Causes of thrush in the throat

Information on Oral Thrush

Oral thrush is a medical condition characterized by a mouth infection triggered by a certain type of yeast called candida albicans. The condition is medically referred to as candidiasis.

Oral thrush can be easily characterized by the raised spots located on the surfaces of the pink membranes in one’s mouth. The spots are usually yellow, white or creamy. These spots can sometimes be confused with milk residues on the tongue and are sometimes characterized as having curd like or even cottage cheese appearance.

If the spots get scraped off they reveal a red, tender area which can even bleed in certain cases. These spots usually appear in the mouth, but certain rare cases may involve the occurrence of the spots in the throat as well.

The spots are commonly not painful but they may cause slight troubles and they may make feeding a little harder. Some patients may experience soreness and burning sensations in the throat, mouth and the angles of the lips. Very rare cases may also include high temperature and if it occurs the person needs to seek immediate medical attention. Severe cases of oral thrush may also be good indicators of some serious underlying medical condition.

Causes and Treatment

The primary cause of oral thrush id the yeast called candida albicans which is virtually everywhere. It can be found on people’s skin and in their mouths and in most cases it does not cause any health problems at all. The candida can only become harmful and trigger certain symptoms when the person has a weakened immune system.

It also grows and causes troubles when there changes in the normal mouth environment. The changes may include reduction of the saliva production, reduced number of healthy bacteria or certain changes in the mouth acidity. Exposure to certain factors can also cause an increased growth of candida which leads to the development of oral thrush in most cases.

The list of factors usually includes reduced natural resistance, steroids, general illness, antibiotics and various different types of viral infections. Most people who wear dentures experience problems with candida but they only occur if the dentures are not fitted properly because that way they can cause damage to the delicate membranes located in the mouth.

In order to treat oral thrush properly, the patient needs to take certain types of anti-fungal medications such as miconazole or nystatin. These medications can be used orally or they can be applied topically.