Coping with a persistent vaginal well being difficulty, like a seemingly limitless stream of yeast infections or bacterial vaginosis (BV), could be an emotional and bodily burden. You’re in ache, you’re burdened, you simply need it to go away. We get it!
When standard remedies don’t appear to be working—or, worse, you’re feeling like your physician is downplaying your signs—it’s comprehensible in the event you’re tempted to perform a little digging, simply in case there’s a possible treatment on the market you haven’t tried but. So that you search and scroll, and inevitably stumble throughout mentions of boric acid suppositories on-line, as a result of loads of individuals with vaginas swear by them.
For many years, boric acid has been touted instead therapy for varied vaginal well being points, however the messaging round it’s a little complicated.1 Is boric acid actually a extra “pure” method to eliminating BV? Is it price making an attempt when commonplace yeast an infection remedies have failed? Can it actually nuke that sturdy fishy odor? Is it even protected to place these things in your vagina?
There’s loads of debate, even amongst docs, about whether or not boric acid suppositories can remedy sure vaginal infections. So we reached out to numerous specialists and skim by means of the restricted analysis; unsurprisingly, the solutions to those questions aren’t completely lower and dry. Right here’s what it’s best to know in case your vagina is struggling, you’ve gone down one-too-many AskReddit rabbit holes, and also you’re determined for aid.
Boric acid is a compound that has gentle antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties.
Boric acid is partially derived from borax, “Which you’ll be conversant in as a really sturdy and efficient home-cleaning product,” Brittany Merrifield, MD, an ob-gyn at Corewell Well being in Grand Rapids, Michigan, tells SELF.2
It’s a “compound that has been used for lots of of years for varied functions,” together with as an antiseptic and insecticide, typically within the type of a powder, Jonathan Schaffir, MD, an ob-gyn at The Ohio State College Wexner Medical Middle, tells SELF.2 Yep, boric acid is even used as a roach poison.
Why would anybody wish to put boric acid of their vagina?
Individuals didn’t simply do this for enjoyable—there’s a historical past of utilizing boric acid to deal with sure vaginal well being points. “Within the previous days, we used to should go to a compounding pharmacy and ask them to make it up in little capsules to position within the vagina,” Mary Jane Minkin, MD, a medical professor of obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive sciences at Yale College of Drugs, tells SELF.1 Now, she says there are lots of boric acid care merchandise available over-the-counter at native drugstores.
However there’s a cause these vaginal suppositories are not seen as a go-to treatment. “Within the ’50s and ’60s, boric acid was a quite common technique to deal with persistent vaginitis [inflammation or infection of the vagina] as a result of they didn’t have a number of choices,” Lauren Streicher, MD, a medical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern College Feinberg College of Drugs, tells SELF. “Now, we have now all this stuff within the toolbox that work a lot, a lot better.” If you happen to’ve ever had a run-of-the-mill yeast an infection, you recognize one little tablet, Diflucan (fluconazole), typically does the trick. For BV, per week of antibiotics (often metronidazole) is efficient for most individuals.