In this episode, we’re talking about UTIs and why the bacteria around your vagina and bladder are essential for good health. I’m chatting with registered Chinese medicine practitioner Joanna Macmeikan about all things UTIs and bacterial vaginosis and why antibiotics are not always the answer.
Now you may have heard of the gut microbiome before, it’s a collection of literally trillions of tiny micro-organisms that are thought to have a powerful effect on your overall health. But did you know that there is also a collection of bacteria in the female reproductive tract? Yep, our vagina, our bladder and our urethra are all full of good bacteria and just like in our gut, they play a huge role in keeping us healthy.
But the relationship can get a little more complicated when these levels of good bacteria become a bit wonky and bad bacteria dominates. And sometimes, things that we do in our daily lives can disturb this delicate environment and then we can be at risk of urinary tract infections, an imbalance of bacteria called bacterial vaginosis. And even though you may never have heard of BV before, it’s more common than thrush. Sometimes these types of concerns are one-off problems that can be fixed with a quick trip to the GP, a cream or a course of antibiotics. But for some women, it’s not that simple. The problem keeps coming back and life gets miserable.
And that’s where my friend Joanna Macmeikan comes in.
Joanna is a registered Chinese medicine practitioner here in Melbourne who became interested in complementary healthcare after realising that a lot of the time, the conventional medical approach to treating illness was just masking symptoms and never really getting to the actual root cause of the problem. She returned to university to study to become a Naturopath, and by accident stumbled onto Chinese medicine, and it was there that she felt she’d found the answers she’d been looking for.
Joanna believes that good health gives you freedom to live the life you want, and to experience as much happiness as you can along the way, and she’s dedicated to helping people find lasting solutions to their health challenges. She’s also a Mother to two little girls, lives for food, music, and hula hooping, and owns far too many books.
