Are vaginal yeast infections contagious?
During sexual contact, are vaginal yeast infections contagious?
Whilst it is possible that vaginal yeast infections are contagious during sexual contact, it is unusual. Because of the differences between male and female sexual organs, a woman is more likely to contract vaginal thrush from her sexual partner if he is infected with male yeast infection as the female genitalia are not as exposed to air (making an easier habitat for candida overgrowth to happen once the fungus has been introduced to the vagina - being warm and damp).
Bt contrast, male genitalia are exposed to the air and have the opportunity to dry out as well as gain contact with air (if loose fitting ujnderwear is worn). Being exposed to air and being dry causes the fungus to dry out making a vaginal yeast infection less contagious for men who are worried about it spreading to their penis.
The only real exception to this is when there is sustained and regular sexual contact with a partner who has a yeast infection. If this happens, your partner may experience red of itchy small bumps on the penis. If this happens, he should see his doctor and obtain treatment.
If you think that either of you have a yeast infection, it is advisable, during treatment, to use a condom during sexual intercourse as this will reduce the risk of passing the infection back and forth. You should also avoid the risk of passing infection from the rectal to the vaginal / penile area.
Are there any other situations where vaginal yeast infection may be contagious?
If a woman has a vaginal yeast infection, it is important to pay attention to personal hygiene and avoiding cross contamination between household members - say by sharing bath towels. If you suspect that that you have a yeast infection, make sure that you are the sole user of your towels, flannels and bath sponges until the infection has cleared up. This is good personal hygiene practice anyway …but can be overlooked sometimes when, say, a child grabs the first towel that comes to hand in the bathroom.
Vaginal yeast infection and hot tubs
Do hot tubs really increase the risk of vaginal yeast infections?
When considering that warm, damp environments increase the risk of candida overgrowth…it would appear likely that hot tubs may not be a good choice if you are sufferring from a vaginal yeast infection. Hot baths are also not recommended when prone to yeast infection as the increased heat in the vaginal area encourages candida overgrowth.
Bacteria in the water is a further concern with hot tubs. It is important to ensure that the water is properly treated to avoid yeast infection or other bacterias potentially affecting all users. However, the water treatment, in itself, can be enough to affect the delicate PH balance of the vaginal area - leaving the hot tub user prone to candida overgrowth in the vagina.
How do I reduce the risk of hot tubs upon making vaginal yeast infection worse?
If you really can’t face the thought of giving up on hot tubs and suffer from yeast infection there are a few steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of candida overgrowth or making an existing vaginal yeast infection worse:
- Ensure that the water in your hot tub is properly treated to avoid infection through cross-contamination of bacteria or fungus.
- If wearing a swimsuit, change out of it as soon as possible after finishing in the hot tub. This will avoid leaving your vaginal area warm and damp any longer than necessary.
- Gently rinse the vagina with luke warm water to remove as much of the water treatment chemicals as possible.
- If you really can’t get your yeast infection under control, Linda Allen’s book is an excellent resource that I can personally recommend for naturally clearing up your yeast infection and reducing the chances of recurrent yeast infection.
Is it okay to swim whilst treating vaginal yeast infection?
When considering “Is it okay to swim whilst treating vaginal yeast infection?” it is important to take into account the factors that increase the risk of yeast infection.
Damp clothes can encourage candida overgrowth
Swimming itself will not cause candida overgrowth. However, remaining in a damp swimming costume for too long afterwards will exacerbate your symptoms of vaginal yeast infection as the warm damp environment encourages candida overgrowth.
With this in mind, it is important after swimming to shower down well….especially in the vaginal area and dry the area well. In this way the irritating effect of chlorine and the candida growing effect of the damp environment will be eliminated.
Apply vaginal yeast infection treatments after swimming and not before
If using thrush cream (such as cloritramazole or micronazole), apply the medication after your swim and shower thus gaining the full benefits rather than washing the ointment or cream off in the swimming pool.
Similarly, if using natural home yeast infection remedies, wait until after your swim.
