subject: Vaginal Yeast Infections - What Are The Vaginal Yeast Infection Symptoms? [print this page] Vaginal Yeast Infections - What Are The Vaginal Yeast Infection Symptoms?
Vaginal yeast infections also known as vaginal candidiasis is one of the top three vaginal infections that women will experience at one point or another. This article seeks to answer the question "what are vaginal yeast infection symptoms?"
What Causes Yeast Infection?
Yeast infections or candidiasis are common to any area on the body that is warm and moist such as the mouth, skin folds such as under the breasts or buttocks, diaper areas, vagina, etc. These infections are mainly caused by certain species of yeast or candida commonly found on the body.
The main culprit that is found in more than 90% of infections is known as candida albicans. When certain conditions are prevalent, it can cause candida albicans and a few other different candida species to over grow beyond their normal levels leading to a vaginal infection due to candida.
The exact cause for why candida albicans may overgrow is hard to prove but certain factors have been identified as increasing the risk of developing cadidiasis such as using steroids, using various antibiotics, suffering from a chronic disease such as diabetes, birth control use, being on a menstrual cycle, going through menopause, being pregnant and so on and so forth. These various risk factors may change the normal environment of such areas such as the vagina and lead to an excessive growth of candida albicans and result in this vaginal infection.
What are the Symptoms of a Yeast Infection?
a. An excessive vaginal discharge that has a cottage cheese appearance and may smell like bread or beer.
b. When there is itching, soreness or burning around the vaginal area and you may even experience pain when urinating due to this soreness and burning. Sexual intercourse may also cause pain and discomfort when suffering from a vaginal yeast infection.
c. The vaginal area especially the labia may be slightly red.
As mentioned previously, candidiasis is one of three vaginal infections commonly suffered by women and it is important to remember that these vaginal infections may produce similar symptoms. It is also important to note that a vaginal candidiasis may not produce any symptoms at all.
Traditional treatment methods for candidiasis may include many prescription medications as well as over the counter medications. These methods may involve the use of various oral or topical creams, gels, pills, lotions, vaginal suppositories, etc. When you opt for traditional treatment methods, you may experience recurring candidiasis because traditional methods only seek to treat the yeast infection symptoms and not the root cause.
As an effective alternative to traditional treatment methods, when you instead opt for natural treatment methods for candidiasis, this treatment method seeks to not only treat the various yeast infection symptoms but to also treat the root cause and thereby prevent the recurrence of yeast infections. Natural methods are also relatively inexpensive and do not lead to the side effects experienced when using traditional treatment methods.
