Are You Having Oral Yeast Infection or Thrush – What Should You Do?
Posted on 03. Dec, 2009 by Jeremi Hany in Women's Health
If you think that yeast infection only occurs in the vagina or in the penis, then you are wrong. Candida is found everywhere in the body where it is moist and warm. And one of these moist places is the mouth. Thus the fungus Candida is present in these areas and overgrowth of Candida can lead to yeast infection of the mouth or thrush. Thrush may occur to everybody but they usually occur in babies and toddlers, older adults and people with weak immune system.
When there is an overgrowth of Candida, this causes thrush. This might be due to factors like illness, stress, or medications like antibiotics, corticosteroids, and even birth control pills. Medications that can lower the number of both good and bad bacteria, especially bacteria that prevents the growth of Candida can cause the increase in growth of Candida leading to thrush.
People with thrush usually have creamy white substance, slightly raised lesions present in the mouth. Lesions are usually located on the tongue or inner cheeks. They can also occur on the roof of the mouth, gums, tonsils or even the back of the throat.
The lesions are also characterized with a cottage cheese appearance and these are painful. They can even bleed slightly when scraped or when you brush your teeth. And if the lesion is severe, this can spread into the esophagus causing pain or difficulty swallowing, a feeling that food is stuck in the throat or mid-chest area, and fever.
Severe cases of thrush are also dangerous as this can spread to other parts of the body like the liver, lungs and skin. These severe cases of thrush usually occur to people with cancer, HIV, or other conditions that causes weakening of the immune system.
Thrush can be dangerous. Thus it is important that you consult your doctor once the symptoms of thrush are visible in your mouth. They can diagnose the lesions in your mouth and they can confirm through microscopic examination if you really have thrush. They will also perform throat culture, endoscopy of the esophagus, stomach and small intestine in severe cases.
Mild cases of thrush are easily cured with natural remedy like plain yoghurt, though it has to be active culture yoghurt. Yoghurt can just be held in the mouth for 30 to 60 seconds with each bite. But active culture yoghurt is sour but you can remove or decrease the sour taste by adding banana and a little honey blended with a cup or two of yoghurt. And if you prefer, ice can also be added.
But for people with severe cases of thrush, you will need to take antifungal medications for 10 to– days. These medications can be in the form of tablets, lozenges, or even liquids. Doctors might even recommend that you consult a specialist as the presence of Candida might be a sign of some underlying medical problem that needs to be treated.
Related posts:
Leave a reply