The most important thing to know about vaginal yeast infection symptoms is that they are "nonspecific." This means that it is not possible to use the symptoms alone to make a diagnosis, because the symptoms can be caused by organisms other than yeast. You'll see why that's important later in this article.
The most common symptoms of a vaginal yeast infection (yeast vaginitis) are:
- Itching and burning in the vagina and vulva.
- Soreness, swelling and pain around the vulva.
- Pain during intercourse or urination.
- Vaginal discharge. This discharge is not always present, but if there is a discharge it will be odorless or smell like baker's yeast, and usually has a whitish, thick appearance.
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It seems simple enough, doesn't it$%: In fact, most women who have these symptoms naturally assume they have a yeast infection caused by our old friend Candida albicans, so they run down to the drugstore for a non-prescription medication to make it go away.
Unfortunately, studies have shown that as much as two-thirds of the non-prescription medications sold for yeast infections are purchased by women who don't have a yeast infection.
That means if you diagnose your condition with the symptoms alone, you could end up treating the wrong condition.
Treating yourself with antifungal medication when you don't have a yeast infection can be harmful for two important reasons:
1. The most obvious reason is that the microbe or parasite that you really have won't be cured by an antifungal medication, and it could get worse if it isn't treated. The symptoms of microbial infections can disappear after a short time on their own, so you may think your antifungal treatment worked even though the underlying infection is still there. This matters a great deal for two reasons:
- Because some common microbial infections can cause permanent damage to your reproductive organs.
- Because some common home remedies are able to force a microbial infection up past the cervix where it can do the most harm.
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2. The second reason has long-term health benefits, and it's so important that I tend to repeat it fairly often in my new book, called Your Yeast Infection - Everything You Need to Know. Whenever you use an antifungal medication when you don't need to, your resident yeast population can evolve (mutate) to deal with the threat. This can make your yeast drug-resistant, and your next real yeast infection will then be much more difficult to treat.
Effective medications for yeast infections are available without a prescription, and many home remedies work just fine if the infection is mild enough - so treating your infection yourself is a reasonable thing to do. But diagnosing your infection based only on the common yeast infection symptoms is not a good idea. Make an appointment with your health professional, instead.
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