A gynecologist has urged women to not put garlic in their vagina to treat yeast infections.Dr Jen Gunter, based in California, went on a Twitter rant about the old wives’ tale, which recommends putting a clove inside the vagina for up to three days.
There are no studies to support the claim garlic has antifungal properties – apart from in a petri dish – and it could be a serious risk for further infections, Dr Gunter said.
Dr Gunter, a health columnist and author of a book called The Vagina Bible, wrote on Twitter: ‘My advice, do not take medical advice from anyone recommending vaginal garlic for yeast or anything else.’
The now viral twitter thread started off by explaining that garlic contains allicin, which in the lab has shown to have antifungal properties.‘This is in a lab, not even in mice. Just a dish of cells. Your vagina is not a dish of cells,’ Dr Gunter said.
A vaginal yeast infection causes irritation, discharge and intense itchiness. The most common are bacterial vaginosis or thrush.It affects three in four women at some point in their lives, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The vagina is designed to keep itself clean with the help of natural secretions and there are lots of bacteria inside to protect it.
The bacteria help keep the pH balance, produce bacteriocins (naturally occurring antibiotics) and produce a substance that stops invading bacteria sticking to the vagina walls and causing damage to tissue, according to the NHS.If the balance of bacteria is disturbed, this can lead to infection.