Is it possible to get a yeast infection if you've never had sex? I think I might have one but my mom said that the only way you can get one is if I've had sex before and I haven't.

Yes, you can get a yeast infection without having sex.
It's got something to do with bacteria.
You can get it if you are on antibiotics, wipe incorrectly, or any number of reasons. Even infant girls can get it.
I'm sure someone else on here can give you more detailed information. Hope I helped a little.

Twinhearts

yeast and sex have nothing to do with each other. tell your mom to read this the link with you.

your body has yeast in it (down there) and when your acid level is disturbed you can create to much yeast and walla a yeast infection. infant girls can also have puffy breast and have a little blood from the vagina because of the mothers hormones in their systems. If you came down with thrush- a yeast infection of the mouth and throat- would she assume you got it from sex? Thrush is another childhood infection that many infants who use pacifiers and suck thumbs/fingers get. Baby boys can get yeast infections in their diaper areas from sitting in a wet diaper to long.

check Click to read about infection" link.

Something I learned by way of trial and error. for years I used a extra cleansing water and vinegar douche after mothly cycles- and boom i would have a yeast infection. My body chemistry is highly acidic already and the added acid from the vinegar was causing me to get infections. So I switched to a baking soda and water one and since then NO infections.

Thanks a lot for that information.

Hi Emogirl-
You might log on to www.HerPort.com wellness/medicine

Third thread down is a good discussion on this.
If all this doesn't convince your Mom, have her call the doctors office for information.

its absolutely possible to get a yest infection without having sexual intercourse.
A yeast infection occurs I think when the vagina is not being properly sanitized?
I'm no expert cause i am a man, but from what I been told thats how it happens. I'm probably wrong.
Try a doushce, I had that works well. or some kind of cream, like vagisil.

Sorry- wrong, Ron--antibiotics, for just one thing, kill not only the harmful but also the natural and helpful bacteria in the area. Type of clothing, ie- not cotton and sitting for very long periods of time on naugahide (SP!) or plastic covered chairs produce enough body heat and allows the harmful bacterias to out produce the baddies. I got my information from my doctor some time ago.

RON

My second reply was to correct the information in your post. This one is just for you...
I've been doing a slow burn since logging off and have decided to go with it.

I do not like confrontations but in this instance I must.

I think your suggesting to a young girl her problem may be due to lack of cleanliness and to douche was, in the very least, a thoughtless and possibly hurtful statment.

Ignorance is no excuse. If you don't truly have the correct answers to to these types of problems, don't post anything at all!

This child was asking for help and now likely feels ridiculed.

After receiving answers such as yours, can you question the fact that a lot of kids don't ask for or seek help??

I hope you are big enough to post an apology to her here.

OK - I'll stick my 2¢ worth in -

When my daughter was an infant, the pediatrician noticed a slight rash during a check-up. He said yeast was the culprit for diaper rash.
As he put it - "When you're born - you have yeast!"

Yeast also accounts for many "heat rashes" and, as mentioned, thrush.

You may want to consult your doctor to see what he/she recommends for treatment.

PS - Antibiotics promote yeast growth, as do vinegary and sugary foods.

i didn't mean for her too feel bad. I was posting my knowledge on what i knew which from looking at the posts i was way off.
My apologies.

Di, as you know I'm a man and therefore was only posting to be as helpful as possible.
I never tried or did not mean to make anybody feel bad about themselves.
Di, if you read my post carefully I did post question marks at the end clarifying the fact that I wasn't too sure about my answers.
Then again Di, I am not a woman, so therefore I have really no idea of how a womans body functions.
EmoGirl and Di, I hope you can accept my most sincere apology for my post. I didn't mean any harm I was just offering advice, advice of which I was wrong to give seeing as how I"m not a female.
If you could forgive me I would be very greatful of your forgiveness.
It will never happen again.

Hi Ron,
Apology accepted.....Thank you.
I may have come across pretty hard, but that post really got my 'dander' up.
'Friends' again, ok??

I thought about not saying this because I don't want to confuse the issue, but, as some of you know, I can be a little too picky about making sure information is completely correct.
You do not have to have sex to get a yeast infection (as others have made clear), but shawn is overstating it by saying "yeast and sex have nothing to do with each other." It is common for sexually inactive women to get yeast infections, but having sex does make a yeast infection more likely: WebMD

overstating? you don't get "yeast" from having sex you already have it from birth.

I stated as you quoted "yeast and sex" not yeast infections and sex. therefor I did not overstate.

a disturbance in the balance of yeast/acid/chemical changes is what causes yeast infections. But by simply having YEAST has nothing to do with having sex.

Just because sex does not create yeast does not mean that sex has nothing to do with yeast, therefore I still feel you overstated.

Sex has something to do with yeast in at least two ways:
1. Sex can affect the body in ways that make a more hospitable environment for yeast, causing a yeast infection.
2. Yeast can be spread through sex with someone who has a yeast infection (men can have yeast infections too). The increased amount of yeast can then cause a yeast infection.

Saying that sex has nothing to do with yeast is like saying that I have nothing to do with my pets just because I did not give birth to them.

As I said, sometimes I am too picky about being absolutely correct.

At any rate, these are not the only, and I believe not the most common, causes of yeast infections.

Shawn is correct. The original, normal yeast is always there and cannot be passed by having sex as other bacterial infections.

Di - according to these links it can:
sexinfo101
urology channel
LA gay and lesbian center
Smith college health services
FDA
Penn state university health services

Even leaving out the spreading part, I still say that point number 1 shows that "yeast and sex have nothing to do with each other" is an overstatement.

Again, I'm not saying that this is the reason for most yeast infections, just that it can be a factor.

[This message was edited by methos5000 on 03-07-03 at 04:40 PM.]

methos-
Thank you for the links...this was all news to me and not at all what my doctor explained. He did inform me that it was not sexually transmittable.

Di, I can tell you that there is much that every doctor and nurse doesn't know.. we learn what we can and try to work intelligently using research and other resources to keep on top of current knowledge. Sometimes we don't know things, and that doesn't mean we are bad clinicians, it just means that there is something we didn't know.

Honestly, I didn't know you could pass yeast infections around with sexual intercourse. It makes sense you could, but I didn't know for sure.

Great links, Methos.

Great research, methos5000.

You're taught me something new today.

Thanks.