Almost 75 percent of all women suffer from yeast infections at least once in their lifetime. There are approximately 45 percent who might suffer a couple of such infections in the course of their life.
Vaginal discharge
When one looks at the causes of abnormal vaginal discharge in USA, it’s been discovered that vaginal yeast infections are the second in the list, the first one being bacterial vaginosis.
Though there might be several different causes of vaginal infections, they are common during pregnancy. This is perhaps due to certain chemical changes in the vaginal environment such as increased sugar secretions in the vagina. This makes an ideal breeding ground for yeast to nourish & therefore overgrow.
It would also be pertinent to point out here that 5 percent of women who suffer from such infections have recurring vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC). This is applicable for all those women who suffer at least four or more vaginal yeast infections in 1 year. However, what is surprising is that the majority of the girls who suffer from RVVS don’t have any underlying medical conditions that would expose them to these recurrent Candida infections.
A woman needs to bear in mind that in a normal situation, the vagina generally has a discharge that is clear or slightly cloudy, free of odor and non-irritating. However, once the lady is in her period that the consistency and quantity of discharge may vary.
Douching should be avoided because it might upset the balance of normal bacteria present in the Vagina.
Good to know
Normally, the body has in it to fight ailments without treatment. However, there are rare opportunities when untreated yeast infections could result in severe pelvic infections.
There’s not any obvious sign that vaginal infections are caused by sexual actions between spouses. But if there are events where the male spouses reveal redness, itching or irritation on the penis tip (which may also be called Candida Balanitis). Then it might call for treatment with an antifungal ointment or lotion.
80 to 90 percent of infections can be cured with drugs within a maximum period of fourteen days, perhaps even in a couple of days.
Antibiotics should be taken only under doctor’s guidance and should be taken just for the period recommended by the physician. This is because abusing the use of antibiotics may cause the death of”good” bacteria in the vagina called as lactobacillus. This could cause yeast cells invading the vagina and getting out of control.
There could many scenarios where yeast could be within your vagina and you might not suffer from a yeast infection. Yeast that’s also known as Candida is found in healthy vagina as well as different areas of the body and is regarded as healthy bacteria – till they overgrow.
There are various sorts of Candida that could influence your vagina. In most cases when you’ve got a yeast infection you might be suffering from Candida albicans, that’s the cause for 90 percent of all infections. 10% of the girls might be suffering from another type of yeast infection called Candida glabrata that is somewhat harder to overcome. Hence, it’s important to see a doctor and only then begin treating the yeast infection.
Good to know
Yeast can also infect other areas of the body. However, once we use the term “yeast infections” we refer to infections from the Vagina. They’re known as “female yeast infections”, “vaginal yeast infections” or even vaginitis. Vaginitis is used as broader term including the infection along with other symptoms related to it such as inflammation of the vaginal area.