Canesten Thrush Combi Soft Gel Pessary & External Cream 500mg vaginal capsule / 2% w/w cream

Canesten Thrush Combi Soft Gel is a single-dose vaginal thrush treatment. It contains one 500mg clotrimazole soft gel pessary (a soft vaginal capsule) and a tube of clotrimazole 2% cream for itching and soreness outside the vagina. It is a pharmacy medicine, so a pharmacist checks a few answers before we send it.

What is a soft gel pessary?

A soft gel pessary is a yellow, teardrop-shaped soft capsule. Its gelatin shell holds 500mg of clotrimazole in an oily base. You insert it into the vagina at bedtime with the applicator, in the same way as a classic Canesten pessary. Both deliver the same 500mg dose of clotrimazole, and both treat thrush in a single night.

Soft gel pessary or classic pessary?

The choice is mostly personal preference. The soft gel shell contains gelatin, so choose the classic Combi if you avoid animal products. Choose the classic pessary too if you are allergic to the colourings sunset yellow (E110) or quinoline yellow (E104). Don’t need the external cream? The Canesten Thrush Pessary 500mg is the pessary on its own.

What is in the pack?

• One clotrimazole 500mg soft gel pessary with an applicator.
• One tube of clotrimazole 2% cream for use outside the vagina.

How to use Canesten Combi Soft Gel

• At bedtime, put the soft gel pessary into the applicator. Lie on your back with your knees bent and insert it as high into the vagina as is comfortable, then press the plunger.
• Apply the cream thinly to the skin around the vagina (and the anus if it is itchy there) 2 to 3 times a day until symptoms clear.
• Don’t use it during your period: the pessary can be washed out. Start treatment before your period or after it has finished.
• Don’t use tampons, douches, spermicides or other vaginal products during treatment.
• If you are pregnant, insert the pessary with your finger, not the applicator, and only on the advice of your doctor or midwife.

How long does it take to work?

Most people notice their symptoms easing within a few days. If your symptoms haven’t improved within 7 days, see your doctor. If thrush comes back more than twice in 6 months, speak to your doctor rather than treating it again yourself.

Who should get medical advice first?

• This is the first time you have had thrush symptoms.
• You are under 16 or over 60.
• You are pregnant or think you might be.
• You have abnormal or irregular vaginal bleeding, blood-stained discharge, sores, ulcers or blisters around the vagina or vulva, pain in your lower tummy, pain when you pee, a fever, or a discharge that smells unpleasant.

Side effects and condoms

Some people get mild itching, burning or irritation where the pessary or cream was used. Stop using it and get advice if this is severe. The pessary and cream can damage latex condoms and diaphragms, so use another form of contraception during treatment and for at least 5 days afterwards. Avoid sex until the infection has cleared, so you don’t pass it on.

More thrush treatments

Compare every option, including pessaries, internal cream, external cream and capsules, on our thrush treatment page. You might also consider the fluconazole 150mg capsule, a single capsule you swallow.

Buy Canesten Combi Soft Gel online

Order from Bury Healthcare Online, a GPhC-registered UK pharmacy. You’ll answer a short questionnaire before checkout, and a pharmacist reviews every order before it is sent in plain packaging.

Always read the label and the patient information leaflet before use.

Canesten Combi Soft Gel FAQs

Medically reviewed by Hassan Khan, MPharm, Independent Prescriber — Superintendent Pharmacist, Bury Healthcare Online (GPhC-registered pharmacy 1126145). Last reviewed: October 2026.