At Home Treatment for a Bladder Infection

Bladder infections, or cystitis, can be extremely painful and inconvenient. While antibiotics and other medications can be prescribed, many people would rather not have to go to a doctor's office or hospital. There are several steps you can take care of on your own, followed by a course of vitamins, herbs, and homeopathic remedies that may help to clear the problem up. Consult your doctor, though, before changing your habits, diet, or supplementation.

First Steps

• Before you try self-medication, here are a few things you should attempt to improve your bladder infection. You should make an effort to strengthen your bladder muscles. Practice contracting and releasing your sphincter muscle a few times a day to decrease some of the pain and to improve your ability to urinate. Keep yourself warm, including your feet and your genital area (with cotton or wool underwear). This is both for comfort and to increase circulation to help with the infection. You can use hot compresses, herbal packs, alternating food baths, and long sitzbaths to further improve circulation and heal your bladder infection. If one partner has an infection, both should urinate and shower after intercourse. Women should wipe from the front to the back when using the bathroom. These steps will help to begin with the healing process at home.

Vitamins and Herbs

• Your next step to treat a bladder infection at home is to start supplementing with vitamins and herbs. Try large doses of vitamin C to both increase acidity and enhance the immune system. Take enough to add up to 4,000 milligrams per day in a supplement that contains bioflavonoids. Vitamins A and E can increase oxygen supply and decrease the scarring that can occur during interstitial bladder inflammation. Take 25,000 International Units of vitamin A, and 400 International Units of vitamin E combined with mixed tocopherols. Acidophilus cultures can help when the bladder infection is fungus related and 2 capsules should be taken about forty-five minutes before meals. Garlic capsules can improve the immune system and kill bacteria in the body. Use 2 capsules a day and feel free to add some more to your food during this time. Herbal teas created from horsetail, chamomile, bearberry, and lemon balm can also improve your speed of recovery. Try some or all of these remedies for two weeks and you may have a great improvement of symptoms.

Homeopathic Remedies

• If the herbal methods have little effect, you can move on to homeopathic remedies. Use 30c strength of one of the following remedies every hour until symptoms fade, then go to one dose every other hour, eventually reducing it to 3 times a day. The c in homeopathic doses refers to 100 times the potency of a single homeopathic unit. Cantharis can be taken when your bladder infection is accompanied by violent burning pain like razors, blood in the urine, difficult urination, and increased sex drive. Equisteum should be used if there is bedwetting, a tender bladder area, nightly urination, and a prickling or cutting pain in the urethra at the end of urination. Mercurius corrosivus is used when you have a stitching or tearing pain in which the urine feels hot, has blood and flecks of mucus, and there is an urging in the rectum at the time of urination. If your symptoms match any of these remedies, give them a try. There are other homeopathic remedies that may help so if you have other symptoms, contact a licensed homeopath for help.