Last week I had some discomfort "down there." I felt a slight tinge of pain when I walked, and a little itchiness, and it felt like something was growing on my vulva.
I took a mirror and a headlamp and checked it out. (Yes, you can do that too. If you've never looked at your vulva, please do. It's a treasure.)
What I found was a little red stretched pea size lump inside my inner labia. It was by all signs a Bartholin's cyst.
It's something I've heard about enough to basically identify it immediately. It's not rare, so maybe you've had one too.
But I think perhaps I'd been ignoring it (had a lot going on) and it was getting inflamed and maybe even heading towards infection (the redness and itching and pain got me curious).
So I immediately took action and made myself a strong tea of gotu kola, yarrow, calendula, lavender and rose, which I then applied warm as a compress.
I did this for a couple days, and then it drained. It reminded me of how easy herbal medicine can be.
And also inspired me to share an entire episode all about this topic since I think it's the kind of thing we should all know how to do, and how to choose which herbs make sense for our specific condition.
Herbal baths, sitz bath and herbal compresses are one of the most accessible ways to extract the active constituents from herbs - all you need are herbs, water and something to heat the water with.
But they're also very effective. Sometimes what we really need is to bathe a part of our body in warm herbal tea. And especially when it comes our vulva and pelvis, it's also an incredibly beautiful way to honor this precious place.
Listen to learn:
what herbal baths, sitz baths and herbal compresses are
how to make these preparations
why I chose the herbs I did for my Bartholin's cyst
what conditions may be best supported by herbal baths + compresses
which actions you may want to consider when choosing herbs
how to determine which herbs to choose for you unique symptoms
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DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes only, I am not providing any medical advice, I am not a medical practitioner, I’m an herbalist and in the US, there is no path to licensure for herbalists, so my role is as an herbal educator. Please do your own research and consult your healthcare provider for any personal concerns.
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