Will My Yeast Infection Go Away on its Own?

If you have a yeast infection, you probably feel pretty miserable and itchy. That’s one of the uncomfortable, unpleasant truths about yeast infections. They don’t usually cause more severe symptoms, but they’re plenty uncomfortable. A yeast infection is actually a fungal infection called Candidiasis.

But there’s more about yeast infections that you shouldn’t ignore. The providers at NewMed Immediate Care explain more about why you shouldn’t ignore a yeast infection for too long.

What causes a yeast infection

Yeast infections just happen sometimes. It’s an unfortunate fact of women’s health. The balance in your vagina is very delicate and can be easily disrupted. Anything from a change in your diet to a new sexual partner can put you at risk of developing a yeast infection.

You may be at greater risk for developing yeast infections if you have diabetes. But you still can get a yeast infection even if you don’t have diabetes. When the balance of bacteria in your vagina is disrupted, you may find that the yeast takes over the good bacteria.

The symptoms of yeast infections include a thick, white discharge, along with itching, pain, and swelling of your vulva or vagina, and it can become a big problem.

Do yeast infections ever go away on their own?

Sometimes, yeast infections might go away on their own. If they’re going to do so, the infection should resolve itself within a week.

But you might want to get it checked out anyway. Untreated yeast infections can cause the Candida bacteria to spread throughout your bloodstream. 

In this case, you can get candidiasis, the symptoms will likely just get worse. You can have increased pain and itching. It can also cause oral thrush, which is a yeast infection in your throat.

Why you should see a doctor

Many women find it inconvenient to treat yeast infections. After all, you must make an appointment with the doctor, possibly take time off from work, and maybe even find childcare. Wouldn’t it be easier to just go down to the neighborhood drugstore and pick up a tube of an over-the-counter antifungal medication like Monistat®?

Well, as inconvenient as it may be to go to the doctor, it’s a situation where self-diagnosis might not help (and could even hurt). If you actually have a different cause of your infection, such as bacterial vaginosis or a sexually transmitted infection, the time spent not getting your infection correctly diagnosed and treated can actually have detrimental effects on your health.

In some cases, untreated sexually transmitted infections can lead to more serious problems, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, which can negatively impact your fertility. Often, delaying getting a proper diagnosis can have negative effects on your overall health, especially if you have something other than a yeast infection after all.

If you think that you might have a yeast infection, Dr. Thakkar makes it as easy as possible to get it checked out. The urgent care nature of his practice ensures that he will try to get you in and out as quickly as possible. Contact the providers at NewMed Immediate Care today or request an appointment online.