Oral Thrush

White coatings on the tongue, palate, inner cheeks. A furry film that can be wiped away, leaving behind reddened, sometimes raw mucous membrane. Perhaps the mouth burns. Perhaps things taste different. Perhaps the thrush belongs to a baby who cries while feeding, because the sucking motion hurts.

Medically the matter is clearly named: Candida albicans, a yeast fungus that normally belongs to the healthy oral flora, has multiplied strongly. Antifungals work. That is good and right. But the actual point lies elsewhere. Because Candida was always there. It lives in every healthy mouth — and does nothing. The question is not why the fungus struck. The question is: what changed in your inner milieu so that it could suddenly spread?