Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Medication For Yeast Infection Treatment: What is Available

November 5, 2009 by Mike Gate  
Filed under Health & Fitness

Almost every woman will experience a yeast infection at some point in her life. Yeast infections are caused by an imbalance of candida albicans fungus in the vagina. Small amounts of yeast are often present in the vagina, but when they multiply then women can start to experience the symptoms of what is commonly known as thrush. There is plenty of medication for yeast infection treatment that is available through your pharmacy.

Symptoms of a vaginal yeast infection include intense itching and burning, swelling, redness and a white cottage cheese like discharge that smells of yeast. Yeast infections can range from mild to severe and the itching and burning can be so intense that they make urinating or sex painful.

A yeast infection is not a sexually transmitted disease, although you can pass it onto your partner. Usually you can develop a yeast infection is you have taken antibiotics, are run down, are menstruating, take the contraceptive pill, have used highly perfumed deodorants or soaps in your genital area, are pregnant or have been wearing a lot of tight synthetic materials.

Luckily, there are several kinds of medication for yeast infection treatment. They are available from the pharmacy and you do not usually need a doctor’s prescription for them. If you find that you are having regular outbreaks of thrush, however, you should visit your doctor to rule out it being caused by something else or that you have an STD.

There are three types of medication for yeast infection: tablets, pessaries and creams. Pessaries are dissolvable tablets that are inserted into the vagina.

Clotrimazole 2% has been a very popular medication for yeast infection treatment for many years. This ingredient is available as a cream with applicators or a pessary. The cream comes as a 1 day, 3 day or 6 day treatment and the pessary as a 1 day or 3 day treatment. The ingredient is marketed under various brand names around the world.

You may be unsure whether to choose a cream or a pessary: a cream is very soothing and a pessary is long lasting. Some brands now market a pessary and cream combination for purchase from the pharmacy. Other antifungal products that are medication for yeast infection treatment include: miconazole, nystatin and mycostatin. These drugs can also be very effective for getting rid of thrush.

If the idea of using creams sounds messy and does not appeal to you, then you may like to consider using fluconazole. This is an oral tablet that is taken just once to get rid of yeast infections. This is generally not appropriate for pregnant women and there may be other conditions that mean you cannot take it. You can ask your pharmacist for advice on this medication.

Most women will experience a yeast infection at least one time in their lives. Fortunately candida is easy to treat and there are many different kinds of medication for yeast infection treatment. If you have a partner, you should also get a cream for them to use so they do not pass the infection back to you after you have treated yourself.

To get more information about female yeast infection, visit female yeast infection.

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