Get ride of yeast infection fast is an amazing thing to most people. Do you know that yeast infection is caused by a fungus called Candida?
This infection makes people uncomfortable and leads to a lot of problems, so I think that everyone wants to know the main remedies and how to get ride of yeast infection fast as it affects either adults or babies.
What is yeast?
As we all know yeast is single-celled fungi. People are familiar with Some fungi that are used almost daily like mushrooms that are available at supermarkets, some yeast used for fermentation to make bread these called baker's yeast and also make some alcoholic beverages, moulds that ripen blue cheese and moulds that produce antibiotics for veterinary and medical use.
These kinds of yeast I mentioned above are not the main problem, but others who cause the infection like Candida species that you must take care of.
What Are The Types Of Yeast Infection?
Yeast infections also called candidiasis caused by a yeast called candida, the most common species is Candida albicans can affect different parts of your body in different ways as it normally lives on our skin and inside our bodies in places like the mouth, vagina, penis, throat and gut without causing any diseases or problems as our immune system keeps it under control. But if it grows out of control and your immune system is weak you can get one of the yeast infection types such as:
Thrush:
It is candidiasis that can grow in your mouth, throat and other parts of the body.
You know that mouth and throat thrush called oropharyngeal candidiasis. It appears in your mouth as a growth that looks like cottage cheese, raised white lesions on your cheeks and tongue. If you don't cure it as quickly as you can, it will become irritated and cause redness and pain.
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Who can get thrush?
Thrush can affect anyone either adults or babies and immunocompromised people.
It can be transmitted from one person to another but you can take care of yourself by avoiding close contact with the patient's secretions like the saliva and by washing your hands well.
Don't be so afraid as it is a minor problem, it can be cleared up in a few weeks with antifungal treatment.
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What Causes Thrush?
We all have small amounts of Candida fungus in our skin, mouth and digestive tract. They are kept in balance with other bacteria and microorganisms. If this balance is disturbed, the fungus will grow out of control and lead to thrush.
Things that can disturb this balance such as:
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Stress
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Illnesses:
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Cancer
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Uncontrolled diabetes
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HIV infections
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Dry mouth.
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Medications:
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Corticosteroids
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Birth control pills
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Antibiotics
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Pregnancy
Due to hormonal changes
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Smoking
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Wearing unfit dentures
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What are the thrush symptoms?
As we know that thrush is caused by Candida species especially Candida albicans. In Latin, candidus means white.
So logical to tell you that, the common sign is the presence of creamy white lesions. These lesions are slightly raised in your mouth, usually on your inner cheeks or your tongue. You can also see them on the roof of your mouth, gums, tonsils or back of your throat.
You may feel soreness and see redness inside and at the corners of your mouth.
And you may also lose your ability to taste.
You must be careful when you brush your teeth to avoid bleeding by hurting these lesions.
Don't be lazy or careless and treat them quickly to avoid spreading these minor lesions into your oesophagus or other parts of the body to prevent these annoying symptoms from occurrence:
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Pain and difficulty swallowing
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Feeling that food gets stuck in the mid-chest area or the throat
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Fever when the infection spreads beyond the oesophagus
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How to treat the thrush?
Let's get ride of yeast infection fast, it is very easy to treat this minor problem in healthy babies and adults, but hard to treat it in patients with weakened immune systems as the symptoms may be more severe. Keep reading and you will know how to get ride of yeast infection fast like thrush.
You can see the doctor or pharmacist and they will give you some antifungal medications like nystatin that are available in lots of dosage forms such as liquids, tablets, lozenges.
Your health care provider will have a specific treatment approach for you depending on your age and cause of infection.
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How to prevent yourself from infection?
I will tell you some tips for prevention:
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Avoid close contact with thrush patients.
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Don't kiss the babies who have thrush.
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Avoid certain mouthwashes or sprays, as these products can disturb the balance of microorganisms in your mouth. Only use safe ones.
