Garlic won't work for yeast infections, but this might
Traditionally garlic was thought to have many properties. Usually it is the species Garlic (Allium sativum L.) and from antiquities it was heralded as a prophylactic as well as therapeutic medicine. Using Garlic suppositories, although commonly recommended, doesn't work for treating yeast infections. You can’t always eat your way to a clean vagina either, even if that food is high in garlic, low in gluten, and low in sugar (all good general strategies). Dairy poor diets really haven’t changed the rate of yeast infection in most women.
Food has always been a popular first line treatment to ward off yeast and chronic yeast infects. If you have struggled with chronic yeast infections there are a few new options you may want to consider: a new improved probiotic medication and a new antibiotic medication. It is good news for these patients as they typically try many medications and the good news is that they have brought back a sulfonamide cream for chronic yeast.
One in 20 women with a yeast infection will develop chronic and recurrent infections. As our prior post said: gynos define recurrent and chronic as more than 4 a year.
Most yeast infections are due to pesky and pervasive Candida albicans. Some experts say albicans are 95% of those infections we see, others knock that percentage down to only 75%. And random healthy women sampling find that 25% of those women walking into any office at any time will culture positive for yeast.
If you have that yeast infection, you may or may not rate with the so accurate TV physician Dr. House (almost always correct in his medical diagnoses) on the medical diagnostic accuracy scale. If you try to self diagnose, you’re probably right somewhere between 1/3 and 50% of the time.
So if your symptoms don’t resolve promptly with your over the counter treatment of choice, inaccurate diagnosis or co infection with bacteria can be the culprit as often as inaccurate treatment. I like to point out that hormone levels and cycles are related to the numbers of infections. Women are more likely to get yeast infections in the second half of the menstrual cycle, when estrogen is lower, and progesterone is more dominant.
Douching doesn’t cause yeast infections. In some studies receptive oral sex causes more yeast infections, and in some studies not, but few studies really culture the partner’s mouths! For more information, see us for a gyno check at Women’s Health Practice.