There is a fungus that lives on all of us that is called Candida Albicans. It remains harmless because of the good bacteria in our body that keeps it so. However, when the said fungus managed to overgrow, that’s when it develops into a yeast infection. This is something that we need to concern ourselves with because yeast infection can attack both males and female in different age groups. Candida Albicans or more popularly known as candidiasis can grow in warm, dark and moist areas in your body. Here are the yeast infection symptoms to look out for and be aware of:
ON VAGINAL YEAST INFECTION
Itching on vulva or vagina. It would start mildly until it becomes unbearable especially when left untreated.
A general burning sensation that can also occur when urinating. Urinary Tract Infections also bring a burning sensation when urinating. In order to determine if the burning sensation is part of yeast infection symptoms, you should be able feel it as the urine comes out and passes through the raw, sensitive area around your vagina. If it’s a urinary tract problem, you’d be able to feel the burning sensation even before the urine starts to come out.
Swelling or redness of the vagina
Pain during sexual intercourse, so abstain from having sexwhen you do have yeast infection to avoid the risk of passing it on to your partner and then him passing it back to you creating a really nasty cycle as a result.
Unusual discharge. Watch out for a cottage cheese like discharge that can either be thick or watery and with a color that ranges from white, grey to yellowish.
A dominant, unusual odor
ON ORAL YEAST INFECTION
Discomfort or pain when swallowing or eating
White patches in the throat and/or mouth
You can confirm if the patches areindeed yeast infection symptoms by lifting it to see if it will bleed easily and show lesions. You can do this just once if you really want to confirm if it is a yeast infection. Doing it several times can risk the spread of the infection further.
Cracking
Itching
Peeling of skin between the fingers
Burning sensation
Shiny pink rashes with scaly, blistered edges in the folds of the skin
Dampness
Swollen nail folds over the nail cuticles
Inflamed reddish skin that can be painful and have pus
ON PENILE YEAST INFECTION
Itching
Rash
Pain during intercourse and even on a sexual dysfunction
Swelling and Redness
There is a yeast infection treatment available in both medical and natural form which can address or cure the problem of yeast infection. Medicinal treatments are often sold over the counter and can guarantee a cure after applying it religiously in a few days. For a mild yeast infection problem, some of these following treatments can be used as well:
YOGURT
It contains live Lactobacillus Acidophilus, a bacterium that is also found inside a vagina. Yogurt creates an environment that is too acidic for the fungus to live with, thus killing it in the process. You can simply apply yogurt by using a syringe and insert it in the vagina. There are also Lactobacillus cultures contained in capsules that you can buy in a local health shop.
ALLIUM SATIVUM
Another effective yeast infection treatment that can be abundantly found in garlic. For many centuries now, garlic has been known for its ability to cure certain infections and diseases. Candidiasis – a fungus responsible for creating yeast infections on many women, and sometimes on men – is just one of the various types of fungi that garlic can kill. This humble herb contains Allicin which is a great yeast infection treatment. For its application, just skin a clove of garlic and tie it to a string like that of a tampon and insert it inside your vagina as you would a tampon as well. It is imperative that you tie the string securely around the garlic so you can pull it out easily after leaving it inside your vagina for several hours. For a bad case of vaginal yeast infection, however, you might need to leave the garlic on overnight. If you are not comfortable using garlic as a suppository, there are garlic substitutes available and sold in the form of yeast infection treatment capsules in health shops.
AZOLE
This medication belongs to a family of antifungal drugs. This medicine blocks the growth of ergosterol, a material crucial to the yeast cell wall. Without it, the said wall becomes leaky that it will eventually kill the yeast. Examples of Azole medications are butoconazole, miconazole, clotrimazole, tioconazole, and fluconazole.
POLYENE ANTIFUNGALS
This type of yeast infection treatment includes amphotericin B and nystatin. For superficial candidal infections, doctors would prescribe nystatin, but for worse cases of candidiasis or systemic fungal infections, they would prescribe amphotericin B. These antifungal remedies will work their magic by attaching themselves to ergosterol, and then it will form artificial holes in the wall it’s making so the yeast would leak and die.
When you start to notice an unusual discharge in your underwear coupled with a really itchy feeling in your vaginal area, those are strong signs of yeast infection. Other common symptoms of this infection are: soreness, swelling, and redness of vulva; a strong yeasty odor; rashes and dryness in the vaginal area; and pain during sexual intercourse. Although yeast infection often grow around the vaginal area, it can also develop in some exposed and moist sections of our body like the penis foreskin, ear, armpit, nostrils, diaper area and oral cavity.
