Diuretic herbs for cystitis

Retention of urine in the body, incomplete emptying of the bladder - this is not only a risk of swelling and congestion, but also a breeding ground for the formation of bacterial colonies, which does not contribute to recovery.

How to optimize urine output during cystitis? First, you need to start taking herbal diuretic formulations. This is what our ancestors did and passed on many recipes to us. The action of plants with diuretic properties is based on increasing the rate of urine formation and output, as well as inhibiting the absorption of fluid and salts in the renal tubules.

From a physiological point of view, urine is formed in 2 stages, with primary urine being many times larger than secondary urine. Urination is the act of removing secondary urine from the body after most of the fluid and nutrients from the primary urine have been absorbed back into the blood in the renal tubules. Such serious filtration is necessary to maintain the water-salt balance, maintain the rheological properties of the blood, filter out useful and harmful substances, and remove the latter and excess fluid from the body.

Removing excess fluid through the kidneys and cleansing the bladder are interconnected processes, if you take into account the direction of urine flow and the location of the urinary system. Diuretic herbs help cleanse not only the bladder, but also those organs of the urinary system that are located above and below it. Thus, the infection has much less opportunity to spread. The more intensive and frequent this cleansing is, the less chance microbes have to move to the kidneys or linger in the urethra, causing inflammation there.

Such well-known medicinal herbs as knotweed (bird's knotweed) and field horsetail (pusher) have diuretic properties. These plants are most often used as diuretics for inflammation of the bladder, kidneys, and urethra. These plants contain substances that irritate the mucous membrane of the urinary tract and thereby stimulate their contractile function (silicon) and stimulate urine secretion (equisetin, found in horsetail).

Horsetail is a plant that can have a toxic effect on the kidneys, so when using the herb for cystitis, you must strictly adhere to the recommended dosages. To prepare an infusion, take no more than 50 g of the herb per glass of boiling water. Infuse the composition for 20 minutes, filter and take 3 tablespoons three times a day. [ 1 ]

This amount of liquid is, of course, not enough for effective urination. But you can't overdo it with horsetail either. Therefore, the rest of the liquid should enter the body with food, in the form of water, drinks, as well as decoctions and infusions of other herbs.

As a drink for acute and chronic cystitis, you can use a weaker, and therefore less toxic, horsetail decoction. To prepare it, take 2 tablespoons of dry raw material (can be bought at a pharmacy) per liter of water, bring to a boil and leave to cool at room temperature. The strained decoction can be drunk throughout the day instead of tea. You can drink up to 3 glasses of this drink per day.

In case of acute cystitis, the decoction can be diluted in equal proportions with chamomile infusion (3-4 spoons of inflorescences per glass of water, infuse in a water bath for a quarter of an hour). This will help ease the painful process of urination.

Horsetail-based compositions are not used during pregnancy, lactation, or severe kidney disease.

Knotweed is a non-toxic plant. This infusion can be used in large doses. [ 2 ] Prepare a medicinal composition at the rate of 1-2 tablespoons of grass per glass of water. Infuse it in a water bath for 10-15 minutes, then remove from heat and leave for another 1-2 hours. The strained composition is recommended to be taken 1 tablespoon before breakfast, lunch and dinner.

During the day, you can drink the infusion, diluted with clean boiled water or a weak decoction of chamomile, and outside of meals. But in case of acute cystitis and kidney inflammation, you should not abuse it.

During pregnancy, myocardial infarction or stroke, knotweed infusions and decoctions are not recommended at all.

Knotweed and horsetail are considered the most powerful diuretics, so in acute cystitis, you need to be careful with them, taking them mostly as part of herbal teas that also contain anti-inflammatory herbs with an analgesic effect (for example, in combination with chamomile, plantain, St. John's wort, tansy, nettle). Valerian, lemon balm, kidney tea (orthosiphon stamineus) also have an antispasmodic effect.

But in case of chronic cystitis, these herbs can be used actively, since they will prevent congestion and thereby reduce the risk of exacerbations. Knotweed can be used regularly in the form of tea, and horsetail can be taken in courses when the condition worsens and the first unpleasant symptoms appear.

Other plants can also be used as diuretics for acute and chronic cystitis: bearberry, corn silk, goldenrod, lingonberry, angelica. The effect of taking these plants is more modest, but they act more gently, which reduces pain.

Bearberry herb (popular names: bear ears, bear berry, flour berry) is used for cystitis, pyelonephritis, inflammation of the prostate gland due to its healing effect on the genitourinary system. But it is necessary to adhere to the specified doses to avoid fever and vomiting, which are typical for an overdose. [ 3 ]

A diuretic decoction of bearberry is prepared as follows: take 10 g of dry herb per glass of boiling water, keep it in a water bath for a quarter of an hour, then cool it, add cold boiled water to 200 ml and take half a glass three times a day.

In addition to the diuretic effect, bearberry has also been noted to have some bactericidal and soothing effects, which makes it possible to use a decoction of the plant in the treatment of acute cystitis. But bearberry has an unpleasant property - the herb increases the acidity of urine, so it is recommended to include alkalizing foods and drinks in the patient's diet.

Corn silk is a diuretic, which is quite acceptable during pregnancy, when some lucky mothers have an increased risk of bladder inflammation, especially if they have previously suffered from this disease. [ 4 ]

The decoction is prepared from 3 teaspoons of dry raw material and a glass of water. The stigmas are poured with cold water, brought to a boil and kept on medium heat for 10 minutes, then the heat is turned off and the composition is left to infuse for an hour. The cooled decoction is filtered and taken three times a day before meals, 2 tablespoons for 1-2 weeks. After this, a break is taken for 4 days, and the treatment is continued for another 1-2 weeks.

Future mothers can also take corn silk infusion for cystitis. Take 1 tablespoon of plant material per glass of boiling water and leave for an hour. Take half a glass of the infusion before meals.

Corn silk-based products are not recommended for patients with thrombosis, thrombophlebitis, varicose veins, increased blood clotting, as well as those with decreased appetite and low body weight.

Many medicinal herbs are valued for their complex action: diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, analgesic, promote dissolution and removal of bladder stones if the disease is caused by damage to the bladder walls by stones. Using such herbs for cystitis, you can achieve good results without bothering with preparing a medicinal collection to provide complex treatment of the symptoms of the disease.