Can Oral Sex Cause a Yeast Infection?
Oral sex is one of the most exciting and fun sexual activities you can participate in. No matter who you are, what genitalia you have, you can all perform or receive oral sex. With oral sex, though, comes a big question. How safe is it? Oral sex is significantly safer for you than regular intercourse, but the most common oral sex health question is whether or not oral sex can cause a yeast infection. The answer is, yes it can.
A yeast infection is a type of infection caused by an imbalance in the amount of yeast that your body has. There are a variety of different types of yeast, but most yeast infections come from Candida albicans. The only way to confirm a mild case of thrush or a yeast infection is an oral swab and analysis. More serious cases will cause a white discharge to appear. Symptoms include itching, burning, pain during sex or masturbation, soreness, and a rash.
During the process of oral sex, a yeast infection can get transferred from the mouth of your partner to your vagina. This is caused because of an oral yeast known as thrush. Thrush can exist in a minor form that you would have to be tested to detect in any way. During oral sex, the thrush is transferred from the partner’s mouth to your vagina while still leaving the thrush in place, so future encounters will still cause yeast infections.
A yeast infection transferred via oral sex does not always involve your partner having the thrush infection. There have been cases where the same person transfers a thrush infection to their partner and then when their partner goes to eat them out, the infection is transferred back to them. This is because yeast is a resistant infection that thrives in dark, moist areas.
Just because a yeast infection can be caused by oral sex doesn’t mean it is always caused by oral sex. A 2003 study shows that women who have oral sex are only slightly more likely to get a yeast infection. There is always the chance that there is a yeast infection already and by having oral sex you are causing it to grow.
How do you get the yeast infection to go away? First you and your partner should get tested to confirm that the yeast infection is Candida albicans and not one of the alternatives. After that, an antifungal cream will work to kill off the excess yeast.
The treatment can work in as little as one day, but all symptoms should be gone within three. You can also opt to take a single dose medication known as Diflucan, which is more expensive.
There are some natural remedies for a yeast infection that some people have had great success with. You can try a tea trea oil cream applied to your vagina. Garlic or boric acid vaginal suppositories are also used by some women, and yogurt (either eaten or inserted into the vagina) has also been found to work. The yogurt helps to restore the proper balance in your system.
If you want to avoid a yeast infection, you should eat a well-balanced diet and take care of your body. Should you get a yeast infection again after you treat the first one and it has gone away, that might be a sign that your partner has a yeast infection. However, it is always good to make sure that all of your underwear is clean, as yeast can be transferred via dirty underwear. It can also be caused by douching and not changing your feminine products regularly, due to the imbalance your system undergoes from both. Here are a couple other preventative measures you can take:
- Wear loose clothing made from natural fibers
- Avoid deodorant feminine products or underwear
- Change out of wet clothing
- Eat yogurt regularly
While it is possible to transfer a yeast infection by oral sex, the infection can come from other sources, too. A yeast infection is nothing to be embarrassed about it, and most women experience a vaginal yeast experience at least once in their lifetime. The treatment is simple and it will not leave you with any lifelong symptoms.
If your yeast infection doesn’t go away with the treatments listed here, you might need to get prescription antifungal medicine or try one that targets another species.