Infection: Bladder & Kidneys

Bladder Infections, Kidney Infections, the Spastic Bladder, and the Look-Alike: Pelvic Floor Spasm

Part of the Infection series. This sheet adds what is special to the bladder and kidneys. The core program (the two infection formulas, Echinacea, liver flushing and the five levels) is on the General Infection sheet. Kidney stones, failing kidney function and daily kidney care are on the Kidney Disease sheet.

Understanding the Condition

Urine Flows Down, Infection Climbs Up

The kidneys filter the blood and make the urine. The ureters carry it down to the bladder, a muscular holding tank, and the urethra lets it out. Because urine sits in the bladder until it is released, anything that irritates the bladder wall, or any bacteria that get in, has a long, quiet time to settle.

Most bladder infections start when germs travel up the urethra. In women the urethra is only about an inch and a half long; in men it is about eight and a half inches. That is the simple reason women get bladder infections so much more often than men. Caught early, the infection stays in the bladder. Left alone, or in a body whose elimination is already overloaded, it can climb the ureters into the kidneys, and that is when the fever and the deep backache come.

Diagram: the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, showing urine flowing down and an infection climbing up. — How the urinary tract fits together, and why an infection climbs. Diagram drawn for H.E.A.L.

What Goes Wrong

A bladder infection (cystitis) brings burning when you urinate, urgency, going often with little to show for it, and a bladder that feels full even when it has just been emptied. Acid urine makes the burning worse.
A kidney infection brings a deep ache in the back at about waist level, often with fever, chills and feeling very ill. It is more serious than a bladder infection and needs to be taken seriously.
A spastic or urgent bladder empties with a sudden urge when there is very little in it. Often the bladder has become too toxic, and a heavy load of bacteria, even a mild infection, adds to it.
A look-alike: pelvic floor spasm. The muscles that form a sling under the bladder can tighten and spasm, giving every sign of a bladder infection with no infection at all. More on this below.

The Infection Merry-Go-Round

Antibiotics suppress the symptoms, but they often send the infection deeper. The symptoms return shortly after the drugs are stopped, and it is back to the doctor for more. I rode that merry-go-round for years. The way off is to clear the infection completely and keep the way out open: the bowels moving with LBF, the liver flushed, and plenty of fluid going through the kidneys. When the bowel and liver are doing their job, less waste is left for the bladder to carry.

Get Yourself to the ER

Get medical care right away, and keep your herbal work going alongside it, if you have:

Fever and chills with back or side pain
Vomiting, or you can’t keep fluids or herbs down
Blood in the urine
You cannot pass urine at all
Signs of a bladder infection while pregnant
A young child with fever and burning or a change in urinating
An older person who suddenly becomes confused; in the elderly that can be the only sign of a urinary infection

Stone pain that is severe, won’t let up, or comes with vomiting needs care too; see the Kidney Disease sheet. The When Minutes Matter box on the General Infection sheet lists the signs for any infection.

The Emotional Side: the Energy Work

Healing the whole person. We are body, mind and spirit, and all three must heal together.

Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body, describes these patterns:

Bladder problems (cystitis): anxiety; holding on to old ideas; fear of letting go; being “pissed off.” Turn it around: I comfortably and easily release the old and welcome the new in my life. I am safe.
Kidney problems: criticism, disappointment and a sense of failure; shame; reacting to life like a hurt child. Turn it around: Everything happening in my life is working toward good, and good comes from every experience. It is safe for me to grow up.
Urinary infections (cystitis, pyelonephritis): pissed off, usually at the opposite sex or a lover; blaming others. Turn it around: I release the pattern in my consciousness that created this condition. I am willing to change. I love and approve of myself.
Urethritis: angry emotions; being pissed off; blame. Turn it around: I only create joyful experiences in my life.
Nephritis: overreaction to disappointment and failure. Turn it around: Only right action is taking place in my life. I release the old and welcome the new. All is well.
Prostate problems: mental fears weaken the masculinity; giving up; sexual pressure and guilt; belief in aging. Turn it around: I love and approve of myself. I accept my own power. I am forever young in spirit.
Incontinence: emotional overflow; years of controlling the emotions. Turn it around: I am willing to feel. It is safe for me to express my emotions. I love myself.
Bed-wetting (enuresis): fear of parent, usually the father. Turn it around: This child is seen with love, with compassion and with understanding. All is well.

