How do yeast infections affect fertility?
How do yeast infections affect fertility?
If you want to know how do yeast infections affect fertility, you’ve come to the right place. I’m here to help you understand scientific studies which prove that yeast infections can result in infertility.
Don’t be discouraged though, there are ways you can keep yeast infections under control, so hope is not lost.
Let’s have a look at some studies on how Candida can affect fertility:
- In a study from 1977 human sperm was exposed to Candida albicans. The effect was a highly reduced mobility of sperm, which shows that Candida albicans in the vagina can have an immobilizing effect on sperm. A more recent study from 2007 found that the presence of Candida albicans in male genital tract can also be the reason of male infertility.
- A 2015 study carried out on mice wanted to check how sperm immobilizing Candida albicans can affect fertility. they injected mice vaginas with Candida albicans and compared their fertility rates with a group of mice without Candida colonization. The results show that there was a 100% decrease in fertility in mice injected with Candida albicans which shows it may be a reason for female infertility.
As you can see, if you’re trying to conceive it’s important to keep yeast infections under control. As a woman, I have felt the same grief others have felt after years of not being able to conceive. All of my close friends and family were having children, but why couldn’t I?
How to Treat Vaginal Yeast Infections?
If you only get a yeast infection maybe once or twice a year, then you can easily get rid of it by using over the counter antifungal drugs or natural home remedies. This will affect your fertility only temporarily, so you don’t have to worry.
The other way it will affect fertility is by causing you so much itching and burning that you won’t be interested in an intercourse.
However, if you suffer from recurrent yeast infections, it’s important to discuss its effect on your fertility with your doctor and focus on getting rid of it as soon as possible.
Most probably you’ll be prescribed stronger antifungal medication and then you’ll be on a maintenance treatment from 6 to 12 months. The treatment will help keep the levels of Candida in control and increase your chances of conceiving.
Curing your yeast infection to increase fertility
Here are a few helpful ways to prevent and treat yeast infections:
- Use probiotics either in the form of supplements or vaginal suppositories.
- Boric Acid suppositories can do wonders. You can get ready-made online or make your own, check how to do it here.
- You can also use probiotic tampons during your period to reduce your chances of getting a yeast infection.
- Tea tree oil mixed with coconut oil is a great combination to fight yeast infections. Read more about here.
- Use antifungal medication available in the form of vaginal suppositories or oral pills.
- Taking diet supplements based on antifungal substances such as cranberries or ginger can also help keep Candida at bay.
- To avoid yeast infections in the future, check my article on preventing vaginal yeast infections.
I’d love to hear about your experiences. Do you think your recurring yeast infections could affect your fertility? Please share your questions and comments in the comment section below.
Hi Kams,
This was very interesting. I never knew that yeast infections could impact fertility. It makes sense, but just wasn’t a reason I would have thought of for infertility. I was also surprised to learn that probiotics could help keep yeast infections under control. These things are great to help regulate digestion, but I had never of probiotics being useful in other systems of the body. This was all very helpful information that needs to be shared with other women.
Thanks for your feedback Jessica. Probiotics are crucial when it comes to preventing and treating vaginal yeast infection, there are probiotic supplements made especially for women, probiotic suppositories which make it easy to provide friendly bacteria directly where they’re needed most and even probiotic tampons which protect you against yeast infections during or straight after your period.
Hi Kams
Looking for information on infertility of women I met this wonderful and enlightening article on how do yeast infections affect fertility.
After reading your comment I understand now that infertility caused by fungi is not the responsibility only of women, but also the male could be the cause if he is carrying any yeast infection, is that right?
Thank you very much for sharing your professional knowledge and alert us how do yeast infections affect fertility and how to cure them.
Renan
Hi Renan, thank you for your comment. That’s right infertility caused by a yeast infection can be caused either by a vaginal yeast infection or a penile yeast infection. If a couple have got problems conceiving and the woman is not suffering from a yeast infection, it’s worth to test the semen for Candida, to exclude this possibility.
Hello there. Do you think there will be more scientific discoveries relating to infections and fertility?
About affecting intercourse, I am just curious. Are you saying that it can affect one’s sex drive? That there is no sexual mood.
Thanks for revealing the tools to prevent any issue by the way! I think recurring infections do affect one’s fertility maybe because of low immune level.
That’s just my thought.
Hi Tar, thanks for commenting. A vaginal yeast infection can have a terrible effect on a couple’s sexual life. It can cause extreme itching and pain, so having sex would be the last thing on your mind. It doesn’t make sex impossible, but it could be very painful. Also, it can have a deep psychological effect, putting a woman off sex for a while, even after having recovered from an infection.