What is Throat Candida Infection?
Throat Candida infection is also known as Candida Albicans throat infection. A person is infected when there is an overgrowth of Candida fungus. This fungus lives naturally in the digestive tract. As per human physiology, when the body is healthy and immune to diseases, it can control the spread of Candida fungus. But due to stress or by consuming medications like antibiotics or oral contraceptives, Candida throat infection may occur resulting in the spread of oral yeast infection. Patients suffering from Aids, diabetes and cancer, dry mouth and pregnant ladies are more prone to get this infection.
Throat Candida Symptoms
The main symptom of throat candida is overgrowth of the yeast inside the throat, and is very painful. Patient experiences difficulty in swallowing due to inflammation. The inflammation is caused by large amount of Candida present in the throat. The other symptoms are burning sensations in throat and altered taste, usually while eating very spicy or sweet foods. When Candida throat infection spreads to the esophagus it is called esophageal Candidiasis, a quite common infection in people with weak immune systems. As it is present deep inside the throat, it is difficult to detect during an oral examination. An endoscope is prescribed to identify this kind of Candidiasis. Esophageal Candidiasis can cause pain and difficulty, combined with chest pain as well. If esophageal Candidiasis is not diagnosed and treated it may lead to serious respiratory problem.
Typical symptom of throat Candida is the appearance of whitish, soft velvety plaques on the mouth and mucous membranes of the tongue. The tongue is covered by a pasty and stale coating with foul smell. This condition is also seen inside the cheeks, under the tongue and also in the back of the throat. In extreme cases there is lot of unwanted weight loss as a result of adverse pain in swallowing which leads to less eating. This symptom is usually combined with fever, dizziness, hair loss and swollen throat. When this infection reaches the esophagus, the patient will experience severe itching in the throat. Other visible signs of this infection are pale or heavily coated tongue and cracks around the corners of the mouth.
Throat Candida, when overgrown in the throat, usually appears like white spots. These white spots give a creamy feeling.In many cases, bleeding may take place when the whitish material is scraped. The other symptoms include nausea and chest pain. Patients may also experience a feeling of food getting stuck in the throat region or the mid-chest area. That can also spread across different portions of the body. The organs affected by the infection include the lungs, the liver and the skin. Spreading of the infection mostly takes place in people suffering with HIV, cancer or any other condition that causes the weakness of the immune system