Preventing Thrush

The thrush infection is notoriously hard to prevent, and many people will suffer from some strain in their lifetime. There are, however, certain precautions you can take if you know that you are prone to bouts of thrush. Although these are not guaranteed to prevent the development of thrush altogether, following some of these simple preventions can help to reduce your risk considerably.

Lifestyle choices as thrush prevention

As with many infections, one of the most crucial bits of advice than be given as prevention is to maintain as healthy a lifestyle as you can. This includes eating a healthy and balanced diet, exercising regularly and ensuring that your stress levels are kept to a minimum. All of these three factors can contribute to the development of not just thrush, but many underlying medical problems.

The state of your immune system is a significant contributor to your state of health, and this includes the development of the thrush infection. Looking after your body through a good diet, cutting out the junk food, and getting enough exercise means that you are also looking after your immune system. A good, healthy immune system means that you are less prone to illness, therefore less likely to need to take medication that can affect your hormonal balance such as antibiotics. A course of antibiotics is known to sometimes trigger attacks of thrush, so again, is another good reason to look after your body and your health.

Stress may not seem like an instigator to infections such as thrush, but stressful times runs down the body and makes you more prone to ill health. Exercise is a great way to de-stress yourself, and will work to improve your fitness levels and general state of health, contributing to the overall prevention of the development of infection.

Diabetes and possible prevention of thrush

If you are diabetic, keeping your daily levels of sugar under control should help to prevent severe outbreaks of thrush. This should also reduce the frequency of any potential repeated episodes. Keeping you sugar levels under close control is essential to sufferers of diabetes regardless of the potential consequence of a thrush infection. Thrush is, however, unfortunately very prone to people who suffer from diabetes, so even the most careful of diabetics can suffer from repeated bouts of the infection. The best advice is to always be aware of signs and symptoms, and to act straight away. Thrush can be cleared up quickly and efficiently, so if you are vigilant, repeated infections due to diabetes shouldn’t interfere with your life too much.

The prevention of genital thrush infections

As well as ensuring that you lead a healthy lifestyle, the chances of developing genital thrush infections can also be greatly reduced by clothing choices and choosing the correct hygiene products.

Tight fitting underwear, leggings, tights and skin tight jeans can all cause friction, discomfort, and  the perfect environment for the Candida fungus to develop. If you are particularly prone to repeated bouts of thrush, it may be a good idea to swap to cotton tights and underwear, and limit the amount of tight clothes you wear. Although this may be a little bit frustrating, if the change results in less frequent thrush infections then the benefits will drastically outweigh the sacrifices.

Particularly perfumed shower gels and soaps, as well as certain deodorants and shampoos can also trigger a thrush infection. By disrupting the natural PH balance in the genitals, the Candida fungus can again, find the perfect environment to harbour and multiply. The best kinds of products to buy are dermatologically tested and generally quite neutral.

The prevention of oral thrush

Oral thrush, just like thrush in the genitals, is caused by a number of potential contributing factors. One of the predominant causes is due to diabetes, and the amount of glucose in your saliva. It is very important that if you are diabetic that you carefully control your sugar levels. This can keep the risk of oral thrush fairly low.

Other causes of thrush have been noted to be connected with oral hygiene. Any injuries in the mouth that need medication can result in a bout of the infection if you are not careful. Smoking is another contributing factor, as cigarettes dry the mouth. If you wear dentures, oral thrush can be instigated through improper cleaning of the dentures, and general poor dental hygiene can also contribute to the development of the thrush infection. To prevent these, it is important to clean and look after your oral health properly. This includes brushing thoroughly twice a day, flossing and checking the mouth and tongue for any early signs of infection. If you are a smoker, quitting smoker is clearly easier said than done, but could also help to prevent oral thrush.

It has also been noted that if you are taking antibiotics, eating a type of yogurt that contains an active bacteria called acidophilus can help to prevent a development of oral thrush.

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