Suffering From Thrush?

Thrush, a term used for a common yeast infection caused by ‘Candida albicans’. Yeast is a type of fungus. Candida lives naturally in small numbers in gut, vagina and in the mouth and is generally kept under control by harmless bacteria. But when this balance is disrupted, however and the yeast is allowed to grow unchecked, it causes symptoms of thrush.

One must remember that it is not a sexually transmitted infection (sTI), but can sometimes develop after sexual intercourse.

Symptoms:

Many times a person will not have any signs or symptoms and don’t even know the condition even exits. While, some times the thrush symptoms will be noticed during a physical examination like screening for cervical cancerdefine.

A man may have symptoms like irritation, burning or itching at the tip of the penis or under the foreskin, rash or a dry scaly appearance on the shaft of the penis and/or a redness and swelling of the head of the penis, creamy discharge and may feel pain while urinating.

A woman may have symptoms like itching, creamy discharge, soreness and redness around the vagina, vulva and anus. She may feel pain while having sex and it may be may be associated with frequency of passing urine and burning or pain on passing urine. Many times it may be mistaken with cystitis, bladderdefine infection. Many females have thrush at least once during their lives and many will have more than one episode.

People at risk:

An individual is more at risk of developing thrush if he/she has an impaired immune systemdefine, such as those with AIDS, people on certain medications (such as antibiotics, oral contraceptives or corticosteroids), expecting women, have uncontrolled diabetes, wear tight fighting clothes, blood related cancer like leukemia or people who are receiving cancer treatments, renal failure needing dialysis.

Sex during thrush:

I would say be safe and avoid having sex during thrush episode as the yeast infection can be passed on to the sexual partner by fingers during foreplay or after vaginal or anal sex. Many times a person may experience a burning sensation during or after sex.

Diagnosis:

Before taking any medication you must be sure that it is thrush and for that you have to undergo a simple test. The GP or your doctor will use a swab to take a sample of cells from the vagina or penis. The doctor may also examine vagina, penis and genital area.

Treatment:

During thrush episodes, vaginal or oral thrush, you can use locally applied creams, pessaries, lozenges or gels, depending on the site affected. Antifungal drugs, such as fluconazole, clotrimazole and miconazole can be used to treat the infection. Do always consult your doctor or pharmacist before taking a medication.

Many times thrush will go away itself as human body can often kick off few infections without treatment. But if left untreated, vaginal thrush may switch on inflammation of the urethradefine (urethritis) in your sexual partner.

Prevention:

Try to keep the area dry, wear loose-fitting clothes made from cotton, eat more yoghurt containing acidophilus cultures or take acidophilus supplements as it will encourage the growth of healthy organisms in the gut and prevent Candida from taking over.

Avoid alcohol, cut back on sugar and drink less coffee as all these factors will encourage the yeast infection to grow. If you are having recurrent thrush then you must consult your doctor and have a blood or urine test for glucose, to rule out diabetes.