Vaginal yeast infections are something that most women will have to deal with at some point in their life. They can be uncomfortable and cause you to have a lot of problems.
Yeast Infections
Yeast infections are caused by an overgrowth of candida albicans, which is a fungus. C. albicans exists normally in your body. It's one of the organisms which lives in your intestines and helps to digest your food. As long as it is kept in balance, there is no problem, but when it starts to grow out of control, then your body can't handle it and you can end up with yeast infections.
Causes
There are a lot of things that could cause you to have an explosion of candida albicans and end up with a yeast infection. One of them is antibiotics. While antibiotics do a lot of good for your body, they can't necessarily differentiate between bad and good organisms. That means that the antibiotics can end up killing off some of the helpful organisms in your body, which can lead to other organisms going out of control. Other causes can include things like diabetes. That can cause a lot of sugar to build up in your system which can feed the c. albicans and help to promote a good growing environment.
Symptoms
There are several symptoms of vaginal yeast infections. The most common symptom is itching. The itching can include the exterior area surrounding the vulva, the interior of the vulva, and into the vagina itself. Another symptom is burning on urination and during sex. If you have a yeast infection, you may also see a discharge that looks like cottage cheese and may smell.
Treatments
While there are a lot of OTC or home remedies you can use to fight your yeast infection, you should go see a gynecologist to make sure that you have a yeast infection and not some of the other vaginal infections which could cause itching and burning. Your doctor will need to examine the area and may take a swab of the affected area so that they can look at it under a microscope. Once you have a positive diagnosis, your doctor can prescribe a topical anti-fungal ointment to help fight the yeast infection at the site as well as an anti-fungal pill that you can take that will help to get your guts back in order so you don't keep overproducing c. albicans.
Share18 May 2017
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