These Are Officially the Most Effective Ways to Treat Yeast Infections

Nearly 75 percent of women will get at least one yeast infection at some point in their life, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And while this super common condition is unlikely to turn into something more serious, coming down with one just might drive you nuts with frustration.

First there are the symptoms. Caused by an overgrowth of the yeast that normally make your vagina their home, a yeast infection triggers crazy intense itching or burning along your outer and inner labia, redness, and typically a thick, white, curd-like discharge.  It’s not sexually transmitted, but when you have one, you probably won’t want to twist the sheets. . . things can feel too raw down there.

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The other thing that makes yeast infections such a pain in the butt is that, despite all the treatment options available, some women find them surprisingly hard to get rid of. “Almost all of the over-the-counter remedies will work for women who get them once in a blue moon,” says Raquel Dardik, M.D., clinical associate professor of ob-gyn at NYU Langone Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health. But if you come down with them often—five percent of women get four or more a year—the standard treatments aren’t going to cut it for you.

Here’s a rundown of the anti-yeast remedies out there so you can make a more informed decision as to which one is best for you:

The most commonly prescribed anti-yeast pill is Diflucan (generic name: fluconazole). “These cure the infection 90 percent of the time,” says Dardik. Popping a pill has big advantages. First, you only need one dose, and the infection disappears in days. Second, there’s no messy cream leaking out of you while you’re tying to get through your workday. The cons: Even if you know for sure you have a yeast infection, because it’s a prescription, you have to check in with your ob-gyn before she’ll call it in to your pharmacy.

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Available over the counter, these creams can be a great option—no time-suck doctor appointment to deal with. But they can be goopy, too: Depending on the kind and brand you buy, you use an applicator to squeeze a pre-measured dose of cream way into your vagina, where the yeast are busy breeding.

One-day, three-day, and seven-day treatment formulas are available. And while the one-day option sounds ideal (who wants to squeeze cream into their lady parts every night for an entire week?), the one-day dose has a slightly lower success rate than the longer versions, says Dardik. “The longer formulas have a 70 percent success rate,” she says, “and brand names and generics are just as effective.” If price matters, the longer the treatment, the cheaper it’ll be.

For women who get repeat yeast infections that the prescription pills or yeast-killing creams aren’t curing, this is an option. The same compound that in other forms is used to kill insects can also wipe out the bugs messing up your vagina. Boric acid has antifungal properties, and when a woman inserts it into her vagina and lets the suppository dissolve, it kills both the yeast and the bacteria, says Dardik. This more or less resets the vagina so healthy bacteria can breed again and ideally keep the yeast in check.

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Boric acid suppositories are available without an Rx, but you do have to ask a pharmacist to compound them [What does compound them mean?] for you, says Dardik. And while it is a treatment option that can end the cycle of yeast, you’ll probably want to get your ob-gyn’s take on whether you should use them first.