If you have ever had a yeast infection, you will know the total discomfort that comes with it.

On top of the irritating feeling of having something like many cold sores in the area, you feel the itchiness as well and that accompanies the constant burning, sometimes stinging sensation.  Given the fact that a yeast infection can occur anywhere – from the mouth, lower abdomen, fingers, toes to the genitals – having those symptoms on any part of the body is never an easy thing to cope with.

The best way to figure out how to cure yeast infection is to know why they come about in the first place.  A yeast infection is caused when there is an imbalance of Candida yeast in the body.  This can happen to anyone and is commonly triggered by external factors like hormonal imbalances from pregnancy (or birth control pills), an overproduction of sugars from diabetes or even the slightest unhygienic conditions (like not drying off properly after a shower or not cleaning up after sex).

You have your choice of medication for yeast infection or home remedies.  Most people recommend the latter.  These are often deemed safer and milder on the body, and the use of natural products on an infection that is brought about by natural causes is always preferred.  Find the most popular ways of how to cure yeast infection permanently below and see if there is one for you:

1.    Yogurt.  With live Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria, this healthy bacteria kills off excess yeast.  To use yogurt on yeast infection sites, rub on a little bit onto the affected area.  The good thing about yogurt is that it is safe enough to use on the vagina and anus – use a syringe (without a needle, of course) to insert just enough yogurt into these hard-to-reach places.

Another frequently used method is to use soak tampons in yogurt and insert them as per normal.

You can do this as often as necessary, usually once or twice a day, until the symptoms disappear (and they will).

2.    Boric acid.  Easily available from pharmacies in pill form, boric acid can be used as suppositories for the vagina – our body heat is warm enough to melt the capsules and release the boric acid.  This should be done every night for a week and thereafter, twice a week for 3 weeks.  A word of caution: some women report a slight burning sensation for the first few days so if the sting gets too intense, stop immediately.

3.    Cranberries.  Useful in yeast infections that may progress on to urinary tract infections, cranberries also help to lower the pH value of your urine, which helps to control the UTI from getting worse.  You can take cranberries in its pure juice form or in the form of cranberry pills.  This is a very mild remedy to try so a combination with any other remedy is just as safe.

4.    Garlic.  By far, the most popular way to get rid of yeast infection, garlic can be taken as pills or in cloves.  More daring (or desperate) yeast infection sufferers will insert a clove of garlic into their vaginas to have instant relief.  Not only that, garlic has proven itself to be a good long-term solution to yeast infections.

You may also need to figure out how to treat yeast infection, especially if you have no quick access to whatever remedies you know of or the pharmacy.  A sure way to treat this is to wash with water mixed with vinegar.  A few drops of it in your cleaning water will help keep your body disinfected, even if your surroundings are less than pristine.

If you can, here is another way how to treat yeast infection, particularly an ongoing one – douching.  The douching set can be found in pharmacies and this is done once a day until the yeast clears.  Take note that douching must NEVER be done when there is no yeast infection as it can do the total opposite and cause a yeast infection.

Medication for yeast infection, if this is your choice, is available from doctors and pharmacies.

As each doctor or pharmacist will tell you, the success of each medicine depends very much on the area it is to be used on, the intensity of the rash and how extensive an area it has spread to.  Unlike home remedies, medication for yeast infection are not long-lasting and the yeast tends to return – sometimes, worse than before.