The only treatment for vaginal yeast infection that it is NOT okay to swim whilst treating a vaginal yeast infection is pessaries. These are usually inserted into the vagina at night time. With this in mind, a swim for 24 hours after inserting a pessary is not advised as your medication will be diluted in the vagina making it less effective. The whole point of a pessary is to bathe the vagina in the medication for as long as it remains in the vagina….the longer the better as far as effective treatment is concerned.
So, is it okay to swim whilst treating vaginal yeast infection?
If you are using pesseries to treat your vaginal yeast infection symptoms it is best to delay swimming during the course of your treatment so as to gain optimum benefits from it.
Otherwise, as discussed above, provided you are diligent in personal hygiene after swimming and apply treatment after your swim and not before, there is no reason why you should not swim whilst treating vaginal yeast infection.
What causes a vaginal yeast infection?
A vaginal yeast infection is caused by the overgrowth of yeast cells that normally live in small quantities through out the body - including the vagina. If the balance between these yeast cells and “healthy bacteria” get out of kilter in the vagina, a range of symptoms of vaginal yeast infection will be caused.
Which yeast cells cause a vaginal yeast infection?
Candida Albicans (C.albicans) is usually the culprit for causing vaginal yeast infections. Candida overgrowth is usually fairly straightforward to treat using prescription, over the counter or natural home yeast infection remedies.
However, if your vaginal yeast infection is stubborn to get rid of or keeps coming back (recurrent yeast infection), the chances are that it is a different strain of yeast causing your vaginal yeast infection as these are more resistant to conventional treatments for yeast infection. If you are in this situation, it is important to consult your doctor for advice on appropriate treatment of your yeast infection symptoms.
What are the likely causes of my vaginal yeast infection?
The most common causes of vaginal yeast infection are as follows:
- Being diabetic means that poorly controlled blood sugars will leave traces of sugar in your urine. This makes an ideal environment for candida albicans or other yeasts to multiply causing vaginal yeast infection.
- Being overweight means that a flabby stomach causes an overhang near the vaginal area. This can cause a warm damp environment that is conducive to candida overgrowth causing a vaginal yeast infection as well as possible yeast infection of the skin in the folds of the stomach.
- Remaining warm and damp for sustained periods….living in a hot, damp environment, not changing out of a damp swimming costume, long car journies in hot weather….all these factors can cause vaginal yeast infection if happening for long enough.
- Antibiotics kill healthy bacteria as well as the offending bacteria that you are being treated for. Without the healthy bacteria to fight off candida overgrowth, the risk of vaginal yeast infection rises.
- Pregnancy, use of high dosage birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can all cause vaginal yeast infection due to high estrogen levels affecting the ph balance of the vagina.
- The week before menstruation is a time when vaginal yeast infection symptoms can occur due to elevated estrogen. The onset of menstruation usually corrects this by restoring the normal ph balance of the vagina.
- Sustained use of corticosteroids can also cause vaginal yeast infection symptoms.
- An impaired immune system can also mean less healthy bacteria and natural body defenses against candida overgrowth causing vaginal yeast infection.
Symptoms of vaginal yeast infection
What are the key symptoms of vaginal yeast infection?
For many women, the first sign of vaginal yeast infection symptoms are an odourless discharge and vulval itchiness. They may also experience pain on urinating and on sexual intercourse. All of these are what we might consider classic symptoms of vaginal yeast infection….but why do these symptoms affect us in this way? How can we distinguish vaginal yeast infection symptoms from other vulval irritants or infections?
Symptoms for vaginal yeast infection explained
When looking for symptoms for vaginal yeast infection, the following will happen:
- Candida overgrowth causes a heavy vaginal discharge. For yeast infection, this is always odourless and will have a white and curdlike appearance. If your discharge has a clear appearance but a slightly fishy odour, it is possible that you have a condition known as bacterial vaginosis. This would need different treatment from symptoms for vaginal yeast infection. For that reason, accurate diagnosis by your doctor is helpful.
