it obviously depends on what the patient tells me and what the symptoms are.

You will find over the counter remedies with some of these herbs in them, but make sure they are licensed or visit a qualified Medical Herbalist .

Linda Bostock

Medical Herbalist

Herbal Health Information

View Clinic Information

Pulsatilla, the nerve tonic.

Pulsatilla is a nerve tonic and relaxant. It has anti inflammatory and antispasmodic properties and is a mild analgesic (pain killer)

I use it for imbalances in the female reproductive system such as PMT and find it especially useful for period pains, especially when mixed with Cramp Bark, which is  a muscle relaxant.

Cramp Bark, is discussed seperately in the West Rise Marsh walk and on the web site.

Pulsatilla is also an herb I very often put into a mix to help people relax and get to sleep. When I first started to practice, with a case of facial acne which was proving difficult to clear up, so I phoned my mentor at the time who advised me to use Pulsatilla as it has skin cleansing properties. Well it certainly made the difference and I now rarely leave it out of any skin mixture.

I use it in tincture formwhich you will be able to buy from any good herb supplier. I will not advise any dosage here as strengths of tincture varies, so follow the instructions on the bottle.

You will also find it in tablet form and again please follow the instructions.

Do not confuse it with the Homeopathic Pulsatilla preparation which has completely different actions.

As usual, if you have any other medical conditions or are pregnant, please see a qualified Medical herbalist or your Doctor.

Linda Bostock

Medical Herbalist/herbal Health Information.

Herbal Health Information for Period Pains

For some reason it is the chemistry lesson which sticks in my head when I think of period pains. They are so all consuming and debilitating when they are bad and well meaning older women telling you they will go away after you have had your first baby, really does not help. Pain free normal periods should be the norm for us and achievable with a few easy lifestyle changes.

As with everything else diet plays a huge role.

Of course the usual sensible diet includes 5 a day fruit and veg, but also very importantly a good vitamin B, zinc and omega oil intake. Vitamin B is found in all good quality meats and dairy products.

There is a BUT and that is modern farming methods. Intensive farming leeches all the goodness out of the soil, so vitamin and mineral levels may not be as high in modern foods as they were in the past (even 20 years ago). So my message is to buy good quality food.

Zinc is low in modern foods but also hard to absorb. It is essential for the production of over 80 hormones in the body, the reproductive ones being some of those. Zinc is needed for the metabolism of essential fatty acids which are also essential for hormone production. Sometimes I wish I had shares in pumpkin growing as I tell everyone who I think needs a zinc boost, to eat a dessertspoonful of pumpkin seeds sprinkled on their cereal in the morning. Oats are a good source of zinc and so are most shell fish.

There is so much information in the ether about essential fatty acids that I will not say too much here, just make sure you are getting a good combination of omega 3,6,9, in your diet.

Surprisingly, moderate exercise is also important as it increases the blood flow in the body, which the reproductive organs will benefit from.

The two herbs I use to help with period pains are Pulsatilla and Crampbark, mixed together as tinctures in equal quantities. For adults the dose is 5 mls twice a day, taken three days before the period is due to about the second day of the period.

Both of these have had their own write up in separate articles, but briefly, they both have a relaxing effect on uterine muscle to prevent it cramping.

It is a good plan to start taking the mixture about 3 days before a period is due so that the muscle does not go in to spasm once the period has started.

Remember don’t self medicate if you have any other medical condition or are on any orthodox medicines, go visit a Qualified medical herbalist. All the examples I give you in these write ups are mixtures and doses I use on my patients in clinic which are taken under my supervision.

Don’t confuse the herbal tincture of Pulsatilla with the homoeopathic preparation which has a different action.

Linda Bostock

Medical Herbalist Dip Phyt.

Herbal Health Information

View Clinic Information