BV, Thrush, UTIs…. As people with vaginas we’re likely to have experienced at least one of these at some point or other. Maybe more than one. And maybe more than once. Maybe more times than we’d really care to say!
And if you’ve ever experienced any of these, you’ll most likely know the feeling of wishing that one pill or pessary could fix it all. However, experience tells us that more often than not often these approaches fail to live up to their promise, with intimate infections proving to often be more stubborn than we’d want. With all of these there is a reasonable-to-high change that conventional treatments don’t get to the root cause to sort the problem
Traditionally, we have been able to get a range of cystitis powders and anti-fungal creams over the counter in pharmacies, while for antibiotics and a harder-core range of anti-fungals, pessaries and diagnostics we have had to head to our GPs. And we know being able to get an appointment with ease is often a vanishing possibility these days. Once there, we have the added barrier of being taken seriously, and then being given treatment that’s effective.
Recently, some women’s intimate wellness and health websites have also started offering thrush, BV and cystitis meds so that you can pick up your vaginal health ‘fix’ when you’re doing your other intimate shopping. Sounds handy right? Even like its a feminist move… Thanks gal!
However, there are a few issues around this and the regular, casual use of these kinds of remedies:
- Firstly, where are the diagnostics – to make sure you are buying the right thing for the issue?
- Secondly, are these the best treatments you could be using?
- Thirdly, do we know enough about this to ensure we are respecting and building a strong vaginal microbiome, which, the more we learn about the human microbiome, the more we realise this is where the foundations of vaginal health lie.
- Fourthly, do we know enough about these medicines? For example, a recent article has spoken about how the Azole class of anti-fungal medicines which are commonly used to treat thrush have found to have a link with hormone disruption. Not so cool, or widely know, right? This isn’t to say that this class of medicines shouldn’t be used, but it shows that we don’t know enough to be able to use them willy nilly.
- Fifthly, are they actually effective?
And that’s why Into the Wylde advocates a truly holistic approach to vaginal health, rather than bandaids as a cool add on to your cart at the checkout.
We know about the complexities of the vaginal environment and how respecting the vaginal microbiome can result in breaking the cycle and building a good intimate robust intimate environment. After all, our founder is a medical herbalist who specialises in vaginal health.
And thats why you will never find Into the Wylde being glib with what we offer. Only products with a truly holistic philosophy behind each ingredient and product choice. And let’s not get started on vaginal washes…. We’ll save that for another time!