Herbal Sitz Bath 101
The term Sitz Bath comes from the German word for “seat”. They were once widely used as a medical practice for healing, but now unfortunately largely ignored, even though they have been proven to offer healing to many female problems.
What is a Herbal Sitz Bath?
A herbal sitz bath is an age old therapy for restoring health and vitality to the reproductive system. Sitz baths apply the principles of hydrotherapy to draw fresh blood to the pelvic area aiding in healing and cleansing from the perineum to the annus. Sitz Baths can be part of a regular regimented weekly program for overall health in the region but are more commonly used for healing conditions such as postpartum healing, perineum tears, hemorrhoids, genital herpes, prostatitis, and vaginal irritation.
How Does it work?
Traditional applications use hot and cold water to dilate and constrict blood flow to the pelvic area. This pumping action aids in moving fresh blood to the area and removing stagnation. Additional applications such as herbs or Epsom salts provide added healing benefits to the area.
What Can I use it for?
- Soothing perineum after birth
- Perineal tears
- Hemorrhoid relief – healing, pain, and itch relief
- Prostatitis relief for post-surgery pain
- Vaginal irritation – soothes inflammation, redness & itching
- Period Cramps – Helps ease pain and inflammation
- Constipation
- Post-surgery – cleansing and soothing perineum and annus
- Good hygiene – cleansing tonic to the pelvis region
How to Use:
- Prepare an infusion of the herbs: Use ½ a cup .5 oz of herbs to 8cups of boiled water. The water temperature should be hot but not to the point of burning to the touch.
- Steep herbs for a minimum 15 minutes or, longer (the longer you steep the tea, the stronger the infusion).
- Strain the infusion into a shallow basin. The shallow basin needs to be big enough to fit your bottom into, but also be able to fit inside your bathtub. You can also purchase a sitz bath that sits on top of your toilet.
- Carefully ease your bottom into the herbal water, using the edges of the bathtub to hold yourself steady.
- Sit for several minutes, steeping like a tea bag, your bottom in and out of the hot water.
- Continue this until the water start to cool.
- You can finish off with a cold rinse to the area either using a shower head or filling the bucket with cold water and dipping in and out a few times.
Other Ways You Can Use Our herbal Sitz Bath:
Peri-Bottle
Peri, short for perineum is a squirt bottle that allows you to clean your pelvic area easily after delivery and birth. Perineum irrigation is crucial for new moms to help prevent infection, and aid in a speedy recovery.
- Make an infusion of the herbs: Use 1 tbsp per cup of boiled water. Steep for 15 minutes.
- Fill you Peri- Bottle with the herbal infusion to use as a soothing rinse after using the bathroom.
- You can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge. When you want to use, simply reheat the infusion insuring it is warm but not too hot that it will burn.
- Squeeze the warm tea onto the vaginal area while sitting on the toilet.
Herbal Padsicle
A padsicle is a pad soaked in a herbal infusion and put into the freezer to help soothe the tissues of the perineum and the vulva after a vaginal birth.
- Make an infusion of herbs: Use 1 tbsp per cup of boiled water. Steep for 15 minutes.
- With a spray bottle, spray each pad with the tea concentration. Use enough tea to dampen the pad but don't saturate the pad.
- Wrap the pad in parchment paper and place in a container and put it into the freezer until you are ready to use.
- When ready to use, unwrap and let sit for a few minutes. Use 2-5 daily for the first two weeks postpartum.