Well, I feel a little weird asking a question like this, but I have to do something about it.
I just recently got a yeast infection, and my family doesn’t have the money to go to the doctor’s this week and get it treated properly. So for a while, I’m stuck with it. On top of that, my period is coming in four days, and the reason this is a problem is that we are also going to a water-park IN four days exactly. I’ve never used tampons before, so I’m a little iffy about it.
My question is: is it dangerous to wear a tampon as a first timer, while having a yeast infection, in the upcoming four days? If it’s not a very good idea, could you tell me a way to clear or begin to clear up this yeast infection by the time I have to leave so I can use tampons for swimming!
I’ve already tried searching about this through Yahoo! Answers, but no one seems to have the same problem as I do. Help me out please!

Tampons are best avoided all together, particularly when you have a yeast infection. Tampons are horrifically bad for vaginal health as they prevent vaginal cleaning, encourage bacterial growth, loose fibers, absorb vaginal fluids, and commercial brands contain synthetics, chemicals and bleach. The negative effect on vaginal health can easily make infections worse, in fact tampons are a primary cause of many vaginal infections, and they would encourage the growth or bacteria and yeast making infections worse for you. Tampons are always dangerous because of these effects on vaginal health, whether you are a first-time user or not they will always encourage bacteria growth and cause vaginal splitting and ulceration, they will always risk causing vaginal infections, increased menstrual flow, increased menstrual cramps, and risk TSS, endometriosis and cancer. Tampon health web site http://www.spotsite.org In this day and age there is no reason at all for women to use tampons, there are so many other options that are safer and cleaner, as well as some options also being far more convenient, cheaper, greener, and reliable than tampons.

You don’t have to use tampons for swimming, you can use pads although disposable pads will go soggy in the water and come unstuck you can use cloth pads or something similar, you can only use pads with light flow as when wet they can’t hold as much, and just hide under a pair of shorts. Cloth pads like Lunapads http://www.lunapads.com won’t come unstuck as they are held in place with poppers rather than glued in. You can use period belts like Reddy’s http://www.reddyspads.com which are extra-long pads that fasten around your waste so more secure and easier to hide, better still are period panties like Lunapanties from Lunapads, these are underwear with pads built-in so better protection, easier to hide and more comfortable. Menstrual cups like Divacup http://www.divacup.com are the best option, these are internal bell-shaped cups, which are much healthier and more hygienic than tampons, as well as more comfortable, easier to use, convenient, and reliable. You can leave cups for up to 12 hours even before your period or during heavy days, so no having to change all the time and cups don’t leak so no risk of embarrassment. There’s nothing showing outside of your body so they are more discreet. You can use a diaphragm as a menstrual cup, or use softcups like Instead http://www.softcups.com which are diaphragm-shaped so sit further up in your vagina, they work on the same idea as menstrual cups so have similar benefits, but they aren’t as easy to use as menstrual cups.

As for your infection, you don’t need to go to the doctor to treat yeast, that is as long as you know that it is a yeast infection you are dealing with, as well as over the counter treatments there are plenty of home treatments. My personal favorite is plain pro-biotic yogurt, this is inserted into your vagina before going to bed and then washed out in the morning. This is messy but you can avoid this by putting the yogurt into ice cube trays to freeze them, then you can insert them into your vagina without mess or fuss. Garlic is another one, add a clove of garlic into your vagina before bed and remove in the morning, put into gauze if worried about loosing it, just make sure not to remove the skin or else it will sting. There are seriously millions of home treatments out there, it’s just a case of finding one that works best for you, personally I’d never use the garlic thing as my boyfriend wouldn’t be too happy about the smell/taste but you might be fine using this method. Take a look at this web site with some simple home treatments, some suggestions aren’t great (avoid tampons and douching suggestions) but some are fine and some can be changed to make them easier to acheive. http://www.msu.edu/~eisthen/yeast/yourself.html