The most common homeopathic UTI remedy
Is peeing painful or difficult? First, try cantharis.
Cantharis has been used due to its effects on the urinary system for centuries. In homeopathy, it is still used commonly for urinary infections. There are many remedies for urinary infections of course, but this is one of the most common. In my mind, you need to always first consider cantharis when someone presents with painful and frequent urination.
So what is it?
Cantharis is actually made from a tincture of ground up Spanish fly. The chemical thought to be responsible for the majority of its action is called cantharidin. Cantharidin is produced by the beetle to get other beetles…in the mood… In humans, it has been used as an aphrodisiac for centuries, although it fell out of favor due to the fact that it would also cause the horrible symptoms of a urinary or renal infection.
When to use it?
The urinary problems that will be helped by cantharis will present with increase frequency of urination, but the urine flows drop by drop or little bits at a time. Usually there will be incredible pain before, during and after urination, so much so that the person may scream, cry (or want to) and may bend double. The pain will be raw, burning, and cutting, like being cut with a hot knife in your nether regions (aren’t we glad we have a remedy for this kind of thing?!?). The urine itself can feel hot. The pain be in the urethra (so where the urine is coming out) and/or in the bladder (so just above your pubic bone).
There may be blood or mucus in the urine. After urination, there will often be tenesmus – in other words, it may feel like you want to keep going, you need to keep going, but nothing comes out, or there’s only a little dribble.
To make matters worse, there will be an incredible urge to urinate frequently, even if there isn’t much urine in the bladder. So it could be a whole hour or day of staying close to the washrooms, just to get those little painful drops out one by one. The pain might be made worse by drinking, in particular drinking coffee, cold temperatures, walking around and standing up. It might be made better by warmth, rubbing, sitting, or lying down. I know that’s a long list but think of it this way: the person who needs this remedy will probably be found sitting or lying down, and doing a little dance in their seat so that they can rub their nether regions a bit, preferably on hot water bottle. They don’t want to walk around for long, or even stand, and will drink less than they want to. The person generally may be restless (moving from place to place, shaking their leg, tapping their fingers, etc), irritable, easily become angry, and are dissatisfied with everything (because of course, they are very uncomfortable!).
Urinary infections are painful and annoying, but can become dangerous if the infection becomes systemic and involves the kidneys. This will often present as lower back and you may have a fever or feel like you have the flu. This truly can become an emergency, so if your urination changes and you have lower back pain, go to the doctor immediately. However on the car ride to the doctor, you can still consider taking cantharis if the back pain compels you to bend over or backwards while you walk, and if the back pain is dull, heavy, or burning. The fever may feel like you are heated internally, but have been dunked in ice water. Now for this to be the right remedy, not all of this has to apply to you. If a lot of it applies but not everything, then this is probably a good place to start.