If you find yourself suffering from a yeast infection, chances are, your only thoughts are to get rid of the yeast infection – as fast as possible.

However, understanding what causes yeast infections in the first place can help you to prevent future flare-ups from happening. So read on, and find out all about what causes, and what triggers, a yeast infection.

Candida

When you think yeast infections, you probably think of yeast as what we all know – the type used for baking bread – however, in the case of a yeast infection, it’s a completely different type of fungus.

The most common type of fungus involved in yeast infections is known as Candida Albicans. It occurs naturally in many of our bodies, but when there’s an overgrowth for some reason, we experience what we know as a yeast infection.

So What Triggers a Yeast Infection?

A yeast infection can be triggered by many things, but they all allow the fungus that’s naturally kept in check by the good bacteria in our bodies to multiply rapidly, and it gets out of control.

Some of the common yeast infection triggers are:

• Taking antibiotics. It’s ironic that something that’s supposed to make you better can actually make you worse. Antibiotics kill of all bacteria – even good bacteria that normally keep Candida fungus that causes yeast infection trouble in check. That’s why you’ll often get a yeast infections while, or just after, you are on antibiotics.
• Hormonal changes, including pregnancy, menopause, changing to an oral contraceptive and others can often trigger yeast infections too.
• Diabetics are also more prone to yeast infections, particularly those with very high blood sugar.
• Using certain corticosteroids, like Prednisone, can also leave you more prone to yeast infection.
• If you have an immune problem, for instance, if you are having cancer treatment, then you are also more likely to suffer from a yeast infection.
• Being overweight, or even eating a diet that is high in processed sugar, bread, or drinking a lot of beer can also trigger a yeast infection.
• You should also remember that a yeast infection can be passed backwards and forwards between sex partners, so if you have a yeast infection, safe sex is a must – otherwise you’ll be setting both of you up for a recurring infection.

Whatever the trigger for your yeast infections, however, the treatment will probably be the same. The difference is that when you know what’s causing the infection in the first place, you can start thinking about preventing thrush, instead of simply treating the symptoms every time they appear.

The trick to dealing with yeast infections, thrush or whatever you want to call it effectively is to take a two-pronged approach. Start by treating your yeast infections symptoms, and then work on identifying what’s causing it. If it’s an isolated event, like antibiotics, then you probably won’t have recurring symptoms, but if it’s diet or lifestyle related, you might need to make a few changes.

Yeast infection certainly isn’t pleasant, but the good news is it’s entirely treatable, and you should be able to cure your yeast infection permanently, if you can establish what’s causing it.

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