How to Treat Vaginal Yeast Infections with Garlic

Vaginal yeast is a fungus, and garlic is a fungicide. Using the one to treat the other may sound silly---but it's an excellent natural treatment for yeast infections that many women swear by. The anti-fungal substance in garlic, allicin, works to kill off the yeast overgrowth that's causing your symptoms, restoring the healthy balance of your vaginal flora. Ordinary kitchen garlic can treat your yeast infection naturally.

Things You'll Need

• Clove of garlic
• Small square of gauze (optional)
• Thread or string (optional)

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Instructions

• 1

  Peel the clove of garlic without nicking its skin. Nicks and other breaks in the skin of the clove can release extra garlic juice, which may burn your vaginal tissues, so if you nick the garlic or you find a flaw in the garlic that has resulted in broken skin, throw the clove away and peel another clove.

• 2

  Wrap the garlic in a small piece of gauze and tie it with string or thread. This will prevent the garlic from coming in direct contact with your vaginal tissues. Many women find that they prefer this to using a plain clove. However, you may find that you prefer to use the clove without any covering, whether to increase the strength of the treatment or to make the treatment simpler to administer.

• 3

  Insert the clove into your vagina with your finger. You may wish to wet the clove (if you are using a plain clove) or dampen the gauze (if you are using a gauze covering) to provide some lubrication. Insert the clove as deeply as you can, but don't sweat it if you can't reach far with your fingers; the clove tends to move on its own to wherever is most comfortable. Push it past the lower ring of muscle, high enough to not come out on its own.

• 4

  Leave the clove in for any length of time from one hour to a full day. Leaving the clove in longer strengthens the treatment. Every woman's body is different, so experiment to find out how long you need to leave the clove in.

• 5

  Remove the clove. If you wrapped the clove in gauze, simply tug on the gauze or the string. If you inserted the clove without a covering, push down with your vaginal muscles. If pushing alone does not work, guide the clove out of your vagina with your finger while pushing down with your vaginal muscles.

• 6

  Repeat the treatment daily until your yeast infection is gone.