“Can an intrauterine contraceptive device be the cause of Candida?”
After looking at quite a lot of research on this over the years and, more importantly, experiencing this with many patients in the clinic, I can certainly say, yes, there is absolutely a link between an IUD and the incidence of vaginal Candida.
One study, in particular, was fascinating. The report was from the late 1980s and was published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
What they did is they got two groups of women. They had 117 women with an IUD fitted, and they had 100 women that had no IUD fitted.
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The researchers did cultures before the IUD fitting procedure. They did swabs and checked the vaginal yeast cultures out of these women before the IUD was inserted. They did the same culture after the IUD was inserted and for the control groups.
The study found a significantly higher incidence of vaginal Candida in the IUD group. Up to 20 percent-plus of the 117 women in the IUD group had vaginal Candida compared to 6 percent or less in the control group. They also found many different strains.
I’ve always noticed that women with these devices tend to have more irritation and more issues with vaginal yeast infections.
If you’ve got an IUD in place and you’re concerned, get it taken out. Talk to your doctor about other kinds of birth control methods because there is undoubtedly a link between these IUDs and increased incidents of Candida.
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