In her New York Times best-selling book, We’re Going to Need More Wine, Gabrielle Union keeps it 100 percent real on just about everything: raising young Black men, dealing with sexual violence, miscarrying and more. In between those heavier essays, Union said during Refinery29‘s podcast, Unstyled, that she shared lighter stories in between to lighten things up and showcase her humor — all while still keeping it 100. One of those lighter stories includes a tale about trying to deal with a yeast infection by inserting yogurt into her vagina, all to avoid being recognized by people at the store while trying to buy Monistat.
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It’s actually a somewhat common home remedy, and while the jury is out on whether or not it’s a good idea (garlic cloves instead get less of a side-eye), it worked for her:
There is an essay in the book about some of the downsides of fame. Like buying tampons. Once someone recognizes you, they will follow you through the store. They want to know what’s in your basket. And I know I need super plus tampons and some Always with wings because I do have a heavy flow. And then you see the reaction of the person in the aisle, like, “She’s a bleeder. Look at her! She’s a bleeder! She has to get the wings. The overnights? She’s really a bleeder.” It’s just such weird personal information that you end up having to share because you’re so surveilled.
So I ended up in a situation where I had a yeast infection. I was in Miami with a different boyfriend and I didn’t want to go to CVS to buy Monistat. I was literally afraid to treat a medical condition that is easily treatable over the counter because I did not want to be known as having anything wrong with my vagina. So I called my girlfriend who always has an answer for everything and she was like, go get yogurt and then you’re going to just put the yogurt up your vagina. I trusted her. She always had an answer for everything. She was the first person in our group to talk about the Neti pot. So we all trusted her with pretty much every diagnosis. She’s very evolved. So I go and get Dannon yogurt, vanilla. I get back to the house and I realize, it’s not going in. I can’t get the yogurt into my vagina. So I call her back and I’m like, “It’s not going in! It’s just slapped on the outside,” which is providing a bit of relief, but I need to get it in there. She said, “Go to McDonald’s, go get a straw, one of the big McDonald’s straws, then go back to his house, slurp up the Dannon yogurt and then use it as an applicator to get in there.” Ultimately, I was able to get the McDonald’s straw, I was able to get the yogurt in there and I did find some relief.
You’ve probably heard of people eating yogurt to curb future yeast infections, but yogurt inside of the vagina? Maybe not as much. Still, there’s no real harm in trying to insert yogurt into your vagina. But unlike Union, experts say if you must try this form of a remedy, opt for yogurts without flavor.
