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Lisa, why can't you take baths? For me, hot baths really help, relaxing muscles and reducing pain. Living in a cold climate I really need my hot baths! I have chamomile baths which are wonderful. I asked Matia if it was ok to have chamomile baths while suffering thrush and she said if it doesn't cause a problem then fine. She has said somewhere (was it the Support Group?) that cold = constriction and pain whereas warmth = dilatation and reduction of pain. I am cautious and have only 2 or 3 a week becos I feel they could be too drying. If anyone wants my chamomile bath recipe I will post it. (It's not like a normal bath, i.e. don't use soap).
The reason I started having chamomile baths was because I read about some research in a book called 'The Antibiotic Alternative' about 2 groups of women with UTIs, one group had antibiotics alone and the other group had antibiotics and chamomile sitz baths and this 2nd group got better much quicker. I know that chamomile is anti-microbial. I haven't had a UTI for ages now but of course can't be certain if the baths are responsible. Maybe they are just one factor.
Baths
I have not taken a bath since last summer and do miss it. I have been afraid to because I don't have a filter and worry about the chlorine in the water. When I shower I am not soaking in the water so I don't worry as much. Maybe I am being paranoid. Do others use filters and if not do you have any problems soaking in the unfiltered water. I would love to take a bath.
i was also wondering about
i was also wondering about the bath situation. i too am paranoid about it. where can u get a filter at?
you can get a filter for your
you can get a filter for your bath and your shower on line or at whole foods or you can have a pumber install a whole water filter system found at homedepot. The bath ones are balls you hang from the faucet they are basicly just carbon filters like a fish tank.
Nicole
Hi all
So for me, my issue is IC, but I was starting to connect an increase in strong vaginal energy if not vulvodynia and perhaps increased bladder symptoms with how I felt after baths. I asked Matia and she suggested stopping them to see if it went away (the weird energy thing did, though it could've been coincidence). She also said (don't quote me here) that as the hot water stimulates the lymphatic system & toxin release that in general it's not great to be sitting in a pool of your own toxins... that it could aggravate things. It was disappointing, as like you said I too found the warm water to be relaxing -- physically & mentally. I also was nervous though about the water quality. Though I do have a filter -- the circle thing you swirl around in the water beforehand -- it seemed hard to believe that this little plastic ball could really clean the water, and I didn't want to be doing anything that potentially made me worse / compromised what Matia was doing.
If you want more info, perhaps this merits someone asking her to post more on this, incl. filters?
I know the hot baths are nice
I know the hot baths are nice but I found myself getting faint from them so i just make the water tepid. I think this way is much better as far as the toxin release goes. I tend to make them sort 15 min and then i shower after you could use the hot water in the shower to release toxins from the bath. I have jets on my tub so i really try not to stay in long at all. It's kind of an ordeal because I have to clean my jets before each bath i take or i am paranoid during my bath.
safe bathing continuedWeare
I am still visiting in Washington state, where I took a bath from H--- on Jan 2nd. It was wonderful..a deep jacuzzi tub and oh my body was so happy to be in a bath. Howevre, the resulting flare lasted for weeks and was intense and not worth it. At home, I have managed to enjoy my soaker tub after scrubbing both it and my body and wearing briefs and showering after. Its all worth it to me there. Matia pointed out that the outlets in the jacuzzi can be cleaned with some pretty strong chemicals and I also think the water here at the cabin is very treated. So, I am looking forward to a March soaker at home. To add more protection at home, I just purchased the BathBall (not the carbon one but the one that sits under the tap and filters chlorine with copper and zinc and stuff). For showers I bought on Amazon the Culligan massage showerhead with filter....I'll be trying these out in the first week of March at home and will report in. Jane, I would like your Chamomile recipe. I have intermittent email so will check back when I can. Thank you all for being there...Lois T
Chamomile Bath Recipe
This is my recipe - of course, you can use more or less chamomile and more or less water.I buy mail order organic dried chamomile in 500g bags. I use 100g per bath, it costs about £2 per bath (taking postage into account). Put the dried chamomile in a v large saucepan and add 6 litres of boiling water. Infuse for at least an hour. Then sieve into the bath (keep the bath water reasonably shallow so the herb remains concentrated). I used to use kitchen sieve but didn't like all the 'bits' in the bath so now I use a hemp bag to filter it into a clear marigold colour liquid (keeps the bath cleaner too).Ideally soak for at least 30mins (don't use soap as negates the effect). I normally have a shower be4 hand so that I'm clean, or sometimes I don't bother if I've had a shower earlier in the day.I started having these baths cos of the (possible) preventing UTI effect but soon found out how soothing and calming chamomile is to both mind and body. It's worth the effort!
Chamomile Bath
Thank you Jane. I'll be enjoying this when I get home in March..Lois T