Emotional patterns paraphrased from Louise Hay, Heal Your Body (Hay House). These are not faults to blame anyone for; they are places to look and let go.

Areas Affected & Opening the Way to Healing

Start the core program from the General Infection sheet. Herbal Aid 1 is the formula I use for bladder and kidney infections; it works best for clearing them. Keep the bowels moving with LBF so the waste has a way out, and keep the fluids going through.

A Bladder Infection: the First Twinge Is the Time to Act

There is a moment right at the start, a twinge, a little burning, the first urgency, when acting quickly can still stop it in its tracks. That is when to reach for Bladder Comfort.

Bladder Comfort for the burning. Juniper berry, cranberry, corn silk, parsley root and uva ursi. It neutralizes the acid that causes the burning and calms the irritated bladder. It is a comfort formula: it eases the pain while Herbal Aid 1 and Echinacea clear the infection. Take it one of two ways:
Stir 1 ounce of Bladder Comfort into 32 ounces of distilled water and drink it all at once. Or put 1 ounce in a large mug, pour 6 to 8 ounces of boiling water over it to drive off the alcohol, let it sit a minute or two, then top it off with cold water so you can drink it quickly.
Either way, drink it down fast. You want the herbs to hit the bladder all at once, not dribble in over a long drinking period. Then try to hold off urinating for about 45 minutes, so the herbs have time to work. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the bladder.

Clearing the Infection: a Place to Start

Herbal Aid 1: 1 teaspoon every 3 waking hours, about 5 doses a day.
Echinacea: 1 ounce a day, 4 to 6 days a week while you do the infection work; for chronic or repeated infections, 6 days a week.
Bladder Comfort, 1 teaspoon 3 times a day, only if there is ongoing pain and discomfort and an infection really is the issue.
How long: a first bladder infection usually clears in 7 to 10 days. If you have taken antibiotics again and again for the same infection, expect anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months.
For more in-depth infection work, see the levels table on the General Infection sheet, and step up to the level that fits.
Garlic paste to the feet for an infection that won’t clear; the directions are on the General Infection sheet.
The three drinks (below) are a nice addition to the bladder work. There is nothing in them to hurt anyone, and they give the kidneys a good flush.
Keep the fluids flowing. Plenty of distilled water. Dr. Christopher’s usual remedy for the bladder and kidneys was a strong parsley tea, at least two quarts, drunk freely. Marshmallow root tea soothes a burning, irritated tract.
Feed the kidneys every day. Kidney Support in Kidney/Bladder Tea, ½ teaspoon to each 8 ounces, hot or iced, during the work and afterward.
Take away the irritants. Dairy degrades my bladder quicker than anything else; cheese is very irritating to my renal system. Tea, coffee, sugar and soda should be avoided at all costs.

A Kidney Infection: the Aching Back

Kidney pain often feels like a stiff, aching back, so bad you hold on to the furniture to get around. But the kidneys sit at the same level as the lower back, so it can be hard to tell which one is talking. The three drinks answer the question.

Dara’s Three Drinks

Drink them one right after the other:

Echinacea: 1 ounce in 16 ounces of hot water.

Herbal Aid 1: 1 tablespoon in 16 ounces of hot water, with honey.

Hot Lemonade: a 16-ounce glass of hot water with 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, and fresh lemon juice and maple syrup to taste.

As the fluid filters through, it calms spastic kidneys. If the kidneys are the trouble, the ache will be gone within about an hour. If it does not let go, the trouble is most likely in the back. Either way, it rules a kidney infection in or out, and the kidneys get a good flush.

Herbal Aid 1 on the Infection Program schedule: 1 teaspoon in hot water every 3 waking hours for a mild infection, every 2 hours for a moderate one, and every hour for a serious one.
Echinacea, 1 ounce in a mug of hot water once a day, once or twice for a serious infection. Garlic paste on the feet as needed, and an ELF every few days, or five nights in a row for a serious infection.
Heat over the kidneys. Hot fomentations or a Kidney Salve pack over the kidneys calm the ache. Keep Kidney Support and the tea going alongside.
Fever with back pain needs medical care the same day.