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Follow a good lifestyle like good oral hygiene practices such as brushing your teeth at least twice a day and floss once a day.
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Limit eating yeast-containing foods and lots of sugar to stop encouraging Candida growth.
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Stop smoking.
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See your dentist regularly especially if you have diabetes or wear dentures.
Esophageal Candidiasis:
It is common in patients who have diseases such as HIV infection, diabetes mellitus, immunocompromised patients, haematological malignancies or owing immunosuppressive therapy.
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Symptoms:
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Dysphagia
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Odynophagia
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Retrosternal chest pain
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Epigastric pain
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Nausea and vomiting
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Treatment:
Esophageal candidiasis needs systemic treatment to get ride of yeast infection fast, unlike oropharyngeal ones that need topical agents only. Systemic agents such as oral fluconazole at 200 mg/day for 14-21days, will relieve symptoms in over 80% of patients within a week. For sure this is done according to health care provider instructions.
Patients who have severe odynophagia or dysphagia may need initial therapy with intravenous preparations.
Immunosuppressed patients who have dysphagia or odynophagia can empirically be treated with a 14-21 day course of antifungal therapy. After 72hours of treatment, if no improvements in symptoms are seen then upper endoscopy should be performed.
Your doctor will treat you according to your age and your state.
You must know that azoles are teratogenic, so it is prohibited in pregnant patients, amphotericin B is preferred.
Gastrointestinal Candidiasis:
It is known as moniliasis, it is associated also with either immunosuppression or with long term treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics. Gastric candidiasis has two forms: focal invasion of benign gastric ulcers and diffuse mucosal involvement (rare).
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Symptoms:
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Nausea and vomiting
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Abdominal pain
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Epigastric pain
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Fever and chills
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Treatment:
Treatment with antimycotics such as nystatin, amphotericin B, miconazole, ketoconazole, or fluconazole. It should be continued for two days after the resolution of clinical signs to get ride of yeast infection fast and prevent recurrence chance. The predisposing factor must be corrected after achieving complete clinical resolution of this condition.
Candidal Intertrigo:
Intertrigo is a reddish rash that appears in large skin folds. The reason for this name is that it occurs in intertriginous areas that means areas where skin rubs on each other such as:
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Armpits
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Breasts
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Groin
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Buttocks
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Toes
Candidal intertrigo is caused by Candida albicans.
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Symptoms
Intertrigo starts as redness or small spots or bumps in the skin folds and appears on both sides of the skin folds like a mirror image. The reddish area can become inflamed, bleed, ooze and crust over. The rash may be itchy or painful, but it is not contagious so you can feel:
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Itchy
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Burning
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Irritable
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Painful
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Uncomfortable
Genitourinary yeast infections:
This type is the most common one. It is divided into two types according to the gender of the patient:
Vulvovaginal candidiasis:
It can happen to anyone at any time, but it is very common in women. There is a study that estimated that 75% of women will have at least one yeast infection in their lifetime.
Normally as we mention the vagina also contains a balance of yeast and bacteria. The estrogen hormone helps bacteria called Lactobacilli to grow, this kills harmful organisms in the vagina and that is good and keeps you healthy. But if the candida fungus grows out of control, this leads to yeast infection.
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Symptoms:
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Itching
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Discomfort
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Redness
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Burning
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Swelling of the vagina and vulva
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A white, odourless, thick discharge, similar to cottage cheese
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Pain or burning when you bee
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Pain during sex
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Causes of vaginal yeast infections:
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Diabetes:
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Moist linings that are caused by the increase of sugar in the mucous membrane is a good media for the fungi to grow.
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Sex:
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Although candidiasis isn't considered a sexually transmitted infection, it can be passed from one person to another through sexual contact.
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Hormones:
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Hormonal changes during menopause, breastfeeding, pregnancy, or when you are taking birth control pills can change your vaginal microorganisms balance.
