Q: My bottom gets really itchy. I’m too embarrassed to talk to my doctor or pharmacist about it. I try not to scratch but it is really hard. Are there any natural remedies you can recommend?

A: It does sound to me like you have a fungal problem or parasites but if the following measures don’t help you should visit your doctor to be properly investigated. 

 

Once fungal infections take hold in a warm damp area they can be hard to shift and they can make the whole area red and inflamed and scratching will just make the problem worse. As a first line of defence you need to avoid eating any sugars and yeast containing foods. So, bread, cheese, stock cubes, dried fruit and yeast extracts should all be avoided until the infection clears, as should sweets, chocolates and biscuits.

 

Internally you need to take a combination of immune boosting herbs and herbs that will boost beneficial bacteria in your gut. I recommend a combination of herbs as well as a good quality probiotic supplement (e.g. BioKult – see the Resources Page).  You may have a candida infection in the gut and this needs to be investigated and treated.  To confirm whether you have a candida infection you can simply do a saliva test at home and the sample is then send to the lab for analysis. (See the Resources Page for details on how to do this test.)

 

To ease the irritation and itching try using a marigold cream. Add eight drops of tea tree oil into a 60g jar of marigold cream and apply two to three times daily. Avoid using soap or shower gel when washing the affected area, simply rinse with cold water and pat dry or rinse the area with cold water and a few drops of tea tree oil. It will take a few weeks for this to clear up and when the itching goes away you will need to continue treatment for a few weeks to make sure the fungal spores are completely destroyed.

 

To test for parasites you can do a stool sample at home and then send the sample in the containers provided to the lab for analysis.  I use these tests for candida and parasites very regularly in the clinic and they are extremely useful in pinpointing the cause of a problem.  If you are interested in the stool test for parasites see the Resources Page.

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 12:40 am and is filed under Ask Marilyn, Natural Treatments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.