When the Flow Is Blocked Up

Juniper berry and parsley root together, as in Bladder Support, I have seen be helpful for a blocked-up urine flow.
Marshmallow root soothes and eases the flow of urine (see the story of the teenage boy below).
Healing Salve across the lower belly, over the bladder. It is anti-inflammatory and may support an area that is swollen and blocked up.
Not able to pass urine at all is an emergency. Get medical care right away.

The Spastic or Urgent Bladder

Lobelia. An excellent antispasmodic that calms bladder spasms. Take 1 dropperful by mouth each time you void until the spasm clears. The bladder is then allowed to fill properly before the urge to empty comes.
Bladder Support (juniper berry, parsley root, ginger, uva ursi, marshmallow root, lobelia and goldenseal) for urgency and leaking, which are often driven by a mild infection or bacteria in the bladder. It is a healing food formula: ½ to 1 teaspoon, 3 to 5 times a day, depending on how much trouble there is.
Clear the toxic load. A week or two on the infection program while doing a good Kidney Flush. Some people need to repeat the Kidney Flushing Program every few months to keep the bladder healthy, and good hydration matters every day.

When It Feels Like an Infection but Isn’t: Pelvic Floor Spasm

The burning, the urgency, the bladder that feels full of infection: every sign is there, and the test comes back clean. The muscles at the base of the pelvis, the pelvic floor, have become too tight and gone into spasm. It is common in women who carry a lot of stress, tension or past trauma in the body. Other things can mimic an infection too: spicy foods, artificial sweeteners, coffee, citrus and alcohol, soaps and hygiene products, and in men, chronic prostatitis.

Rule out an infection first. The symptoms mirror a bladder infection exactly, so have it tested.
Stretch the pelvic floor, three times a day. Walking will not release it, no matter how many miles you walk; I walk 2 to 4 miles a day. Look up pelvic floor release stretching routines on YouTube and find the ones that suit you; I do mine on the bed, because my knees are tender. It will not happen overnight, but relief comes within a few weeks of a good daily routine.
Lobelia relaxes the pelvic floor muscles from the inside, and M&L Salve over the groin calms the spastic muscles on contact.
Bladder Comfort eases the burning when you void.

For Men

Prostate trouble and bladder trouble often go hand in glove: a slow stream, getting up at night, a bladder that never feels empty. The other problems that tend to come along with prostate trouble often come from poor circulation in the area too, and many men have been helped by opening that circulation back up. There are natural answers for all of it, so please ask. Many men don’t, because they think there is nothing we can do. See the Prostate sheet, and call us.

Male Urinary Tract Support Tea, a classic Dr. Christopher formula for the kidneys, bladder and prostate together: powdered goldenseal root 3 parts, and 1 part each gravel root, marshmallow root, parsley root, juniper berries, lobelia and cayenne. Stir 1 teaspoon into a cup of hot water and drink it, powder and all, or fill #00 capsules: 2 in the morning and 2 at night. When the need is urgent, ½ cup of the tea often through the day. It is very bitter; a little honey helps.
A bladder that doesn’t drain well. I have some men in wheelchairs who don’t empty their bladders well. Retained urine gives bacteria a place to grow, so they use a small amount of Bladder Comfort regularly as a preventive.

A Note on Juniper and Uva Ursi

Juniper berry and uva ursi, in Bladder Comfort and Bladder Support, are traditionally avoided during pregnancy and with an inflamed kidney (nephritis). If you are pregnant, or a kidney infection is active, check in with me first, and see the ER box for signs that need medical care.