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Antibiotics
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Douches and vaginal sprays without consulting your doctor
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A weakened immune system
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Treatment:
You can go to the pharmacy and the professional pharmacist will give you an over-the-counter drug that fits your condition and help you to get ride of yeast infection fast such as antifungal creams, ointments, or suppositories (with clotrimazole or miconazole). These can take from 1-to 7days.
After finishing the dose you ordered from the pharmacist and still suffering from these annoying symptoms, ask your doctor to prescribe an oral antifungal drug, such as fluconazole or ibrexafungerp.
If you are pregnant it's safe for you to avoid oral medication.
Penile candidiasis (Candida Balanitis):
It is a type of yeast infection that occurs in men. The term balanitis refers to an infection of the glans penis. Yeast infections also affect the foreskin and are called candidal balanoposthitis.
It can be transmitted during sexual intercourse with a yeast infection person.
But candidal balanitis isn't considered a sexually transmitted disease as men may get it without having sex. It is more common among men with uncircumcised penises than with circumcised ones.
Candidal balanitis symptoms almost resemble vaginal candidiasis. But if you have candidal balanoposthitis, you may suffer from that:
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A lumpy, thick discharge under the foreskin.
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An unpleasant order of the foreskin.
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Difficulty pulling back the foreskin.
Though it is rare to have complications of balanitis but may involve narrowing of the urethra so makes urination difficult, and the inability to retract the foreskin, cellulitis.
Treatment also resembles that of vaginal candidiasis, but if you don't improve with topical or oral OTC drugs, make sure to see your doctor to exclude or confirm that you may have another kind of balanitis or infection by resistant candida species to azoles.
After talking about the types and how to get ride of yeast infection fast at almost every type, let's talk about some home remedies to also get ride of yeast infection fast or to reduce the strength of the symptoms.
Home remedies to get rid of yeast infection fast:
We sometimes use alternative therapies to treat yeast infections, especially vaginal yeast.
These therapies may provide relief from symptoms, and reduce the presence of yeast.
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OTC treatments as we mentioned earlier.
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Boric acid:
Some research reports that topically applied boric acid, along with flucytosine successfully treats around 70% of women, especially those who didn't respond to azoles.
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Coconut oil:
It has been shown to withstand Candida albicans yeast as it has antifungal properties.
Row coconut oil can be applied externally or internally to reduce symptoms but wormed one can be used as a carrier oil for more powerful antifungal essential oils such as oil of oregano or tea tree oil.
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Garlic:
Some women tried to use garlic internally instead of eating it. They claimed that garlic relieves them from yeast infection.
Also, a vaginal cream containing thyme and garlic was found to be as valuable as clotrimazole vaginal cream.
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Oil of oregano:
This oil of oregano made from the wild oregano, Origanum vulgare, contains two potent anti antifungals: carvacrol and thymol. This oil can inhibit the growth of Candida albicans as shown in the research.
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Tea tree oil:
It has antifungal properties. The review of research confirmed that it can kill a range of yeasts and fungi. Some women report relief after adding diluted tea tree oil to a tampon and inserting it into the vaginal overnight.
People who are allergic to it shouldn't use it at all.
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Probiotic supplement:
These aim to restore the balance of microorganisms. It can be taken orally or inserted vaginally.
There is research that suggests that the probiotic lactobacilli can increase the effectiveness of antifungal medications for vaginal candidiasis.
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Natural yoghurt:
As it contains probiotics that help to restore balance.
A 2006 review research found that many people report relief after inserting it vaginally, eating it, or applying it to the vulva around the vagina.
Summary:
Yeast infection is very common and everyone can be Infected easily if they don't take care and follow the prevention tips like practising good hygiene, avoiding unnecessary antibiotic use, avoiding sugary and processed foods and so on, you will get infected.
But you can get ride of yeast infection fast if you follow your healthcare provider's advice when you are exposed to infections.
Written By: Nagah Abd-ElKader 💙
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