Yeast Infection No More
Oral Yeast Infection – How It Happens, What It Looks Like And How To Prevent And Treat It
When a yeast infection is oral (in the mouth) it is sometimes called Thrush. The yeast infections are particularly common in the vagina – they simply thrive in warm and moist parts of the body – folds of skin in the obese, the genitals, the anus and of course the mouth are all places more likely to show symptoms of the fungus, Candida Albicans overgrowth.
How Thrush happens: Candida lives on all of us in small numbers harmlessly. Amongst the many other microorganisms living on us we also have healthy or good bacteria. These keep the fungus at low numbers and therefore help us to avoid yeast infections. If the numbers of healthy bacteria go down for whatever reason, the number of fungus will go up and this overgrowth generates a yeast infection. There are a number of reasons the body can become out of balance such as taking of corticosteroids, using antibiotics over a long period of time, being diabetic, poor diet, certain illnesses particularly those that weaken the immune system, treatment for cancer and hormonal times such as pregnancy for women.
Symptoms of Thrush: The infection can develop very quickly and can last for a long time. Common signs are white spots in the mouth on the tongue and inner cheeks, and possibly even on your gums and tonsils too. These spots are painful and can bleed if scraped. If it spreads to the escophagus, it is hard to eat or swallow and there can be a feeling that the your food is getting stuck.
Key method of prevention: – Brush your teeth every day, morning and evening and floss regularly. – Avoid mouthwashes, especially antibacterial ones as these will upset the balance in your mouth, kill the good bacteria, and give the fungus a chance to overgrow. – Quit smoking.
Treatments: Yogurt is great for soothing the symptoms. Use the live bacteria kind and it will top up the good bacteria in your mouth to help fight the fungus. However you also need to deal with the root of the infection – find out what caused it in the first place and make lifestyle changes. There are over the counter treatments that can be tried, and if these do not work, visit your doctor for something stronger.
For more info on how to deal with candida, check out our candida symptoms and cure website, where you can find plenty of information on the subject. Today’s special: oral yeast infection