Level of Commitment

Gentle support. The first twinge of a bladder infection, a bladder that is easily irritated, or a history of infections: Bladder Comfort at once, Kidney Support in Kidney/Bladder Tea every day, plenty of water, and the irritants taken away.
Focused cleansing. A bladder infection that has taken hold, a kidney infection, a spastic bladder, or infections that keep coming back: the infection program with Herbal Aid 1 and Echinacea, the three drinks, garlic paste to the feet, liver flushing with the ELF, and a Kidney Flush week to clear the toxic load.
The Incurables Program. Years on the merry-go-round, or a renal system weakened by repeated infection: the full program, alternating liver and kidney flushing weeks, and patience. It can take 2 weeks to 3 months to clear a chronic infection, and then keep the kidneys fed for good.

A Loose Healing Plan

At the first twinge: Bladder Comfort, drunk down fast. Start Herbal Aid 1 every 3 waking hours and Echinacea, and drink plenty of water.
If the back aches: the three drinks. Gone within the hour, it was the kidneys: step up the infection work. Not gone, look to the back.
Settled in: garlic paste to the feet, ELFs, heat over the kidneys, and the levels on the General Infection sheet.
Urgency and spasm: Lobelia each time you void, Bladder Support, and a Kidney Flush.
Symptoms but no infection: think of the pelvic floor; stretch three times a day, with Lobelia and M&L Salve.
All along: watch for the ER signs. Continue 3 to 5 days after every symptom is gone, then keep Kidney Support and the tea going.

Stories from the Work

Dara’s Story: Off the Merry-Go-Round

I have had to contend with frequent kidney infections since I was a teenager. Early on I would get a couple of infections a year. By my early twenties I had progressed to seasonal bouts, and over the next ten years they came more and more often, until I was spending more days on antibiotics than not. If I was not on a prescription for infection, I was fighting the backache and bladder discomfort that usually came before a full-blown infection.

In 1996 we moved from California to New York, where I was introduced to natural healing. I had lost my medical insurance, and a friend suggested I use some dry herbs instead of running off to the emergency room for another prescription. My symptoms cleared quickly, leaving me amazed that something so simple could be so effective. It was almost three months before the infection tried to return, but this time I knew what to do and headed it off with the same herbs. That was the beginning of my way off the merry-go-round.

Dara’s Story: The Spastic Bladder on the Road

In December 2002 my husband and I took our new car on a holiday road trip to California. On the drive back to North Carolina, we had only been on the road a few minutes when I had to void, and the urgency was awful. My sweet husband pulled off at the first opportunity, and I dashed into the restroom only to find my bladder held very little urine. That scene was repeated three or four more times over the next hour and a half. After nearly two hours of restroom hopping, I decided to try a dropperful of Lobelia. Back in the car I was amazed: it was nearly an hour and a half before I needed a stop, and this time there was no urgency and my bladder was full. I kept taking a dropperful each time I voided for the next few weeks, until the spastic condition had cleared.

Dara’s Story: The Bladder Infection That Wasn’t

This past year I had what felt like my first bladder infection in over 20 years: burning when I urinated, urgency, a bladder that felt full of infection. It was so strange, because I had not had one in years. I did three garlic pastes to my feet over several weeks, thinking I had an infection that would not clear. Testing showed no infection. When I looked deeper, I learned about pelvic floor spasm: my pelvic floor muscles had become very tight. I began a stretching routine three times a day, on the bed, since my knees are tender. The relief took several weeks, and after nearly six months of trying to clear the discomfort of an infection I did not have, I am pain-free.

From the Old Herbal Books: Marshmallow Root for a Teenage Boy

A teenage boy who had long ridiculed his mother for studying herbs was brought home from football practice doubled over in pain, unable to pass his urine. He refused the hospital and begged his mother to help. She pulled fresh marshmallow root from a field, and while the tea was still steeping he asked her to wash a root and hand it to him raw. Within moments of chewing it, he straightened up, made it to the bathroom, and the pain was gone. He never ridiculed her herbs again.

From the Old Herbal Books: Juniper Berries for a Pioneer Woman

On a pioneer wagon journey, a woman lay near death from what seemed to be a kidney ailment, and the company camped for the night expecting to bury her in the morning. A stranger told her husband to gather the juniper berries and leaves growing nearby, steep them, and give her the tea. By morning she had revived and was helping with breakfast, and the wagons went on their way.

More on the Bladder & Kidneys

This information is for education only. It is not meant to diagnose, treat or replace care from a qualified health professional.