- Because of the discharge in your vagina and the irritated skin in that area, there will be vaginal itching (often severe).
- The discharge and possible scratching of the affected area can leave red, irritated skin around the opening to the vagina (labia).
- This area will be irritated by urination when the urine touches the irritated skin.
- Likewise, sexual intercourse may be painful due to the rubbing of the affected area.
The symptoms of vaginal yeast infection are more likely to occur in the week leading up to your menstrual period. They may correct themselves with the onset of menstruation as the ph balance in the vagina corrects itself.
What other factors might cause symptoms like vaginal yeast infection?
As already mentioned, bacterial vaginosis or sexually transnmitted diseases may cause discharge, vulval pain and irritated skin in and around the vagina. If you are not sure whether your symptoms are yeast infection or caused by something else, Yeast Infection Helpdesk recommends a proper diagnosis by a qualified professional.
Less serious causes of skin irritation and similar symptoms to vaginal yeast infection may include allergies to detergents used for washing. For those with sensitive skins, hypo-allergenic or non-biological detergents are worth trying if your have some but not all of the above vaginal yeast infection symptoms.
What is the best oral thrush treatment?
Oral thrush can affect anyone from newborn babies to adults. However, there are two distinct categories of oral thrush sufferers when it comes to treatment.
Oral thrush treatment for babies
For babies and breastfeeding mothers the oral thrush treatment for the baby will involve treating the mother’s nipples as well as the yeast infection can pass back and forth between them creating recurrent oral thrush in the baby and recurrent yeast infection of the nipple in Mom.
Any treatment of thrush involves use of anti-fungal agents so, whether it is a home or prescription method for treating oral thrush you are aiming to kill the unwanted fungus (candida) and encourage growth of “healthy bacteria” to prevent its return.
A common home remedy for baby thrush (infants’ oral thrush) is gentian violet. Alternatively, a prescription oral thrush treatment that is commonly used is nystatin suspension (for baby) and nystatin ointment for Mom’s nipples.
Whether you use an home remedy or a prescription remedy for yeast infection, it is important to get the guidance or your doctor as infant oral thrush is painful and will affect your baby’s feeding and subsequent weight gain. It will also become very painful for the breast feeding mother if left untreated.
Treating oral thrush in children and adults
The most common prescription method for treating oral thrush is anti-fungal lozenges or anti-fungal suspension. These aim to bathe the affected area in candida killing agents and so relieve oral thrush symptoms. This type of treatment normally last 10 to 14 days. If it is needing to go on longer, don’t be surprised if your doctor asks you to have blood tests there is a slight possibility that the liver will be affected by long term use.
For this reason, many people feel more comfortable with home remedies for oral thrush. These include, garlic, onions, yogurt and drinking buttermilk.
Prevention means avoiding future oral thrush treatment
As with all yeast infections, what you need to be asking yourself is why did you get oral thrush in the first place? If you have a compromised immune system then you are at higher risk of recurrent yeast infection….so you need to avoid that by addressing the causes of oral thrush. Yeast Infection Helpdesk thoroughly recommends Linda Allen’s book, Yeast Infection No More as a comprehensive resource explaining the causes of your outbreak of oral thrush as well as outlining a range of home oral thrush treatments. She is personally committed to your successful oral thrush treatment and makes herself available by email to ensure the misery of this unpleasant yeast infection is ended. I have had personal success using her methods and cannot recommend the book enough.
Home Remedies for Oral Thrush
What is oral thrush?
Oral thrush is an uncomfortable and sometimes painful overgrowth of candida albicans in the mouth that can be caused by too much sugar in the diet, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and compromised immune systems. It can also appear in new born babies who may have contracted this yeast infection from their mother during delivery if she was unfortunate enough to have a yeast infection during pregnancy. Candida esophagitis can also lead to oral thrush as the yeast infection spreads up the gut into the mouth.
Because the symptoms of oral thrush are so unpleasant and it is potentially a contagious condition (for those with increased risk factors), prompt oral thrush treatment is necessary.
