How To Deal With Oral Thrush?
Oral thrush is a type of yeast infection that affects your inner mouth, cheeks, and tongue. It appears yellow in color, being white in some cases. It’s easily spotted when it appears on the tongue area, and can be hard to spot when it grows on the inner cheeks of the mouth. Oral thrush is an infection, and therefore it mostly affects people with weaker immune systems, like toddlers and older people. More often than not, it’s not a serious issue and goes away with treatment. But, if left untreated, it can cause serious health problems in even adults.
Since it’s an infection, the first question that comes to mind is whether it is contagious or not. Oral thrush is contagious in the sense that it can be passed on to other people by kissing. If a person with this infection kisses someone else, the infection will travel on to the other person. It should also be noted that the infection can also affect other body parts. It really depends on where you are getting kissed. This infection creates a fungus in your body, and that fungus can travel to other people via touch, kiss, and even sexual intercourse.
What Causes Oral Thrush?
We all have a fungus type called C. Albicans in our mouths. It’s perfectly normal to have a healthy, small amount of C. Albicans and bacteria in the body. Our immune system protects us from these C. Albicans. But, when the body’s immune system is compromised, it becomes really hard for the bacteria to control the growth of the C. Albicans. When these fungi start to grow endlessly, yeast infections like oral thrush become apparent in the body. So, the overgrowth of the fungus type C. Albicans is responsible for the oral thrush. However, it should be noted that the stability/health of the immune system is the real problem.
Our body can control C. Albicans and keep them in a healthy size/number. But taking certain medications affects the body’s immune system and compromises our health. Therefore, some type of treatment plans and drugs can be the indirect causes of this infection type. But that’s not all. A good number of conditions and diseases also cause a weaker immune system. Effects of these conditions and the treatments you take can very well cause system overload; all of these play a huge part in the overgrowth of the fungus. Some of these treatments and conditions are:
- Leukemia
- I.V
- Diabetes
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation
- Antibiotics
What Are the Symptoms of Oral Thrush?
At first, you might not see any giveaways, but as the infection advances, you will start to notice some differences. Some of these are:
- A burning feeling in the inner cheeks and tongue
- White or yellow patches and bumps on the mouth
- Occasional bleeding on the bumps
- Skin deformation at the lips
- Getting less taste from foods
- Bad breath
One or more of these symptoms might present themselves at different stages of oral thrush. The easiest way to understand this infection is to check the number 2 symptom on the list. If you have yellow and white bumps on your tongue and cheeks, you should call your doctor.
Which Age Groups Are in Danger?
As we said before, oral thrush only affects people with immune system problems. Toddlers, kids, and older people seem to get more affected by this infection compared to healthy adults. But, considering the contagious aspect of this infection, it’s safe to say that even a healthy adult can get oral thrush from another person.
It should also be noted that the majority of the oral thrush cases in toddlers happen because of breastfeeding. The reason for that is, C. Albicans also causes yeast infections on breasts and nipples. This results in a vicious back-and-forth cycle between the baby and the mother. If the mother has a yeast infection and unknowingly breastfeeds the baby, the fungus passes down to the baby and results in oral thrush. After that, baby gives the same infection to its mother and delays the treatment. This is a very dangerous cycle that can very well result in other health problems. Compared to babies and toddlers, adults only seem to have this condition when they are already facing a much bigger problem. Most of the time, oral thrush only happens when the patient takes a heavy medication that can weaken the immune system.
Severe Cases of Oral Thrush
If your immune system is under huge amounts of stress and works at a minimum, this allows the infection to travel to other parts within your body. Without proper treatment, the fungus might spread to your liver, heart, and even brain. This invasive behavior, much like cancer, can affect those body parts. Because of the fungus, infected body parts become less successful in doing their job. This creates an even greater stress in the body, and your organs try to achieve their tasks to their 100%. All of this can cause a life-threatening septic shock to occur in the body.
How To Prevent Oral Thrush?
There are ways to reduce the risk of developing oral thrush in the mouth. Some of these ways are:
- Practicing good oral hygiene and visiting your dentist twice every year.
- If you have any symptoms, go to your doctor immediately and don’t waste time.
- Keeping your blood sugar levels in check.
- Having a nutritious diet and counting your macros.
- Don’t take excessive antibiotics.
- Do sports to improve your immune system.
- Eating lots of probiotic foods.
- Saltwater can slow down the thrush process.
- A mixture of water and lemon juice can also slow down the process.
Summary
All of these methods can either slow down the infection or protect you from getting oral thrush. All in all, it should be noted that oral thrush is not a dangerous infection and can be easily solved with proper treatment methods and drugs. If you face any of the symptoms, consult your doctor or dentist for further information. They will hop you on a medicine and start your treatment plan. From there on, you should protect yourself and get yourself stronger via food. After a while, you can also start your regular workout regimen, but avoid heavy weights while taking the medication. In a month or so, you will be fresh as ever. Be safe!