Yeast Infection Myths

Debunking Myths about Candida Yeast Infections – Part 2

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Today I’m back with some additional yeast infection myths you need to be aware of. A lot of these have to do with improper diagnosis and treatment ideas, but they’re important to understand.

A Yeast Infection Can Make Me Infertile

False, there is zero evidence to suggest that a yeast infection can or will make you infertile. One of the most common reasons today affecting women and fertility is the stressful and very hectic lives they lead, and many are now leaving it until their late thirties or early forties until they have their first child. There are, of course, many other reasons for infertility, such as low sperm counts, but a yeast infection is not one of them. There is some evidence that a case of vaginal yeast infection when routinely treated and suppressed with vaginal applicator creams can lead to driving the condition further into the endometrium (womb), thus contributing to endometriosis, which can cause infertility. In case you have vaginal yeast thrush, don’t forget to address it locally in addition to a healthy diet and lifestyle change.

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Douching Can Cure My Yeast Infection

There is the false belief that just by regular douching you can get rid of a yeast infection permanently. What many women don’t know is that an acidic douche like vinegar does not necessarily kill a yeast infection because candida can live in an alkaline environment as well as an acid environment. Douching does not generally have an effect on the entire vaginal environment either, as candida can thrive around the cervix, an area notoriously difficult to access by way of douching. This way of vaginal cleansing will often have a temporary effect and can in some instances even shift bacteria and yeast further up the vagina or into the urethra, causing a urinary tract infection.

I Don’t Have A Yeast Infection Because I Have Never Had A Vaginal Discharge

It is not true that all yeast infections include a vaginal discharge. Indeed, many women suffer with candida overgrowths that have never had a discharge. Many female patients I have seen over the years have complained of intense itchiness and soreness yet with no discharge at all.

Yogurt Will Cure My Yeast Infection

I never established this specific to be the problem whatsoever. Yogurt can relieve the symptoms of burning and itching in particular, but I’ve never seen it actually cure any vaginal yeast infection. It certainly does make a lot of sense to continue eating a small amount of good quality yogurt each day to help repopulate the digestive system with plenty of beneficial bacteria, and in addition to continue to use yogurt as part of your treatment plan to help relieve any local symptoms.

Yeast Infections Are Not Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)

Yeast infections are not true STDs, but yeast infections can certainly be transmitted between partners during sexual relations.

It is therefore important that both partners are treated for a yeast infection at the same time and in addition observe cleanliness before and after intercourse to prevent transmission.

FALSE: Cancer Is Caused By Candida, and Utilizing Sodium Bicarbonate May Prevent Or perhaps Treat Cancer

Some alternative practitioners, especially Dr. Tullio Simoncini from Italy, promote sodium bicarbonate as a cure for candida and for cancer. This claim is made on several Web sites, and in You Tube videos that Dr. Simoncini has posted on the Internet, and in a book he has written as well. Scientists require evidence and studies before they can recommend certain treatments. Absolutely no peer-reviewed publications in medical journals are to be discovered encouraging the speculation that cancer can be cured or perhaps prevented with sodium bicarbonate. Further, available peer-reviewed medical journals do not support statements that sodium bicarbonate has worked as a cancer treatment.

Although I do agree to the notion that alkaline diets have their place in protecting against numerous chronic conditions as well as assisting to lessen the likelihood of developing a yeast infection, I don’t agree to the belief that providing someone constant doses of sodium bicarbonate will treat their yeast infection or prevent cancer.

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That’s about it, for myths, for now. Make sure you double-check anything you hear about yeast infections you find questionable. You can always contact me via the form on this site, and I’ll do my best to help you out.