What are the available home remedies for oral thrush?
Home remedies for oral thrush need to take the approach of being antifungal and restoring “healthy bacteria” in the mouth and gut. If your oral thrush symptoms are caused by ongoing medical treatment, say for cancer, HIV or Aids, then you will need to take advice from your medical practitioner as well as using home remedies for oral thrush to reduce your oral thrush symptoms naturally.
- The symptom of oral thrush that many sufferers describe is a feeling of not being able to swallow or of something being stuck at the top of the throat. This is cause by lesions in the mouth. Very gentle wiping of this area with cotton wool, a flannel or a specially made toothbrush for cleaning the tongue can gain superficial relief from this oral thrush symptom.
- A mouthwash made up of warm water, cider vinegar and a pinch of salt can have an anti-fungal effect that can be swished around all corners of the mouth and gargled in the throat. Not the tastiest of mouthwashes but a reliable home remedy for oral thrush.
- Garlic and onions (but particularly garlic) are powerful antifungal agents. Increasing these ingredients in your diet will help to kill candida in the mouth and down the digestive tract. the garlic kills the yeast infection whilst the onions help to heal the white patches (lesions) in the mouth.
- Eating live yogurt, swishing it around in the mouth a bit then not eating or drinking anything for a short while afterwards will help to replace the “healthy bacteria” acidophillus in the mouth and gut. Adequate acidophillus levels are your first line of defence against yeast infection as it helps to hold the candida overgrowth at bay.
For full details of holistic and thoroughly tested home remedies for oral thrush, Linda Allen’s book Yeast Infection No More is highly recommended from personal experience. In this concise, yet powerful book, Linda details quantities for mixing home remedies plus how to tailor remedies to your own specific circumstances and medical history. In addition, she offers personal email support as part of her personal commitment to ensure your yeast infection is fully treated and the likelihood of it returning is reduced through adopting her holistic approach.
Is Oral Thrush Contagious?
In what way is oral thrush contagious?
Whilst unusual for oral thrush to spread from one person to another if they are both healthy, it is possible for the yeast causing thrush to pass from one person to another in various ways if they are more susceptible.
(1) What can cause oral thrush in infants?
If a pregnant woman has a yeast infection during pregnancy, following contact with the birth canal’s thrush, oral thrush symptoms can easily manifest in the newborn child 3 to 7 days after birth. After contact with thrush oral symptoms easily appear in newborn children as their immune system is immature and they need to develop the healthy bacteria that will fight candida overgrowth in the mouth.
In answer to is “oral thrush contagious?” the answer is “yes” as far as mother and breastfeeding child as the yeast infection can pass back and forth between mother and child. This can cause oral thrush in the infant and yeast infection of the nipple in the mother.
(2) Is oral thrush contagious in older children?
If toddlers, older children and adults are generally healthy and without otherwise compromised immune systems, thrush is not usually contagious. However, if for some reason the immune system is compromised, a child or toddler can develop thrush orally by sharing infected toys or pacifiers with a child who already has oral thrush. Playgroups and nurseries need to therfore be very aware of toy hygiene to prevent the spread of germs and infections.
(3) How is oral thrush contagious in adults?
For adults there are different risk factors. For people with weakened immune systems it is unusual but possible that oral thrush is contagious through kissing and / or participating in oral sex.
Adults wearing dentures (false teeth) can also experience oral thrush and then spread yeast on their hands by handling dentures then touching other objects that someone else may put in their mouth. Personal hygiene is an important way for preventing thrush’s oral symptoms from spreading.
Preventing the causes of oral thrush
If struggling to get rid of thrush - oral, vaginal or male - it is important to address the causes of oral thrush so that the symptoms do not become recurrent. Yeast Infection Helpdesk recommends a holistic approach as this will tackle the underlying causes of oral thrush as well as treating you oral thrush symptoms. This combined approach alongside Linda Allen’s personal support to guaruntee your effective treatment makes a powerful package that I can personally recommend having used it myself.
What is oral thrush?
What is oral thrush?
