What to Do About Recurring Yeast Infections (2025)

If you’ve been dealing with recurrent yeast infections, let us take a moment of silence for your vagina—because it really doesn’t deserve to go through this! We’re sure you’re fed up with the constant itching, burning, and clumpy discharge. And that’s fair, because you shouldn’t have to experience the symptoms of a yeast infection on a regular basis.

Let us reassure you that most people assigned female at birth suffer through the unpleasantries of a vaginal yeast infection at some point in their lifetime. In fact, it’s the second most common type of vaginal infection, only next to bacterial ones, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The occasional yeast infection kind of comes with the territory of having a vagina—but recurrent yeast infections are a sign that something’s not quite right. If you often find yourself wondering Why do I keep getting yeast infections?, then it’s important to get to the root cause so you can finally put an end to the misery with the right treatment plan. Here’s how to ID recurrent yeast infections, possible reasons why your yeast infection always seems to come back, and what to bring up to your doctor so you can give your vagina some much-deserved peace.

What is a vaginal yeast infection, exactly?

A vaginal yeast infection develops when a fungus called Candida albicans overgrows in your vagina and causes severe itchiness and other annoying symptoms, per the Mayo Clinic.

Before you get grossed out, remember that it’s totally natural to have some Candida albicans in your vagina! Lactobacillus bacteria produce acid to prevent an overgrowth of this yeast and generally help keep your vagina happy and healthy. It’s only when this yeast grows too much that you can begin to have an issue.

However, constantly dealing with the frustration of recurrent yeast infections isn’t normal. When you have four or more of them in a year, those are known as “complicated” yeast infections, and they can happen for a variety of reasons, per the Mayo Clinic.

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What are the symptoms of a yeast infection?

According to the Mayo Clinic, yeast infection symptoms usually range from mild to moderate and can include:

• Itching and irritation in your vagina and around your vulva
• Burning when you pee
• Burning or pain during sex
• Redness and swelling of your vulva
• Vaginal pain and soreness
• Thick, white, odor-free vaginal discharge that looks like cottage cheese
• Watery vaginal discharge

If you have a complicated yeast infection, your symptoms might be more severe and include things like extensive redness, swelling, and itching that can lead to tears, cracks, or sores on your vulva.

However, it’s important to note that yeast infections don’t just happen in your vagina—Candida can also overgrow in other areas of your body, which most commonly include your mouth, esophagus, and throat, according to the CDC. In these cases, you’ll have more symptoms localized to those areas instead, like white patches in your mouth, loss of taste, pain while eating, or difficulty swallowing.

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What causes vaginal yeast infections?

If something disrupts the balance of your vagina’s pH, yeast can get out of control and cause an infection, Sherry A. Ross, M.D., a women’s health expert and author of She-ology: The Definitive Guide to Women’s Intimate Health. Period., tells SELF.

There are a few things that can disrupt that delicate balance and cause a yeast infection, including:

• Antibiotics: This is a huge one since a course of antibiotics (even when needed to fight something like a UTI or BV) can kill the healthy bacteria in your vagina that keep excess yeast under control.
• Scented products: In some cases, a new soap or laundry detergent with fragrance can set you up for a yeast infection by disrupting your natural pH balance. For similar reasons, you should avoid douches of all forms: Trying to “clean” your vagina can promote pH disruption and is seriously unnecessary.
• Damp clothes: Wearing sweaty workout clothes or a wet bathing suit for too long can also contribute to yeast infections. Yeast loves warm, moist environments, and your workout gear or a wet bathing suit can trap heat and sweat, allowing yeast to flourish, Christine Greves, M.D., a board-certified ob-gyn at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies, tells SELF.
• High estrogen levels: Having elevated estrogen levels due to pregnancy, taking high-estrogen birth control pills, or using estrogen hormone therapy can increase your risk of yeast infections. Excess estrogen can promote higher levels of glycogen (a stored form of glucose, also known as sugar) in the vagina—and yeast loves sugar, Dr. Greves says.
• Sex: Unfortunately, having sex can also promote yeast infections, although yeast infections aren’t considered a sexually transmitted infection.