Tag: birth control

The Truth About Vaginal Yeast Infections

What is a Vaginal Yeast Infection?

This type of infection is very common; out of four women, three will get a vaginal yeast infection in their lifetimes. This condition comes about when a woman has too much of the fungus Candida growing in her vagina. While this fungus is always around, it can get out of control.

Signs that a woman is suffering from a yeast infection include pain when urinating, burning or swelling of the vagina and the surrounding area, and redness in the area. She may also have a white discharge from her vagina; this discharge will not have an offensive odor.

How Can I Treat a Yeast Infection?

There are many treatments on the market today that can help you leave your yeast infection behind. You may be able to use over-the-counter medications if your yeast infection is a relatively light case.

You should still visit a doctor to make sure that the infection is merely a yeast infection, and not an STD with similar symptoms. This may sound like a hassle, but it is worth it to protect your health! The doctor will probably examine the affected area and take a sample with a swab in order to identify what is causing the infection.

How Can I Prevent a Yeast Infection?

You can drastically reduce your risk for a vaginal yeast infection by simply keeping your body clean and dry. Yeast thrives in warm, moist environments, so you will want to change out of wet bathing suits and sweaty exercise clothes as soon as you are done with the activity. Wear cotton panties whenever you can, and avoid tightly-fitting underwear. If you are taking birth control pills, this may increase your risk of getting a yeast infection.

You should not use douches, because they get rid of the good bacteria that is supposed to kill yeast. Similarly, avoid feminine sprays and scented tampons. If you have diabetes, you must keep your sugar level under control; there is evidence that extra sugar in the urine can help feed the yeast and encourage an infection.

Other Important Facts

If you get yeast infections often, you may suffer from a condition known as RVVC. This stands for recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis. Your doctor can provide guidance in getting rid of this disease, and will usually prescribe some type of medicine to kill fungus. You might need to take this prescription for up to half a year.

You should not try to diagnose yourself. If you take antifungal or antibiotic medications for a condition that merely mimics a vaginal yeast infection, you may be setting yourself up to experience a yeast infection that is very hard to kill.

If you can cut down on your intake of sugary foods, you might be able to avoid yeast infections. You should also stop taking steroids if possible.

Vaginal yeast infections can be tough to stop. However, with a little help from a doctor and a few precautions, you may be able to put these infections behind you.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Adolescents

Sexually transmitted diseases are transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse and are highly infectious diseases. Unprotected sexual contact risks the lives of the young by afflicting with sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV infection and even unwanted pregnancy. Every year, nearly nineteen million cases of sexually transmitted diseases are reported in the United States alone and out of these, half of the cases involve people from the age group of fifteen years to twenty four years.

The best way to make sure the adolescent doesnt contract sexually transmitted diseases is to abstain from all types of sexual activities. In spite of this, if the adolescent becomes sexually active, he/she must be advised by the parents to take precautionary measures to reduce the risk of getting a sexually transmitted disease. The best precautionary measure is to use a condom every time the adolescent has sexual intercourse. Only when other sexually transmitted diseases are prevented and controlled, HIV infections can be prevented.

It is best when the adolescent delays and abstains from sexual relationships, because the younger the person, the more susceptible he/she is to get a sexually transmitted disease. Having sexual contact during menstruation is also risky. It is good to avoid anal intercourse and if it is performed condom is a must, even when having oral sex. Every person should get STD checkups as frequently as possible, irrespective of being sexually active or not, after they turn into adolescents. Precaution must also be taken when getting injected by an intravenous drug, that the needle used to inject must be sterile. The adolescent must be educated about the symptoms and risks of sexually transmitted diseases.

Adolescents must be thoroughly informed even if they say they know it all. They must be asked to indulge in only safe sex, if doing so. Parents should talk honestly and calmly about safe sex and must answer all their childs queries. Topics such as STDs, birth control methods, having sex because of peer pressure, and date rape must be discussed in detail. Most people think that kissing is safe, but it can spread the sexually transmitted disease, herpes and many other diseases. Condoms do not provide hundred percent protections for genital warts, AIDs and genital warts. Females shouldnt douche as it can make the infection go deeper into the reproductive tract and can also wash off spermicidal protection. At a time, sexual intercourse must be provided with only one partner, who isnt involved with any other sexual partner.

The sexually transmitted diseases are Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS, Human Papillomaviruses or HPVs, chlamydial infections, pelvic inflammatory disease or PID, Gonorrhea, Genital Herpes, syphilis, and genital warts. The symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases take time to surface. Some of them are also symptom less and even these diseases can be contagious. Especially in the case of female, the symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases can be confused with the symptoms of other diseases. But females get severe symptoms and get it more frequently. Sexually transmitted diseases can harm the fallopian tubes and uterus. It can even lead to inflammatory disease, which in turn can cause ectopic pregnancy or infertility. Cervical cancer, in females, can be associated to sexually transmitted diseases. If a female gets a sexually transmitted disease during her pregnancy, the disease can pass onto her child. Sometimes the newborns infections can be treated successfully, but at other times, the child can be disabled for life or die.

If an adolescent is diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases, his or her treatment must start immediately. The early the sexually transmitted diseases are diagnosed, the easier it is to treat them successfully. The other sexual partner must be informed so that they can get themselves diagnosed and can undergo treatment. The adolescent must be instructed to stay away from sexual activity while the treatment is going on. The checkup must be followed after the treatment. Tests such as pelvic examination, Pap test, and test for STDs should be taken periodically.

Sexually transmitted diseases can affect people of all economic levels and backgrounds. Half of the cases of sexually transmitted diseases involve young people below the age of twenty five. The more sexually active the person is the more risk he/she is. And multiple sex partners at a given time are very dangerous too and must be strictly abstained from.

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