Thursday, August 26, 2010

vaginal steam -- Mayan style and Korean style

I've been working with a Mayan Abdominal Massage practitioner, and she suggested that I do a vaginal steam each month.  Normally this is done right before your period and would be contraindicated if you are TTC, but she has her patients do it right after the end of the period but before ovulation, so it's ok to do it if you are TTC.

This page  descibes how to do it.  Also there is more information in the book Rainforest Home Remedies: The Maya Way To Heal Your Body and Replenish Your Soul.  Note in my case rather than using a chair, I put the bowl of herbs in  the toilet, works pretty well.  I used fresh rosemary from my garden. 

I haven't had time to write about my detox adventures in June, when I did some intensive detoxing activities, but one of them was to visit a Korean spa in the Chicago suburbs.  I noticed there a setup that looked like it had to be for something like vaginal steam, that they called a "wormwood sitz bath".  I couldn't find anything online about it, so I asked one of my Japanese friends who used to live in Korea, and who is interested in alternative medicine.

My friend told me "Wow, I'm surprised they have that in the U.S.  Yes it's very common in Korea. Due to the cultural pressure to bear a male heir, in Korean traditional medicine they have lots of ways to treat infertility, and this is one of them."  Then, she gave me a link to a wormwood steam spa in Tokyo!  So I just had to visit during my trip.  A spa specifically devoted to uterine cleansing!  And what's better, the website said specifically it's good for uterine fibroids.  (When I told my acupuncturist here she was so excited, as she said that wormwood has all sorts of beneficial properties.  And I found out that wormwood is the same thing as mugwort, which I have been drinking as an herbal infusion.)

One does two treatments at the wormwood spa.  First, you put your forearms and feet in a warm germanium bath, which according to them "makes you sweat as much as two hours of aerobics."  I've seen these germanium baths in Japan before but this was the first time I tried one, and wow it really did seem to work!  I felt detoxed.  I wonder why this hasn't caught on here in the U.S.

Then came the vaginal steam.  Wearing a cotton undergarment then a large cape over it, I sat down on a chair with a hole in the seat, over a steaming container of Korean herbs (wormwood and others -- I chose the "female complaints" blend) for 30 minutes.  Then a shower, change and go!  I really felt cleansed, and very warm inside!

I am going to order an at-home setup from Rakuten, the Japanese shopping site -- this one.  And got some extra bags of herbs here.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome post! I'm living in Korea now and have been having painful bad periods for years due to fibroids. Was kind of hoping I could come up on some herbal remedies while here in Asia. I'll definitely check into the steam bath here in Korea and the spa in Japan..

Thanks Again!

Anonymous said...

Awesome post! I'm living in Korea now suffering from fibroids and bad periods, but I wouldn't let that stop me from wanting to come to Asia. I'll be here for a year and will definitely check into these remedies.

Thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

Awesome post! I'm living in Korea now suffering from fibroids and bad periods, but I wouldn't let that stop me from wanting to come to Asia. I'll be here for a year and will definitely check into these remedies.

Thanks so much!

GreenFertility said...

Hi,

Did you end up buying this set? It's $100 just to ship it. I'm Koraen and know a lot of health stuff is very valid, so I'm curious!

Fibroid Shrinker said...

Yes, I did end up getting it. It works pretty well, but it's not nearly as intense an experience as getting it at the spa. I have been hearing lately that many Korean saunas in the U.S. have this available if you ask for "women's steam" so it may be better to try that.

Fibroid Shrinker said...

Hi Anonymous,
Thanks! Wow, how cool that you are living in Korea. Yes indeed do check out the steam, and acupuncture and herbs in Korea are terrific too, maybe those will help you. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

funny how i keep circling around to your blog, which i first found in 2008 (pretty sure) before my myomectomy.

anyhoo, just a not that wormwood and mugwort are two different plants. i'd drink mugwort tea but not sure about wormwood. mugwort is Artemisia vulgaris, also sometimes called 'common wormwood' (maybe this is the confusion?). wormwood is Artemisia absinthium, from which absinthe is made.

healing blessings and appreciation!

lynn

Fibroid Shrinker said...

thanks much Lynn for clearing up my herbal confusion!

Loving Life! said...

Thank-you! I just did one at home with some herbs I got from Arvigo. Sooo relaxing... Question - do you reuse herbs more than once?

My post on my experience: http://quirkyfitlady.blogspot.com/

Fibroid Shrinker said...

Hello Loving Life!
So glad you liked it!
I personally don't re-use the herbs but I can see maybe re-use once if it's the next day. I don't think it will keep long though.

Deb Gilson said...

Does anyone have a link you can share where to purchase wormwood sitz bath herbals? I go to Kings Spa in Chicago a couple times a year. Have a small personal sauna at home that would work beautifully. After chemo and radiation last year it feels wonderful to detox. Thank you!

Fibroid Shrinker said...

Hello Deb
I see the link I had no longer works. Here is some wormwood (yomogi) being sold on the Rakuten site. http://item.rakuten.co.jp/funk-1/yomogi2/?iasid=07_10002__42436232 But not sure how easy it is to order if you don't speak Japanese. Here it's being sold for tea but should be the same thing: http://www.japanesehealthyproduct.com/2012/06/mugwort-japanese-yomogi-herb-tea.html