Boric acid is a dangerous poison that can burn through your esophagus, stomach, and intestines. … [+]
Just because something can go into your vagina doesn’t mean that it can go into your mouth. Ari Kytsya, who goes by the handle @notburnttoasthehe on TikTok, had a oral warning about boric acid vaginal suppositories in the following TikTok video:
Yes, that’s boric acid vaginal suppositories with an emphasis on the word “vaginal.” Actually, the emphasis should be on the words “boric acid” too as you’ll see soon. And maybe the word “suppositories” as well. OK, the emphasis should probably be on all of four of those words.
The video started with Kytsya saying, “Let me tell you a story about when I first started taking boric acid.” The video then flipped to her providing quite a mouthful: “So I was going to a shoot, and I took one. And my friend was like, ‘Did you just swallow that?’ And I was like ‘Yeah, why?’”
Apparently, her friend then explained to her that a boric acid vaginal suppository is supposed to go into one’s vagina and not one’s mouth. If you were look at the packaging for any suppository, typically it won’t say, “Insert into any opening” or “Place wherever you can.” Instead, the packaging should specify whether the suppository should only go into one of three body locations: your vagina, rectum, or urethra, with these three routes typically not being interchangeable. After many times have you heard someone say, “It can go in the vagina or the rectum—it really doesn’t matter?”
Kytsya continued with, “I had been swallowing boric acid for four days. So I called my sister cause she works in the medical whatever. And she was like, ‘Those are actually poison.’ So I had to call Poison Control.”
Yeah, many real medical whatevers will tell you that boric acid is not like fish and chips. Instead, it’s a dangerous poison. A boric acid vaginal suppository consists of boric acid mixed with a solid material, such as cocoa butter or glycerin, that can melt at body temperature. Once you insert the suppository into the intended body opening, the solid material begins dissolving, releasing the boric acid into the surrounding area.
The problem here is that you really have to be careful about where boric acid may go. Boric acid is a caustic chemical, meaning that it can burn through tissue rather than say very hurtful things to you. It’s a component of some powdered roach-killing products. And “roach-killing” and “your mouth” are two things that typically should not go together.
One can also find boric acid in other types of rodent and insect pesticides, antiseptics, astringents, enamels, glazes, and photography chemicals. All of these should be on your “Do not eat” list. Some medicated powders, skin lotions, and eye wash products do contain boric acid as well. But in all such cases, the packaging should say, “Do not swallow.”
Kytsya didn’t just throw her hands up after hearing about boric acid. She had to throw up other things too, as she related in the video, “So I had to instantly make myself throw up. And I was terrified, but I ended up being fine. But a tip for everyone: don’t swallow what you are supposed to put inside of you.”
That’s a good tip. Again, any time you see the word suppository or anything that looks like a rounded or con-shaped suppository, do not think mouth. If you are at what you believe to be a restaurant and see the word “suppository” on the menu, you may want to ask for some clarification and make sure that Yelp didn’t guide you to a clinic instead. And under no circumstances should you swallow boric acid. It can cause significant damage to your esophagus, stomach, and intestines even for weeks after you’ve swallowed the stuff. This can result in holes in those portions of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. And your GI tract is not like a pickleball. You don’t want holes in those portions. Such holes can serve an entry points for microbes to cause bad and even life-threatening infections in your chest and abdomen. As you can imagine, boric acid poisoning can lead to death, which, by the way, is not good.
Unfortunately, there is no magical antidote to boric acid poisoning. Instead, treatment involves managing the symptoms and complications. If you swallow boric acid, you may start having diarrhea and vomiting up blue-green stuff. You can also develop various skin issues such as bright red rashes, blisters, and the sloughing of skin. You may experience fevers, headaches, weakness, low blood pressure, restlessness, changes in urination, and twitching of facial muscles, arms, hands, legs, or feet. You may even suffer seizures or fall into a coma. Depending on where the boric acid went and what damage is caused, surgery may be necessary to remove burned skin or fix damage to the esophagus, stomach, or intestines.
Even though various people on TikTok have been promoting the use of boric acid suppositories for vaginal yeast or bacterial infections, it’s better instead to get the direct guidance of a real medical doctor before trying this remedy. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai does emphasize that boric acid “is NOT a standard treatment” for vaginal yeast infections. While boric acid can adjust the acidity levels in your vagina, which, in turn, could possibly help deal with yeast infections and the resulting symptoms in that location such as itching and burning, it may not necessarily be effective, especially if the infections occur over and over again. Moreover, there are a number of situations where you really shouldn’t be using boric acid suppositories such as when you have are pregnant, breast feeding, or allergic to boric acid or have diabetes, immune systems issues, or frequent infections.
Plus, boric acid suppositories can turn sex into a real burning love experience in a bad way. The acid can burn through condoms and diaphragms. And as you can imagine that can lead to a hole-ly bleep situation. Boric acid can also decrease the effectiveness of vaginal spermicides. So if you are using boric acid vaginal suppositories for some reason, it’s better to hold off on sex.
All of this shows the importance of knowing the route of administration when using any type of medication. Check the medication packaging carefully. Look for phrases like “Do not swallow” or “Do not put in mouth.” Make sure you know where specifically you can and can’t place the medication. Not everything that can go into your vagina or rectum should go into your mouth and vice-versa. After all, when you get served some broccoli in a restaurant, you wouldn’t just put that broccoli anywhere, would you?