Oral thrush is an unpleasant condition whereby the the fungus Candida Albicans overgrows on your mouth’s lining. Oral thrush can happen to anyone …adults, children and babies….especially if they have a compromised immune system due to, say, diabetes, HIV or aids.
As a type of yeast infection, candida overgrowth is not usually a major problem for healthy children and adults. However, if a person has got a compromised immune system, the symptoms of oral thrush may be much more severe, more likely to spread and difficult to control.
What oral thrush symptoms are most common?
The first visual oral thrush symptoms will be lesions on the inner cheeks or tongue. These will be creamy white in colour and resemble cottage cheese in appearance.
Before noticing visual oral thrush symptoms you may, however,have noticed painful areas in the mouth that hurt or even bleed when brushing your teeth or being scraped by eating coarser food.
In severe cases, the symptoms of oral thrush will appear throughout the mouth, gums, tonsils and throat making the sufferer feel very miserable indeed. Where the lesions continue down into the esophagus (the tube leading from mouth to stomach) it is known as candida esophagitis. The cottage cheese appearance of the lesions is what makes sufferers of candida esophagitis experience difficulty swallowing as if something is stuck as the back of the throat.
Although oral thrush symptoms often develop suddenly, they may take a long time to clear up.
What are the symptoms of infant oral thrush?
If an infant is going to develop oral thrush symptoms it will happen during the first few weeks of life. As well as the visual symptoms of oral thrush listed above, other clues may be that your baby has become fussy or irritable when feeding. This will be because baby’s oral thrush symptoms are making swallowing uncomfortable if not painful.
Other clues may be in the breast feeding mother….as baby and mother often pass the yeast infection back and forth until they are both treated between mother’s breasts and baby’s mouth. If a breast feeding mother has a yeast infection of the nipple or breast the following symptoms of yeast infection may be experienced:
- The nipples may become unusually red or sensitive to touch.
- Previously straight forward breast feeding may sudddenly become painful and that pain may continue between feeds.
- The skin on the areola may be shiny or start to flake.
- When the yeast infection has penetrated the breast, stabbing pains deep in the breast are common.
How do I treat my oral thrush symptoms?
If you are suffering symptoms of oral thrush as described above, you will be wanting relief from your yeast infection as soon as possible. Whether it be for an adult or a new born baby, it is always preferable to clear up symptoms as naturally as possible. For this reason, Yeast Infection Helpdesk recommends a holistic approach to treating oral thrush speedily and safely. Linda Allen offers a wonderful extra over other yeast infection cures on the market in that you can contact her personally, once you have bought her book, for specialist advice to ensure that the oral thrush treatments she outlines are tailored to you needs and will work for you. I can personally recommend this excellent book having used it myself.
Treatment for male yeast infections
Will male yeast infection symptoms go away without treatment?
What self-help treatment for male yeast infection can I use?
Good personal hygeine practices can go a long way to keeping male yeast infection symptoms at bay:
- frequent baths help wash away surface conditions such as sweat (that provides a moist environment for candida overgrowth to start).
- showering the genital area with cool water at the end of your abolutions will make the environment less warm for candida to multiply. This tip will also give you relief from the itching too.
- an unusual one this….after a bath or shower, set your hair dryer onto a cool setting and give a quick blast to you already towel dried genitals. This gives a completely dry start to you day wearing trousers or shorts removing that moist atmosphere candida loves for as long as possible.
- cotton underwear changed regularly will make your genitals less clammy…especially during summer heat or after exercising / other physical activity.
- avoid wearing a damp swimming costume for too long as that generates a warm damp environment too.
What other male yeast infection treatment is needed?
Most men who suffer from male yeast infection or jock itch can control it with anti-fungal creams that can easily be purchased in local pharmacies / drug stores without any need for prescriptions. Common creams used are clotrimazole, micronazole as well as terconazole.
If a stubborn yeast infection persists, then stronger medication would be required for male yeast infection treatment and these may include using nystatin or oral medicines like fluconazole or lamisil.