Herbal Vaginal Steams (also traditionally called bajos), are known to cleanse, tone and nourish your cervix, uterus, and vaginal tissues.
Steaming can help with irregular and painful periods, hemorrhoids, vaginal dryness, uterine fibroids, or dark blood at the beginning or end of menstrual cycle. It is highly recommended for those who are preparing for medical procedures like IVF (invitro fertilization) at retrieval and pre-transfer.
When to do it will depend on what outcomes you are looking for. The ideal time would be just before your menses or medical procedures or just after your menses (just not during your menses). The herbs used can range from lavender, rose, calendula, chamomile, basil, oregano, marshmallow root, rosemary just to name a few.
I have put together packages for the ALIVE clinic that consist of:
1 cup organic lavender
1 cup organic rose
1 cup organic calendula
1 cup organic chamomile
How to do the steam… If you don’t have a commode or steaming chair, you can use a stainless steel bowl and toilet! Just make sure the bowl fits inside your toilet and you can sit on the toilet seat.
- Boil 3-4 cups of water and add 1 cup of the dried herbs.
- Steep the tea/herbs (covered) for 5-10 minutes.
- Place in your toilet bowl and sit and steam. **Be sure to test the steam with your arm to make sure it’s not too hot, you don’t want to burn yourself, do not sit until the steam is a comfortable temperature for you.
- Have socks on your feet and wrap a blanket around yourself to keep warm. Sit, Relax and Steam for about 20 minutes. Lie down afterwards and keep warm.
Note: It is recommended to do a trial steam first prior to the one before your procedure, that gives you an opportunity to see how you respond, as there can possibly be some side effects: it could change your cycle (darker fluids, debris, increase flow, or start cycle earlier) due to the cleansing effect.
When not to do this: if you are menstruating, or have extremely heavy menstrual cycle, vaginal infections, open wounds, sores or blisters or if you are pregnant or think you are pregnant.
Just an added note, I am not an herbalist or naturopath but this is highly recommended by the Arvigo group in conjunction with the abdominal massage so I have put a package together that smells and works great! Happy Steaming!