How do people prevent yeast from forming in the folds?

23 year nurse here with most of it working with the elderly and now I have my own mother to take care of with dementia. You can buy clotrimazole cream and put a thin layer of it in the folds. It's advertised as athlete's foot cream but the clotrimazole is that old cream we women used to be forced to use for our womanly yeast infections. If the rash is very bad, use a thin layer twice daily. If it's minor a thin layer daily until it goes away will work wonders. The best thing to do is keep it dry. I don't recommend powders because sweat makes it into muck then it does more damage than good. After it's healed, you can try using petroleum jelly as a skin protectant. When using the clotrimazole cream you should see a change in about two days and if after two days you don't see a change, it could be something else (like cellulitis) and you'll need an antibiotic, so you'll need to see the doctor. If you see any blisters, stop immediately and go to the doctor. That's a sign of an allergy, but of all my years in nursing I've never seen a patient with a clotrimazole allergy before.

Hopefully all is well!

M88

So, how's it going? Any better? Hope so!!!

M88

Another good soap for washing yeast infected areas is Dr. Bronner's tea tree oil soap. It can be found at natural type stores like Whole Foods and in most larger grocery stores that have a natural/organic section.

Once dry, place a piece of t-shirt material, cut to a band like shape, and place it under her breasts. Check in 2 hours, see if she's perspired and if wet, change it for another one.
I have a feeling it will help. Tea Tree oil kills fungus and bacteria. Do not use full strength, test on her skin somewhere else, check for allergic reaction.

Castille Soap, Rite Aid, with tea tree oil it it to wash that area will help. Dilute one part soap to 5 parts water. Gentle enough to private area, will not sting or burn. Yeast likes that area as well.

My Mother always got yeast problems under her breasts and besides keeping them clean with soap and water and dry,I used to put some baby powder on a washcloth and pat under them with it and every now and then we had to use the nystatin but you don't want to use it all the time.Good luck finding what works best for you.

I have found that the dollar store anti fungal cream works well, gently wash the area with mild soap and water, pat dry, and apply twice a day while the rash is red and angry, and once the rash has cleared, just "a little dab will ya" after your daily wash. Cheap and affective. As others have written, folks who are overweight and have those dastardly skin folds, are susceptible to yeast overgrowth. We all have yeast on our skin, it's when our ph is off, our skin isn't kept clean, or has repeated bouts of sweatiness and rubbing, or if the person is diabetic, that yeast can become problematic. It must be a situation of consistently checking and treating, or the cycle will continue, and it is uncomfortable for the patient! Unchecked yeast infections become raw and painful very quickly. We had this problem with my Mom, who while she had lost considerable weight, those pesky folds of loose skin were still present, plus she was a mild diabetic, on Hospice care, and bedbound. Summertime was the worst, but we figured out quickly, that this was the most effective, yet inexpensive way to manage it.

I used the Desenex with 2% miconazole on diapers, and under skin folds. Works great. Just clean the skin with baby wipes, dry, add powder.

NYDaughter - I'm glad you mentioned that amber colored mouthwash. I read several times that it is a great help with yeast under the breasts. I tried it, but in the end since my rash was not yeast it didn't "cure" me. Still - at a minimum it has antiseptic properties and can help with preventing a itch rash from becoming infected. If I remember right it didn't sting so much as it tingled and gave a clean feeling.

Buy a whole bunch of 100% cotton bras without underwire or exposed elastic. Hanes and Fruit of the Loom make several styles that come in a variety of colors.

Goldbond Medicated Powder contains menthol and zinc oxide both of which have anti-fungal properties.

I've read that old fashioned amber mouthwash splashed underneath boobs a couple of times a day relieves the itch. Some mouthwash contains anti-fungals like menthol, thymol and eucalyptol.

A good health food store that sells personal hygiene products may have other mineral powders with anti-fungals in them.

InterDry is awesome stuff. Look it up on Google. It is expensive, but it's the only sure-fire cure for the problem. It's made by Coloplast US.

Unfortunately, my mom's nursing home is fighting me every step of the way on using it - they say it's not in their formulary. I'm on a mission to change that, because it works. They are currently using pillowcases to stop the skin-on-skin contact, tucked into the folds and treating with nistatin powder or antifungal cream. It works, but it has to be done constantly or it stops working.

The key to prevention is to keep the skin folds clean and dry - all the way down to the bottom of the fold, no matter how deep the fold is - and to prevent skin-on-skin contact, because that's what causes the moisture to build up, then the bacteria starts growing and the skin breaks down, causing that horrible odor.

I've mentioned before the mystery rash I got a few years ago after my father passed. It hung on for months and stumped both my PCP and two dermatologist. In my efforts to cure it myself - at one point I treated it as perhaps a yeast problem and learned a lot. A couple things - there are spray-on powders made with anti fungal ingredients made for the feet but can be used on external areas of the body like armpits and under the breast. Yeast loves a diet high in sugar - try to reduce or eliminate it. Buy a good probiotic supplement with active lactobacillus. Add a couple teaspoons of raw apple cider vinegar to the daily diet - it helps balance the ph in the gut making it a less friendly environment for growing fungus. Change clothes regularly if they become sweat -wet, a pain in the butt, I know. Never wear a bra more than once without laundering. Add several drops of tea tree oil to the washer when doing laundry. I've seen recommdations for wiping the skin area with deluted tea tree oil or apple cider vinegar but I found that that stung - oweeie! I recall taking coconut oil at the time but right now I can't recall why, lol - but it has been popular lately for all kinds of things. That's all I can remember right now - only on my first cup of coffee - if I remember more I'll add-on. Best of luck to you!

I am using Barriere by Wellskin, it is what our pharmacy carried but I'm sure any other brand would work as well. I didn't have a culture done this time to be certain the skin breakdown was caused by yeast, but it was red and raw and looked the same as a previous outbreak. I had never heard of these creams but after looking online I see they are recommended for wound care and incontinence.

cwillie, could you give us a few examples of brands? Or isn't it an otc item?

InterDry moisture wicking fabric with antimicrobial silver can be cut to size and tucked in skin folds, but it is pricey and doesn't work for everyone. Our nurse recommended we try keeping the problem area under mom's breasts covered in a silicone based barrier cream. I was skeptical because it seemed too easy, but we noticed an improvement right away. Now I use it all the time to prevent skin breakdown.

Keep the area clean and dry as best you can
My mom gets this under her breasts every summer - no real way to lift them to keep them dry but the nyastin powder helps - don't use any corn starch powder as the yeast feeds on it