It’s Time to Get More Candid About Thrush
Why are we still so hush about it?
It’s pretty incredible that in today’s ‘open’ societal climate, people are honestly still embarrassed to talk about thrush.
And to be clear: I mean vaginal thrush.
Because for some bizarre reason, although yeast infection can occur across a plethora of anatomical features — including (although seemingly non-existent in society) the penis — we only get shy talking about the one in women’s panties.
And frankly, the stigma is really, really old.
I couldn’t quite believe my ears — when mentioning the other day to friends about my experience with the bitch of an annoyance that is pregnancy thrush, that I was met with laughter.
But they weren’t laughing at me, these were giggle fits of shame, accompanied by rose-tinted cheeks and a quick scan of the room to see who was of audible distance.
Perhaps I have a somewhat direct approach to certain ‘sensitive’ subjects. But is thrush really, still a sensitive subject?
I suppose if I were engaging in the same conversation with my grandma, I’d perhaps adjust my demeanor. Although in saying that, there are a number of unrelated topics that spring to mind in which I would do the same. So I’m not sure that counts.
We’re talking so much more openly these days about sex, sexual orientation, and all things menstruation, even, so why is it still such a big issue to talk about something so frivolous?
It almost seems like anything that’s a little off down there is still so closely related to the stigma of ‘having an STI’ — as if we’re still teenagers — that it’s a treated-best-left-unsaid kind of attitude we’re generally supposed to walk around (itching or not) with.
And that’s dangerous.
I remember the first time I had a yeast infection. I was having sex with it for months. We didn’t understand why some positions were so painful, and I had no idea it was specifically related to me.
It was some time down the line, when certain sex positions left me blue with pain, that I decided to go get checked out. No idea what my symptoms correlated with, I got checked out for everything (which you should be doing anyway).
To discover I had a yeast infection was beyond relieving.
While thrush can rarely lead to any real danger, I just couldn’t believe it had been going on for MONTHS.
Right there, in my panties, day in, day out. For months.
In looking back, there were signs. But, I just didn’t talk about them.
Sex hurt, and we just didn’t discuss it. It wasn’t like he had a 10-inch-dick that offered an obvious assumption of blame. We just… didn’t address it.
Sure, thrush is seemingly harmless — but where does the shameful treatment of shame-free symptoms end?
STI’s, even UTI’s can cause serious damage if left untreated, and then there are symptoms of the likes of cervical cancer, some of which present themselves in similar ways to what I had experienced and ignored.
The point is, we’d all talk about our elbow if it was persistently itching. Probably hit up the doctors after a few days.
What’s the difference?
Ladies:
Know your vagina.
Check yourselves.
Talk about it.
