Thrush Dr Rob Hicks Thrush is a common infection caused by a yeast-like fungus affecting both men and women.

In this article

What is Thrush? Symptoms

Causes and risk factors Treatment and recovery

Thrush is caused by the fungus Candida albicans, which lives harmlessly on the skin, in the mouth, gut or vagina as one of our many ‘commensal’ organisms. Normally, bacteria and our immune system keep it under control, but if the balance is upset, the yeast proliferates.

Men and women can get thrush. Women may experience:

• Soreness
• Redness and itching around the vulva (lips of the vagina), the vagina and anus
• Thick, white vaginal discharge that looks like cottage cheese and smells of yeast
• Pain during sex or when passing urine

Men may experience:

• Burning, itching and red patches under the foreskin or on the tip of the penis
• Thick, cheesy discharge under the foreskin
• Problems pulling back the foreskin
• Pain passing urine

About 75 per cent of women get thrush at some point in their lives. It can be passed on during sex, but is more likely to occur if you:

• Take certain antibiotics
• Are pregnant
• Are on the oral contraceptive pill
• Have diabetes
• Use too much vaginal deodorant or perfumed bubble bath that causes irritation
• Wear tight trousers or nylon underwear

The following can relieve symptoms:

• Wear loose-fitting clothes made from cotton
• Avoid bath additives and perfumed soaps
• Wash the genital area as normal regularly every day and pat dry
• Use pads rather than tampons during a period

Thrush is easily treated using vaginal pessaries or creams, or oral tablets available from your local pharmacy. Inserting live yoghurt into the vagina using a tampon is a natural treatment but can be messy.

Tea-tree oil cream can be used to treat thrush outside the vagina or on the penis.

If you do not use any treatment, if the precipitating factor settles ( such as after a course of antibiotics finishes) for many the problem will eventually settle on its own.

This article was last medically reviewed by Dr Gill Jenkins in June 2009.