A yeast infection is caused by an overgrowth of fungus (Candida) and can occur in different parts of the body but for the majority of women vaginal yeast infections are the most common.
The first thing to do is to determine that you do indeed have a yeast infection. How you'll know you have the infection is if you have some of the symptoms associated with a yeast infection. These include: soreness and redness of the vulva (area around the vagina), itching and burning sensation.
The trick is catching the infection early. Don't leave it untreated. Not only will it bring more pain but it will be harder to get rid of. A typical first day of infection you'll experience a tickle of itchiness. For the next 1 to 3 days you'll get a vaginal discharge that will look white and lumpy. By this stage you'll have a full blown yeast infection and the you will feel itchy and sore.
If you've established that you do have a yeast infection you can either go to your doctor where he will prescribe drugs or ointments to be inserted, you can use over the counter drugs or you can use natural remedies. Yeast Infection natural remedies include "live" yoghurt tampon insertions, garlic cloves and douching with either tea tree oil or apple cider vinegar.
I prefer natural remedies because of their safety and effectiveness. I can use them from the comfort of my own, but the best thing about them is that they contain natural ingredients that help kill the root cause of the infection. They provide the same instant relief to pain as drugs do but they can stop the infection from occurring again unlike the drugs.
Whichever remedy you decide to use, go ahead and start today. The longer you leave it untreated the more pain it will bring and the harder it will be to treat.
(this article was first posted on EzineArticles - I have a yeast, what do I do?Read this first!)