Yeast infection is fungal and is mostly caused by a fungal species type called cadida albicans or Candidiasis. People who are at risk of developing yeast infection are the following:
People with diabetes or are suffering from HIV infections
Those that are under medication of antibioltics or are taking birth control pills. This type of medicines usuallytriggers yeast infection because it disturbs the normal balance of micro-organisms in a person’s body.
People who are fond of wearing clothing that increase heat moisture in their genital area are also atrisk of being infected. Tight nylon clothing usually is the culprit and your nylon under wears or swim suits aren’t exempted.
Jogging, exercising or bicycle riding in hot or humid environments can raise the temperature in the vagina, making it moist and be considerably at risk of getting affected.
Overstress, lack of sleep and maintaining a poor diet can also get your body to develop yeast infection.
Women feel itchiness in their vagina from time to time, so there is no reason to always mistake it as a yeast infection. Remember that there are other symptoms to consider before alarming yourself the moment you feel itchiness down there. Thirty percent of women who tend to self-medicate without even consulting a doctor to confirm an infection are mistreating themselves. In order for you to confirm if you indeed have yeast infection, you need a doctor or a health care provider to take a sample of fluid from the allegedly infected area on your body so that they can get it tested in a laboratory; once the test result confirms the presence of candidiasis, only then can the correct treatment be started. Your doctor would then prescribe vaginal suppositories and medicated creams to be applied on the affected area. It’s also possible that you’ll be prescribed with certain dosage of oral medicines for a faster recovery.
Those who had yeast infection before would have probably sworn to do anything not to develop such infection again. To lower your chances of developing it again or for those who don’t want to ever experience it, here are preventive tips on what you need to do.
After using the ladies room, wipe your vaginal area from front to back
Choose to use cotton underpants or underwear
Make sure that you wipe your vaginal area completely dry after taking a bath and before getting dressed
Always wash your vaginal area thoroughly clean whenever you shower
It will also help a lot when you take supplements that are designed to prevent the occurrence or recurrence of yeast infections
As much as possible, avoid douching
Keep away from heavily scented perfumes, soaps and talcum powder
Avoid using scented tampons or sanitary pads, and whenever you use one, do change it frequently
Whenever you go swimming or working out, change out of your swimsuit or exercise clothes right away once you are done
Do not use clothing that are too tight in the crouch
It is also better to wash your underwear or undergarments in hot water, and do skip the fabric softener
Do not share washcloths and towels
Only use or take antibiotics when it is really necessary
When you are experiencing recurring yeast infections and at the same time using contraceptives, like birth control pills, you might want to consider changing your method for birth control
Avoid painful sex by making sure your vagina is naturally well-lubricated before intercourse
Avoid having sex when you still have yeast infection in order not to infect your partner too, otherwise you’d be transferring the infection back and forth for a lengthy cycle
Maintain a diet high in protein, veggies and grains
Steer clear of alcohol, sugars and processed foods
Candida Albicans is the fungus responsible in creating yeast infections. Its overgrowth is what triggers the infection to develop. Although it commonly develops in the mouth and on the genitals, it’s not impossible to have one in the intestines either. An intestinal infection comes with a lot of symptoms and they include the following:
Intestinal cramps
Memory loss
Low immunity
Itching bowels
Heartburn
Acidity
Lethargy
Fatigue
Depression
Mood swings
Fogginess
Urinary infections
Constipation
Diarrhea
Low tolerance on alcohol
Skin infections
As soon as you notice a problem on your intestinal tract, it is better to start taking action right away. Don’t leave it unattended for too long, otherwise it will become a recurring problem. Worst case scenario is that the infection can enter your bloodstream, making it a systemic infection that can undoubtedly attack your other organs. Treating an intestinal yeast infection is not as easy as a vaginal infection wherein there are plenty of suppositories and creams to choose from. What you can do on your end is to avoid sugary foods and compensate the good bacteria that you’ve lost by eating live and plain probiotic yogurt or taking probiotic supplements.
In order to detect if you have yeast infection as early as you can, you better familiarize yourself of its symptoms. What you don’t know can really hurt you as far as yeast infections are concerned. However, if you already know what the symptoms are and you suspect that you have it and want to confirm your suspicion right away, you can do any of these two home tests in detecting a yeast infection.
The Swab Test
There are already several companies that make home swab tests to detect yeast infection, and so far, it has proven itself to be accurate. It uses a litmus paper that is really good in determining the pH value of the discharge that is a result of a yeast infection. You will also find a piece of paper with a scale of colors inside the home swab test kit wherein you can base your test results with. What you need to do is to apply the litmus paper against your vaginal or any affected area for a few seconds, then compare the color that will show in your litmus paper against the color scale in order to determine what the color in your litmus paper mean.
