Mouth Yeast Infection - The Causes, Symptoms And How To Prevent And Treat It

The fungus Candida Albicans is a microorganism

, one of many in fact, that lives on our bodies and it is the overgrowth of that fungus that leads to yeast infections. Like all fungi it prefers moist, dark and warm environments - so yeast infections tend to develop in such places on the body like the genitals, anus, folds of skin, and the mouth. You may find that an oral yeast infection is referred to as Thrush.

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.

Preventing Thrush: There are things you can do to help prevent an infection of the mouth happening. Keeping excellent oral hygiene is important, which involves brushing twice a day as well as flossing. Mouthwashes are not a good idea as they upset the balance of microorganisms in the mouth and may deplete good bacteria making you more likely to get a yeast infection. Smoking is not good and if you are a smoker your odds of getting Thrush are higher.

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.

by: Adrianne Saizu

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