Treating Vaginal Thrush With Yogurt

Super-cheap miracle treatment or old wives' tale?

Pregnancy and thrush, for me, go hand in hand. I got lucky with Goldilocks (either that or she just loved me a lot!) and didn't get it at all, but being pregnant with Little Bear more than made up for that - I had thrush almost constantly from the middle of the second trimester. The NHS must have kept Canesten afloat just from my own treatments!

This time when thrush began to plague me guilt led me down a different path. After all, if I can afford to treat an ailment myself (within reason) then isn't it only fair to give the NHS a break? After nearly fainting at the price of Canesten in my local Asda (£7+ for a pessary and cream I knew I'd end up buying several times by the end of this pregnancy 0_0) I decided to look up the less traditional method of using plain live yogurt as a treatment.

I was mortified when my mother informed me that I would most likely be putting the yogurt on my vulva and vagina - and found that the Internet did not give me the answer I was looking for.


Extremely divided, one half of the Internet confirmed my mother's prediction while the other half denied it worked at all.

That confirmed it for me - yogurt was a no-go area. Not only would I have to smear yogurt over my lady-bits (putting food there may work for some, NOT ME!) but there was no guarantee it would work. I would go to the doctors and get the pessary & cream the next day, right?

WRONG! Less than three hours later I was sat on my bed doing an impression of a cat with worms. I knew the itching would subside in a few minutes, but I knew I had to do something to stop it happening again. There was no way I could risk contaminating the yogurt I already had (I had been dutifully mixing plain yogurt with fruit for the kids for a while now) so although I did not like it, I gave myself a portion of about four heaped tablespoons of yogurt mixed with some honey before bed.

I could not believe how quickly it helped me. I awoke the next morning to find that the itching and swelling had almost completely subsided. A few more days of four tablespoons and my thrush was completely gone!

I have been every bit as sensitive down there as I was in my last pregnancy so it was not long before I had the opportunity to try it again. I have so far not been failed and have mixed it with a vast array of weird and wonderful things - the last being whipped double cream, blitzed leftover chocolate cake, a dash of chocolate spread and a drained tin of raspberries. Needless to say both me and the kiddies thought it was delicious :)