Nail and Skin Yeast Infections - Causes,Symptoms,Treatment and Prevention

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Candida yeast can infect the skin as much as anyother area of the body. Skin yeast infections are much more rarebecause skin is usually open toair and not chronically moist. However, given the right conditions, skin yeast infections will grow andspread. A skinyeast infection can happen for a number of reasons anywhere on the skinfrom nailbeds to toenails to chins to backs. All it takes are the rightconditions.

Causes
Skin yeast infections are caused by conditionsthat allow Candida yeasts to flourish. Skinyeast infections are not nearly as common as genital and oral yeastinfections because Candida thrives in moist, neutral to slightly acidicenvironments with plenty of sugars and starches to feed on. Externalskin doesn't often meet these requirements, but under certain circumstancesthis can change. Anything from a chronic thumbsucker to anathlete who doesn't change his socks often enough can create moist, food richconditions ripe for a skin yeast infection to grow. Consideringthat the yeast is everywhere in our natural environment, that'sall it really takes. Thenormal, everyday conditions that can contribute to a skin yeast infectionare vast.Anytime aplace on the body is chronically moist, Candida has an opening. Peoplewho are obese may have skin folds that don't get air very often andcollect perspiration, thus causing / providing a perfect opening for askin yeast infection to get in. 
Peoplewho are bedridden may have the same problem with skin yeast infectionsif they don't turn often enough to let air circulate around theentire body. Peoplewho swim can cause an opening for skin yeast infections if they don'tcompletely dry off before getting dressed, and people who exercisecan cause the same problem if they don't change
their clothes. Peoplewho suffer from an oral yeast infection and who lick their lips or bitetheir lower lips often can cause a skin yeast infection around the mouthor extending down the chin.Peoplewho bite on or suck their nails can invite a skin yeastinfectionto nest in and around the nailbeds, as can people who work withtheir hands in water or in gloves on a regular basis.Those whowear nylon or other synthetics next to the skin much of the time cantrap natural body moisture close to the skin and cause a skin yeastinfection. Itdoesn't take much for a skin Candida infection to start.Babies inparticular are prone to skin yeast infections in the diaper area,either in the perineum, on the buttocks or anywhere the diaper sits onthe skin. Theproximity of wetness to the skin combined with the acidic nature of urinestarts breaking down the outer layers of skin and creating good skinyeast infection conditions. Babieswho are suffering from a simple diaper rash should be changed morefrequently and have a diaper ointment of some kind to serve as a barrierbetween urine and the skin. Zinc oxide is the most frequently usedbecause it also helps the skin to dry out, but anything that can protectthe skin can help stop a skin yeast infection from developing. Ofcourse, there are also quite a few diseases and health disorders that cancontribute to a skin yeast infection as well. A motherwho gives natural birth with an active yeast infection can spread itto their newborn. The baby doesn't always have a sufficient immunesystem to fight an active infection off, so they can get a skin yeastinfection over quite a bit of the body. Diabetes,HIV/AIDS and leukemia can also suppress the immune system enough tomake a skin yeast infection much more likely. Irritantsof some kind can also create good yeast infection conditions on theskin.Forexample, I'm mildly allergic to wool. If I insist on wearing wool next tomy skin, I'll itch like mad and my skin will start getting inflamed.Inflammation triggers swelling, which is caused by a bodily fluidcalled lymph. Lymph is usually high in nutrients and, of course, verymoist.Consistentinflammation and irritation will, therefore, create a good environmentfor a skin yeast infection. Thisgenerally doesn't happen if it's a one-time incident, because lymph isalso high in immune cells, but over time the yeast can get aroundthis problem. Therefore,skin irritation due to allergies or sensitivities to detergents,dyes, perfumes or soap can seriously contribute to a lymph problem. Candidais everywhere, including on the skin itself. Everwondered why a nurse insists on rubbing an area with an alcohol padbefore putting in an IV or doing an injection? Well,Candida is one of the numerous reasons. A skinyeast infection is highly likely to develop around an improperlyperformed injection or IV site. The bloodprovides the nutrients and the moisture, and the yeast does the rest.This is possibly one of the most dangerous yeast infections to have,because the infection can easily jump to the injection site, especiallyin the case of sites that are kept open for IV feeds. If theyeast infection gets into the injection site, it's now usually in amajor blood vessel and it can develop into candidemia in about no time. Candidemiais a life threatening yeast infection that travels through the bloodand can affect multiple internal organs, including the brain.
