After you have found out you have a yeast infection you may experience feelings of disgust and shame, but this infection is not a sign of poor hygiene or a criticism of you. Yeast infections are a common occurrence particularly in women. Treatment is easy and for most cases completely effective, just make sure you act quickly rather than burying your head in the sand. The infection will not go away without treatment.

You may be wondering how it happened to you so here is a quick overview on how a yeast infection happens. Living on everyone are many different forms of microorganisms and the two important ones when it comes to yeast infections are the good bacteria, and a fungus called Candida Albicans. These two microorganisms are in balance when you are healthy, the good bacteria keeping the fungus at low numbers and stopping an overgrowth. If something wipes out the good bacteria the Candida will multiply rapidly and lead to a yeast infection. Usually this happens in warm, damp and dark areas of the body such as the genitals, the anus, under arms, in folds of skin and the mouth.

Symptoms range in severity and include itching, redness, and irritation. Further more general symptoms can also happen such as food allergies, depression, weight gain, pain when urinating and having sex, insomnia, migraines, and potential skin issue such as eczema and psoriasis.

Antibiotics are a big cause of infections as they kill all bacteria the bad and the good. Therefore if your problem is low levels of good bacteria eating probiotic yogurt is a good idea. Other causes of vaginal yeast infection are sprays and feminine products that are scented, detergents, fabric softeners, contraceptives like the pill, jellies or foams. It is important to treat the infection as soon as you see the symptoms as an infection left untreated can lead to more serious health problems and are harder to get rid of.

There are several treatment options, medications either from your doctor or from over the counter at a pharmacy, natural remedies too are proving more popular today and can be very effective. Medications come in pill, cream or suppository form and vary from 1 day, 3 day and 7 day courses. The problem with medicated treatments is that sometimes the infection builds up an immunity to the treatment and so it stops working. That is why you need to talk to a doctor so that the right treatment can be chosen straight away to avoid that problem. There are also some lifestyle adjustments to be made like not wearing wet clothing, avoiding tight pants, eating a better diet, drinking more water and sleeping well.

For more info on how to deal with candida, check out our yeast infection treatment website, where you can find plenty of information on the subject. Today’s special: yogurt yeast infection