In today’s edition of ‘please stop trusting TikTok remedies for your ailments’, doctors are warning against using a homemade thrush treatment that’s going viral on the app.
TikTok user Natalie Zierenberg, @nataliezgirl, shared a video explaining her homemade treatment for the common yeast infection.
In the video, which has had a whopping two millions likes, she says: “My daughter called me yesterday and asked if I know how to treat a yeast infection.
“All you do is get a little bit of vinegar and warm water and spray it down there after you go to the bathroom and then pat dry. I didn’t know that not everybody knows this trick. Don’t go out and get treatment, just use regular vinegar.”
But before you go racing to your kitchen cupboards to make the concoction, one doctor has a message for you about the ‘remedy’ and why it spells trouble for your vulva.
Dr Karan Raj told his 5.1 million TikTok followers to ‘step away from the vinegar’ and explained: “The bad news is that vinegar is for your salad only, not your vagina.”
He shared how the acidity of vinegar could seriously cause irritation of the skin around the vulva (we’re already wincing).
And as for putting the solution inside yourself, don’t even think about it.
“Douching is also a no-no, there’s no medical reason for it and actually it can be detrimental. It can disrupt the bacteria in there, making your yeast infection worse.”
Instead, he advises, get anti-fungal treatment for your bout of thrush and stay well out of the kitchen.
“If it goes in your mouth,” he adds, “it probably shouldn’t be going in your vagina.”