Your typo makes me wonder whether you meant “ear” or “yeast,” but I’m going to assume you meant yeast since you’re talking about vaginas.
A lot of stuff can cause vaginal or urinary infections. Sex is one of the things which can trigger an infection for some women.
I’ve never had a yeast infection so I can’t describe the symptoms firsthand, but I know that it’s supposed to cause vaginal itching and (trigger warning: totally TMI vagina description! Turn back now, vaginaphobes!) a cottage cheese-like discharge.
A UTI usually manifests as a burning pain when you pee and a feeling of constantly needing to go to the bathroom even if you don’t actually have to. If it gets really bad, you might notice your pee starts to get a bit brownish.
The other thing to keep in mind is that sometimes BV (bacterial vaginosis) has similar symptoms to both yeast infections and UTIs, so that’s a possibility also, if you’re experiencing vaginal pain, itching, urinary symptoms, etc.
Best course of action: go to your doctor, tell them your symptoms, and have them do some tests so they can get you a treatment that will work. And please do this ASAP, because trust me, it is not fun when a UTI spreads to your bladder and kidneys.
As for how to prevent them, here’s a pretty exhaustive article about that.
