Title: Yeast Infections - Our Bodies Ourselves
Headings: Yeast Infections
Yeast Infections
Diagnosis
Medical Treatments for Yeast Infections
Self-Help

Content: Yeast Infections - Our Bodies Ourselves














Yeast Infections
By OBOS Common Medical Conditions Contributors | October 15, 2011
Last Revised on Sep 10, 2019
Candida albicans, a yeast fungus often called simply candida, grows in the rectum and vagina. It grows best in a mildly acidic environment. The pH in the vagina is normally more than mildly acidic. However, when we menstruate, take birth control pills or some antibiotics, are pregnant, or have diabetes, the pH becomes more alkaline. In a healthy vagina, the presence of some yeast may not be a problem. When our system is out of balance, yeast-like organisms can grow profusely and cause a thick white discharge that may look like cottage cheese and smell like baking bread. Sometimes this causes intense itching while at other times it just causes intermittent burning or a sense of irritation. One study about the risk of recurring yeast infections found that sexual behaviors, rather than the presence of candida fungus on the male partner, were associated with recurrences. Women who had not had candida infections in the vulvovaginal area during the previous year were able to masturbate with saliva without increasing their risk of a candida infection, whereas women with a recent history of such infection in the vulvovaginal area increased the likelihood of a recurrent infection if they masturbated with saliva. Diagnosis
The only way to be sure that an infection is caused by candida and not something else is to have vaginal secretions analyzed under a microscope.