Oh...this is so hard to ask about. My 94 year old mother has had a fungus infection on her bum for a long time. Months it seems. I was there when they were treating it and the doctor told me it was improving....however two weeks later they just called and said it is bad. They say she is not allowing them to address it all the time and refuses treatment. Dementia, 94 and stubborn.
Anyone have this problem? Changed the diapers to what the doctor says she uses on her Mom but no good. Can this spread to her other parts of her body? Any insights?
Thank you all.
Marie
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but I’m sure you could find a bandage to fit with betadine under it. I would request a wound care specialist consult - we did culture moms and the wound care dr said it was many species and it was on the skin and this was a way to dry it up as these areas are always so damp that all these creams made it worse. Best of luck
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Also kept area drier - sitting most of the time keeps area damp/moist and a breeding ground for fungus and yeast issues.
we also cut back her sugar intake and added kefir to her diet daily. Good luck.
What works for me,
Only wear a bra once before washing it. Soak my bras in a Borax solution before washing them in the machine. No mixed laundry.
Hang on clothes line for several hours.
I know I have not mentioned my body you, but avoiding reinfection is important.
I buy Boric Acid powder. Dissolve a tablespoonful in a cup of boiling water. Do not drink this, label it well as it will look like clear water.
Morning and night get a cotton ball or pad soaking wet in the solution and spread it under both breasts. TMI coming, I lay back on my bed and hold the girls out of the way, and let the solution dry naturally. In a few days it clears up completely.
A public health nurse told me about the benefits of healing yeast infections using Borax and Boric Acid when my infant daughter had a horrific Yeast based diaper rash. We had to put my DD into cloth diapers, used the same procedure for cleaning them that I use for my bras, wiped her bottom down with the Boric Acid solution and it cleared up quite quickly.
My DD got the yeast diaper rash as a nursling, when I had to take antibiotics for a stubborn Strep infection that lasted 6 weeks and took 2 courses of antibiotics to cure.
Why the cloth diapers? They are changed more frequently, if left without a plastic cover, they allow airflow.
Global Emergence of Candida auris
Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant type of Candida that presents a serious global health threat, including in the United States. It can cause severe infections and spreads easily in healthcare facilities.
Invasive candidiasis is an infection caused by a yeast (a type of fungus) called Candida. Unlike Candida infections in the mouth and throat (also called “thrush”) or vaginal “yeast infections,” invasive candidiasis is a serious infection that can affect the blood, heart, brain, eyes, bones, and other parts of the body. Candidemia, a bloodstream infection with Candida, is a common infection in hospitalized patients.
The use of probiotics has been discussed in the medical literature.
1 - warm, moist, dark environment encourages growth of yeast and fungus
2 - her immune system is probably not in great shape
3 - she won't let others clean her often enough
Things that can help:
1 - Let her sleep without a diaper (absorbent pad underneath and on top) so her skin can dry out a bit
2 - Nystatin powder or cream applied to the rash with every diaper change and bath
3 - Anti-fungal oral medication
4 - if able, install a bidet attachment to her toilet so she gets "cleaned" every time she uses the bathroom
5 - Try to eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates from her diet that may be "feeding the fungus"
Fungal infections like damp warm places. Very difficult to avoid those in a person who is incontinent and wears protection.
if They haven’t run a culture on it yet, it needs to be done. There’s a lot of fungus….. and some are resistant to some medications.
There are a newer line of medications for fungal and bacterial infections that ime seem to work where all other have failed. But $$$. Specifically Crown Lab’s Ala-Quin, hydrocortisone .5% Iodochlorhydroxyquin 3%. It’s a cream, runs abt $450-$600 for 80 gram tube. Most pharmacy plans won’t cover it at all even with 80% copay as there’s a ton of other fungal meds available & all that have to be tried first. No generic. If you have a friendly dermatologist ask for a couple of sample tubes & see if the medical director will let the samples be tried on her. It’s amazing stuff. The hydro is a steroid so it deals with lessening the itching and redness and the iodo is a targeted antibiotic.
Make sure it’s ALA-Quin (Crown Laboratories) NDC 0316-0123-80.
Not ALO-Quin or Alcortin A, these are even more $$$$$ specialty Derm drugs. I’ve seen these 2 priced at $ 9,000 per tube. Crazy.
if the culture should show its tinea, theres a newer drug for it too. Luzu, Luliconazole cream 1%, Valeant Laboratories. It’s been out for a while so it has a generic that runs abt $100 & the regular runs $250/300.
https://www.healthline.com/health/adult-diaper-rash