Symptoms
The symptoms of a skin yeast infection are oftenfairly distinctive. Red patches develop, often with scalloped edgesare the typically symtpomsof a skin yeast infection. With thissymptom of a skin yeast infection, you usually find one big patchwith some smaller satellite patches around it. Theserashes or patches often itch, burn or hurt, which are also symptomsof a skin yeast infection. You canfind these skin yeast infection symptoms anywhere on the body, butyou'll most often see them in the skinfolds of the groin, abdomen, under thebreasts in women and in finger or toe webs. Thepatches may be straight red or have little blisters or papules on them. If a skinyeast infection starts up around the nails, it's called paronychiaand can cause a few different symptoms. The areaaround the nail beds will often show the same redness, itchingand burning as any other skin, but the nail itself can also start togrow strangely. It can get thicker, distorted and turn yellow orbrittle. Skinyeast infection symtpoms in summary BecauseCandida is literally everywhere, you're not usually considered to have askin yeast infection unless you actually have symptoms. Inaddition, if you've never seen a skin yeast infection before, it's easy toget confused as to what exactly is causing that red patch on yourstomach. In orderto diagnose a skin yeast infection, a doctor has to take a swab, putsome dye on it, and look at it under a microscope in order to seethe branching pattern that means Candida has gone invasive. If youjust test for Candida itself, it will always come up positive becausethe yeast is everywhere. That's why home test kits don't work.
Treatment and Prevention
Skin yeast infections are usually relativelysimple to treat. Skin yeast infections don't like dry, non-foodconditions, so your task isto create them. If yousuffer from excess weight that creates skin folds, losing that weightwill often help end skin yeast infections. However, that's ofteneasier said than done, so in the meantime be sure to let all of your skinget air every day. If youexercise or go swimming, be sure to shower, dry completely and changedirectly thereafter. If youkeep getting skin yeast infections on your toes, go barefoot moreoften, wash and dry your socks well and make sure your shoes get thechance to completely dry out between the times you wear them. During anactive skin yeast infection, you may find it helpful to wipe the areawith witch hazel, aloe vera juice or some other astringent. Astringentshelp dry the skin out and shrink inflamed skin cells, so it bothreally can help with the symptoms and provide a remedy for the overallproblem. Anti-fungalcreams exist on the market today in abundance.If you'resure you have a yeast infection, you may try one or get a prescriptionfrom a doctor.Someyeast infections will require a prescription cream, and the oral anti-fungalsthat generally have to be used against nail-bed infections are onlyavailable by prescription. If youdon't defeat a skin yeast infection thoroughly the first time, they canbecome quite persistent and come back repeatedly. This iswhy you should take great care to adjust everything you can in yourfavor the first time around. Eat awell-balanced diet with an emphasis on live culture yogurt and cut backon the starches and sugars. Getenough sleep, decent exercise for your health and try and distress as muchas possible.If yousuffer from one of the health conditions that suppress your immunesystem, you have to work even harder to keep up with it, but it'sworth the fight. Babieswho develop a skin yeast infection rash from a simple diaper rash needto be treated with an anti-fungal cream prescribed by a doctor. A simplediaper rash is the skin's natural response to consistent wetnessand acidity trapped close to the body, but if Candida gets in thenthere's a whole other cause that won't be defeated by simple barriercreams. Let thebaby's bottom air often, leave the diaper off from time to time, andapply any prescribed medicine strictly according to the directions. Toprevent these, again, change the diaper more often, wash cloth diaperswell in hot water and mild soap if you use them, and let the baby gobare from time to time. If youget an infection of any kind around an IV site, bring it to a doctor ornurse immediately. As statedpreviously, that can be a life threatening condition and needs tobe treated with the full power of modern medical technology. Skinyeast infections that are too near an open incision or wound are not thesort of thing you can treat with home or natural remedies, the risk ofpermanent disability and death is just way too high.
Conclusion Skin yeast infections won't often appear alone. Most often they'll show up in conjunction with ayeast infection elsewherein the body. However,if local conditions are right, such as for people who chew theirnails, babies who have diaper problems or people who have skin foldsthat rarely see the light of day, skin yeast infections are perfectlycapable of showing up on their own and migrating to other areas ofthe body or even other people. Knowinghow to deal with them will keep skin yeast infections from makinglife miserable.