For anyone who has ever had thrush you will know how itchy and bloody annoying it is. I have only had it once, recently when I was pregnant with my second child and at first I was not really sure what it was or if I had it or not but a quick visit to the nurse confirmed it for me and she was able to prescribe Canesten Combi medicine for me. I was lucky enough to get it free as I have a eternity exemption form at the moment but if you were to purchase it from Boots it would cost you £13.49 for a box of the one treatment pessary and cream.

Thrush is a fungal infection and is commonly referred to as a yeast infection. Vaginal thrush is rather annoying and just quite uncomfortable. Symptoms may include:

whitish vaginal discharge
odourless vaginal discharge
persistent burning
itching
redness
swelling
soreness of the vagina and vulva.

I was rather embarrassed that I had it but apparently it is rather common in pregnancy. The nurse told me that actually its very common and is present in our bodies without us even being aware of it. According to an article I read, 

it is caused by a yeast (fungus) called candida which may live harmlessly in the vagina without you even noticing it. However, the natural pH balance of the vagina that keeps candida under control can be upset by many factors such as perfumed soaps, hormonal changes (menstruation, contraceptive pill, pregnancy, menopause), poor health, antibiotics, bath additives and tight clothing. I did feel better than it was nothing I really did and just a common problem so I felt better about getting some medicine for it than I think I would if it was something I had caused. 

This pack contains everything you need to get rid of the vaginal thrush. Firstly you are instructed to use a pessary. This is a little tablet basically that you put into your vagina that gently breaks down over a number of hours and as such you do not need to remove it after you have used it, it just works itself out on its own. The pessary is like a little chalky tablet and is about the size of a 20 pence piece. The nurse advised me to wear a towel in my underwear after I had inserted it to catch any discharge that I may have. YOu know it has worked if you see a little bit of chalky substance in your underwear. The pessary was really easy to insert as it came with a little stick that you put the pessary in and then used the stick like a tampon to insert it and then press a little release button and then the pessary is in.

After using this you can then apply the cream. I tended to do it once in the morning after my shower and once in the evening before bed when I wouldn't get rid of it so quickly by going to the bathroom. The cream was really nice to put on, you basically just rub it all over the outside of your vagina. It was instantly cooling and really felt like it was taking care of the itch straight away. The tube of cream is not very big, it is only 10g so it only lasted for about a week but I am pleased to announce that after this time the thrush had cleared up and so far so good, I have not had another outbreak which is great. 

All in all this is a good solution to an itchy problem that I would recommend.