The Spit Test
Prepare a glass of water before you go to bed and leave it on your nightstand. When you wake up the next morning, and before you even get out of bed, grab your glass of water and spit into it. Let the water sit for 30 minutes while you watch it closely. Once you see any signs of strings moving from the top of the water going downwards, then it is a sign that you do have yeast infection. However, if your spit sinks to the bottom of the glass, this can be an indication that you have severe infection and may need to see your doctor right away.
An overgrowth of yeast is what causes a yeast infection. The most common type of yeast infection is called candidiasis. It comes from these types of fungi named Candida Albicans and they grow on all surfaces of our body. When these fungi abnormally grow and outnumber the good bacteria in our body, particularly in our warm and moist areas, that’s when they cause infections such as vaginal or oral yeast infections. Other basic facts about candidiasis are as follows:
Candidal infections are normally found in warm and moist areas in our body like the underarms, mouth, vagina and baby butts. Our skin usually blocks yeast effectively, but cuts or breakdown would allow these organisms to be able to penetrate
Diaper areas and the mouth are the typical affected areas in infants
Vaginal Candidiasis is another term for vaginal yeast infection and is also the most common form of vaginitis
Oral yeast infections or thrush in adults become more common as they age. Adults are also prone to yeast infection around dentures, nail beds, and beneath the skin folds. Most of these infections, with the exception of nail beds, are superficial and can be cured easily with treatment. The nail beds, however, often undergo prolonged therapy.
There is also a possibility that a normal yeast infection will spread throughout one’s body but it only happens rarely. This happens when the fungus gets to enter the bloodstream. Sadly, forty-five percent of these people may die, which is all the more reason for us to treat yeast infections seriously and undergo treatment as soon as we confirm we have it.
When a diaper rash becomes really stubborn that it refuses to be gone despite of the tubes of diaper rash cream you’ve used against it, you might need to consider the possibility of a yeast infection already. In its early stages, it is indeed quite difficult to tell if a common diaper rash is becoming a yeast infection, but when left untreated, it then becomes very noticeable.
Look out for these following symptoms in order to detect early on if it isn’t a normal diaper rash anymore:
Check closely for a slightly raised border on those bold red rashes
Scaly skin
Look for satellite lesions. If you don’t know what they are, those are smaller spots isolated from the main rash that are found on inflamed areas.
You can frequently find the infection in the skin folds of your infant’s groin area.
The rash still hangs around even you’ve already applied diaper rash treatments for two days
You may not necessarily need to see a physician when your baby has yeast infection because in its early stages, it still can be treated with over-the-counter treatments. But as soon as the rashes begin oozing or open-sored, or your baby develops fever, immediately call your pediatrician and have it looked at. Those can already be signs of bacterial infections imperative of a medical attention.
Thrush is a common term used for an oral yeast infection. It mostly affects a lot of younger children and even newborns. The same bacteria that cause diaper rash and vaginal yeast infection are the very same thing that causes a person to develop thrush.
Moms who breastfeed can actually get yeast infection on their nipples or breast if their baby has thrush. This can cause pain while a mother breastfeeds. In this case, both mom and her baby need to seek treatment from their doctor.
Always carefully clean any items that go into your baby’s mouth to lessen the chances of them getting thrush but there are times that no matter how much you sterilize a child’s pacifiers, toys and bottles, they’d still get the infection because Candida Albicans that causes yeast infection is almost everywhere.
When your baby gets thrush over and over again, make sure that it isn’t because of an overused bottle or pacifier. Once the baby’s infection is cured, it might be a very good idea to get rid of those old bottles and pacifiers and buy a new set.
If your infant’s thrush doesn’t easily go away and annoyingly keeps coming back, it might be because of an immune system problem. This might really be the case if your infant is not gaining any weight or has other medical problems.
Thrush or oral yeast infection might be common in men but they can also get other types of yeast infections that are equivalent to a woman’s vaginal yeast infection, too. A penile yeast infection grows on a tip of a man’s penis and men develop such infections almost for the same reasons that women do. It is just the likelihood that is different. Below is the list of the most common penile yeast infection causes.
Antibiotics. A prolonged antibiotic use can cause penile yeast infection because it can eventually eradicate some of the standard contingent creatures that reside in a man’s crotch that help in preventing the overgrowth of yeast to happen.
Sexual Transmission. An unprotected sex with a yeast-infected woman or partner can result in transferring her infection to you. Once you get infected, you also become capable of transferring back the infection to her. Until both of you are sure that you are already infection-free, you are better off refraining from vaginal intercourse.
Diabetes. When a man has diabetes, his urine becomes a yummy food for yeasts due to the elevated sugar in it. You definitely need to go see a doctor in order to address this particular issue and cure the infection right away.
