Boric Acid Powder: Do The Pros Outweigh The Cons

Boric acid powder is used as a home treatment for chronic yeast infections. But, should boric acid be your first choice?

Without a doubt, using Boric Acid for a yeast infection treatment is controversial. There have been many studies on boric acid and the pros and cons of its' medicinal uses.

Pros of Boric Acid Powder Use

A huge pro of boric acid is that it can be used for a variety of ailments such as vaginal yeast infections, male yeast infections, jock itch and athlete's foot.

For example, in the research article "Treatment of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis" boric acid powder is safely used to treat yeast and fungal infections such as candidiasis (vaginal yeast infections).

The recommended yeast infection treatment involves inserting a vaginal suppository which contains 600 mg of boric acid. You do this daily for 14 days. Boric acid is available in powder form from a pharmacy, without a prescription or you can easily buy it online. You pack the powder into an empty gelatin capsule and insert. If you have difficulty filling the capsules on your own, there are Capsule Filling Machines available online.

Some health food stores also sell a pre-made Boric Acid Suppository that contains a combination of boric acid, herbs and other soothing ingredients.

For male yeast infections or jock itch, some people have found relief by applying boric acid to the affected area for several days to a week.

The research article mentioned above also discusses using boric acid in your socks to prevent athlete's foot.

As well, boric acid is inexpensive, easy to find and easy to use.

Cons of Boric Acid Use

Many people have expressed concerns about using Boric acid for medicinal reasons largely because there has not been any long term research on boric acid's safety. Also, boric acid is commonly used as a cleaner, poison or toxin which right away puts many off of using it as a healing substance. But, sometimes this can be a knee jerk reaction and not one based on common knowledge.

In the conclusions of the research article "Boric acid vaginal suppositories: A Brief Review" it was stated that boric acid should not be considered a first-line treatment for vaginal yeast infections.

This research article points to safer, more effective treatments which can be used, often for shorter durations. It quotes studies which support boric acid's safety when used for short periods vaginally, but points out there is not any long term studies supporting longer term use of boric acid powder for yeast infections.

Under medical supervision, boric acid may be appropriate for chronic yeast infections that have become azole-resistant or have failed responding to other forms of treatment.

This means the yeast infection does not get better from treatment with antifungal drugs from the "-azole" family such as Miconazole (Monistat OTC Cream), Clotrimazole (Canesten OTC Cream) or even diflucan or home remedies.

Doctors will sometimes prescribe Diflucan and a boric acid suppository to be used together.

If you want an all natural way to cure your yeast infection, I recommend you read this book. It helped me put all the bits of information together and get rid of my Candida for good.

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