Cystitis

Treatment

At the onset of acute cystitis, it is essential to withhold all solid food immediately. If there is fever, the patient should fast either on water or tender coconut water for three or four days. If there is no fever, raw vegetable juices, especially carrot juice diluted with water, should be taken every two or three hours. By so doing the biochemical energy needed for digestion and metabolism of food is diverted to the process of eliminating toxins and promoting healing and repair. It is advisable to rest and keep warm at this time.

Pain can be relieved by immersing the pelvis in hot water or alternatively by applying heat to the abdomen, using a towel wrung out in hot water, covering it with dry towel to retain warmth. Care should be taken to avoid scalding. A little vegetable oil gently rubbed into the skin , will avoid too much reddening. This treatment may be continued for three or four days, by which time the inflammation should have subsided and the temperature returned to normal.

For the next two or three days, only ripe sub-acid fruits may be taken three or four times daily. These fruits may include grapes, pears, peaches,apples, and melon, as available.
While the hot compresses are intended to relieve pain, the use of cold water compresses to the abdomen is most valuable, if correctly applied, in relieving pelvic congestion and increasing the activity of the skin. Care should, however, be taken to ensure that compresses do not cause chilling.

After the all-fruit diet, the patient may gradually embark upon a well-balanced diet, consisting of seeds, nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits. The patient should avoid refined carbohydrates and salt, both at table and in cooking. Salt disturbs the balance of electrolytes and tends to raise blood pressure, which is frequently already raised in kidney troubles.

The prescribed dietary should exclude meat, fish and poultry. They produce uric acid. Most cases of food poisoning and infections, which may lead to gastritis and colitis, are also caused by the flesh foods.

In case of chronic cystitis, the patient should commence the treatment of strict adherence to the dietary programme, designed to cleanse the blood and other tissues and at the same time provide a rich source of natural vitamins and minerals in balanced proportions. The patient may adopt the following restricted diet for seven to ten days.

Upon arising : A glass of unsweetened apple juice or carrot juice

Breakfast : Fresh fruits, selected mainly from apple, pear, grapes, melon, peach and pineapple and a glass of buttermilk, sweetened with a little honey.

Mid-morning : Tender coconut water.

Lunch : A salad of raw vegetables such as carrot, beetroot and cabbage, mixed with curd and a tablespoon of honey. This may be followed by a ripe apple.

Mid-afternoon : One cup of unsweetened grape juice.

Dinner : A salad of green leafy vegetables and a fresh fruit, preferably a portion of melon sweetened with a teaspoon of honey.

Before retiring : One glass of mixed raw carrot and beet root juice.

After the restricted diet, the patient should gradually embark on a well-balanced diet , consisting of seed, nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits. Even after the recovery from the chronic condition, it will be advisable for the individual to live exclusively on vegetables or on tender coconut water or raw vegetable juices for a day or two, every month. The water treatment and other health building methods should , however, be continued to the greatest extent possible, so that the patient may stay cured.