I received this question a few days ago on Facebook, and thought it would make a good post, because I’m sure others have similar questions.
Christmas night, after several days of no sex because of the craziness of the holiday, my Dear Wife initiated, but was unable to last very long because of a yeast infection. Not wanting to hurt her, we stopped, went to the bathroom and cleaned ourselves off. Then, because she’s so awesome, she finished me off orally. I’m wondering now if there’s any risk of doing oral on me after vaginal sex when she has a yeast infection. I tried researching online about can I give her oral when she has a yeast infection (which I figured would be easier to find an answer to), but all I found was answer to “can oral sex cause a yeast infection” which is not, today, of interest to me. So, my question is: Is there any danger of performing oral sex on someone with a yeast infection?
So, can you get a yeast infection from performing oral sex? First off, let me throw out the disclaimer that I’m not a doctor, so don’t take this as medical advice, but rather most like the advice you’d get from a friend who has taken the time to read up on the subject.
The simple answer is that, yes, you can get a yeast infection from performing oral sex. When you get a yeast infection in your mouth, it’s called thrush, and, so far as I know, it’s fairly common in babies as they’re natural bacteria balances systems sort themselves out when they’re newly born.
It’s also possible to give someone a yeast infection if you have thrush.
Some things increase the risk of both:
- Certain medications, particularly antibiotics, as they kill the organisms that fight the yeast infection
- If you have diabetes, I think this might be due to the fact that you have higher blood sugar levels, and yeast loves sugar, but that’s just a guess
- If your immune system is compromised by any other means
So, can you give her oral when she has a yeast infection. Yes, you can, but it might not be worth the risk. I think you’d be better off dealing with the yeast infection first. Because thrush isn’t a lot of fun. Some of the symptoms include:
- Pain or difficulty swallowing
- Feeling that food is getting stuck while swallowing
- Potential fever
And that’s if it doesn’t spread to your lungs, liver and skin, which I’m told is a very low risk (see the comments below). So, yeah, I’d deal with the existing yeast infection before complicating things.
If yeast infections are a common occurrence, then I think I’d be looking into the root cause. If your internal flora and fauna are balanced, you should not be getting yeast infections. They love it when you have high blood sugar, so you have a higher chance of getting yeast infections when you eat sweet things, or a lot of white bread, pasta, and other carbohydrates, which turn into sugar in your system, or drink alcohol. So of course, being Christmas, and New Year’s Eve just around the corner, this is a prime time for yeast infections, because that’s exactly what people are consuming more than usual. You’re also more prone to yeast infections when you are low on sleep and have high stress, and there we go again with the hallmarks of Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Also some other things to avoid if you’re trying to avoid a yeast infection, or are prone to them:
- Hot tubs and baths (they like the heat)
- Wet clothing (not usually a problem in the winter, but beware in the summer)
- Avoid tight or synthetic underwear and, sleeping naked helps as well
Oh, and if you eat yogurt, eating unsweetened yogurt with live bacterial culture can help as well. If you can’t stand eating it without sugar, try stevia, it’s a non-sugar based natural sweetener that you can get in your local health food store, or on amazon of course.
So, that’s a lot of information on oral sex and yeast infections. On the question you didn’t exactly ask, yeah, if you clean up first, you shouldn’t have any problems switching from PIV to oral. I hope it helps!
This is a good question. It helps with a question I have always had, can you give oral after you had penetration with no yeast infection. Was it okay and would I not get an infection. So I guess it is?
My understanding is that if your immune system and natural bacteria are strong and in balance, you should be able to fight it off…but cleaning a bit first between might not be a bad idea 🙂
Great answer Jay Dee. It is so hard when you want to have sex but you can’t.
It should be okay to go from vaginal penetration to oral, even with a yeast infection, as long as you do some decent cleaning in between. It wouldn’t have to be a full shower (although that might be a sexy way to transition if you jump in together), but cleaning with mild soap and water before going to oral should make it safe. The small amounts of yeast on the male member from the vagina’s yeast infection should come right off during a washing. I don’t recommend going straight from vagina to mouth without washing, but you don’t have to avoid oral altogether.
In comments, it is very difficult to say something bluntly without seeming rude or mean. Please know, though I will tell you plainly, it is only plain, and I intend no anger or rudeness.
Your body has yeast in it all the time. A yeast infection is not the presence of bacteria, but the overgrowth of it. The chances of a vaginal yeast infection being transmitted to thrush via oral sex is very low. Your statement, “And that’s if it doesn’t spread to your lungs, liver and skin.” is EXTREMELY misleading. Those types of infection are EXTREMELY RARE, so rare it isn’t worth mentioning on here, and I would ask for the sake of your readers that you edit it. That is seriously unnecessary fear. The people who may be at risk for something so uncommon, have immunity problems and are aware of all the risks to themselves by things that are little to no risk to the rest of us.
I have chronic yeast problems and neither intercourse nor oral sex have ever transferred any infection to my husband, not even the less uncommon thrush.
You must take your statement, “I am not a doctor” more seriously. A doctor understands how to communicate information based on actual risk, and that some risks are so low they aren’t worth mentioning. Unfortunately, WebMD doesn’t have such discretion. Health websites often make healthy people believe they have Cancer, and in this case, unnecessarily keep them from receiving oral sex. I’m not sure which result is worse. Lol
Fair enough, I did not look up the stats for how likely it is to occur. However, as rare as it is, my grandmother died from a systemic yeast infection. So, it is a reality, rare as it may be. Though I agree, not enough to avoid your spouse like the plague. However, I think it is worth a quick wipe down when switching between PIV and oral if you have an infection.