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

Candida yeast can infect the skin as much as any other area of the body. Skin yeast infections are much more rare because skin is usually open to air and not chronically moist. However, given the right conditions, skin yeast infections will grow and spread. A skin yeast infection can happen for a number of reasons anywhere on the skin from nailbeds to toenails to chins to backs. All it takes are the right conditions.

Causes

Skin yeast infections are caused by conditions that allow Candida yeasts to flourish. Skin yeast infections are not nearly as common as genital and oral yeast infections because Candida thrives in moist, neutral to slightly acidic environments with plenty of sugars and starches to feed on. External skin doesn't often meet these requirements, but under certain circumstances this can change. Anything from a chronic thumbsucker to an athlete who doesn't change his socks often enough can create moist, food rich conditions ripe for a skin yeast infection to grow. Considering that the yeast is everywhere in our natural environment, that's all it really takes. The normal, everyday conditions that can contribute to a skin yeast infection are vast.Anytime a place on the body is chronically moist, Candida has an opening. People who are obese may have skin folds that don't get air very often and collect perspiration, thus causing / providing a perfect opening for a skin yeast infection to get in. 
People who are bedridden may have the same problem with skin yeast infections if they don't turn often enough to let air circulate around the entire body. People who swim can cause an opening for skin yeast infections if they don't completely dry off before getting dressed, and people who exercise can cause the same problem if they don't change
their clothes. People who suffer from an oral yeast infection and who lick their lips or bite their lower lips often can cause a skin yeast infection around the mouth or extending down the chin.

People who bite on or suck their nails can invite a skin yeastinfection to nest in and around the nailbeds, as can people who work with their hands in water or in gloves on a regular basis.

Those who wear nylon or other synthetics next to the skin much of the time can trap natural body moisture close to the skin and cause a skin yeast infection. It doesn't take much for a skin Candida infection to start.Babies in particular are prone to skin yeast infections in the diaper area, either in the perineum, on the buttocks or anywhere the diaper sits on the skin. The proximity of wetness to the skin combined with the acidic nature of urine starts breaking down the outer layers of skin and creating good skin yeast infection conditions. Babies who are suffering from a simple diaper rash should be changed more frequently and have a diaper ointment of some kind to serve as a barrier between urine and the skin. Zinc oxide is the most frequently used because it also helps the skin to dry out, but anything that can protect the skin can help stop a skin yeast infection from developing. Of course, there are also quite a few diseases and health disorders that can contribute to a skin yeast infection as well. A mother who gives natural birth with an active yeast infection can spread it to their newborn. The baby doesn't always have a sufficient immune system to fight an active infection off, so they can get a skin yeast infection over quite a bit of the body. Diabetes, HIV/AIDS and leukemia can also suppress the immune system enough to make a skin yeast infection much more likely. Irritants of some kind can also create good yeast infection conditions on the skin.

For example, I'm mildly allergic to wool. If I insist on wearing wool next to my skin, I'll itch like mad and my skin will start getting inflamed. Inflammation triggers swelling, which is caused by a bodily fluid called lymph. Lymph is usually high in nutrients and, of course, very moist.

Consistent inflammation and irritation will, therefore, create a good environment for a skin yeast infection. This generally doesn't happen if it's a one-time incident, because lymph is also high in immune cells, but over time the yeast can get around this problem. Therefore, skin irritation due to allergies or sensitivities to detergents, dyes, perfumes or soap can seriously contribute to a lymph problem. Candida is everywhere, including on the skin itself. Ever wondered why a nurse insists on rubbing an area with an alcohol pad before putting in an IV or doing an injection? Well, Candida is one of the numerous reasons. A skin yeast infection is highly likely to develop around an improperly performed injection or IV site. The blood provides 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, especially in the case of sites that are kept open for IV feeds. If the yeast infection gets into the injection site, it's now usually in a major blood vessel and it can develop into candidemia in about no time. Candidemia is a life threatening yeast infection that travels through the blood and can affect multiple internal organs, including the brain.

Symptoms

The symptoms of a skin yeast infection are often fairly distinctive. Red patches develop, often with scalloped edges are the typically symtpoms of a skin yeast infection. With this symptom of a skin yeast infection, you usually find one big patch with some smaller satellite patches around it. These rashes or patches often itch, burn or hurt, which are also symptoms of a skin yeast infection. You can find these skin yeast infection symptoms anywhere on the body, but you'll most often see them in the skinfolds of the groin, abdomen, under the breasts in women and in finger or toe webs. The patches may be straight red or have little blisters or papules on them. If a skin yeast infection starts up around the nails, it's called paronychia and can cause a few different symptoms. The area around the nail beds will often show the same redness, itching and burning as any other skin, but the nail itself can also start to grow strangely. It can get thicker, distorted and turn yellow or brittle. Skin yeast infection symtpoms in summary Because Candida is literally everywhere, you're not usually considered to have a skin yeast infection unless you actually have symptoms. In addition, if you've never seen a skin yeast infection before, it's easy to get confused as to what exactly is causing that red patch on your stomach. 

In order to diagnose a skin yeast infection, a doctor has to take a swab, put some dye on it, and look at it under a microscope in order to see the branching pattern that means Candida has gone invasive. If you just test for Candida itself, it will always come up positive because the yeast is everywhere. That's why home test kits don't work.

Treatment and Prevention

Skin yeast infections are usually relatively simple to treat. Skin yeast infections don't like dry, non-food conditions, so your task is to create them. If you suffer from excess weight that creates skin folds, losing that weight will often help end skin yeast infections. However, that's often easier said than done, so in the meantime be sure to let all of your skin get air every day. If you exercise or go swimming, be sure to shower, dry completely and change directly thereafter. If you keep getting skin yeast infections on your toes, go barefoot more often, wash and dry your socks well and make sure your shoes get the chance to completely dry out between the times you wear them. During an active skin yeast infection, you may find it helpful to wipe the area with witch hazel, aloe vera juice or some other astringent. Astringents help dry the skin out and shrink inflamed skin cells, so it both really can help with the symptoms and provide a remedy for the overall problem. Anti-fungal creams exist on the market today in abundance.

If you're sure you have a yeast infection, you may try one or get a prescription from a doctor.

Some yeast infections will require a prescription cream, and the oral anti-fungals that generally have to be used against nail-bed infections are only available by prescription.

 If you don't defeat a skin yeast infection thoroughly the first time, they can become quite persistent and come back repeatedly. This is why you should take great care to adjust everything you can in your favor the first time around. Eat a well-balanced diet with an emphasis on live culture yogurt and cut back on the starches and sugars. Get enough sleep, decent exercise for your health and try and distress as much as possible.

If you suffer from one of the health conditions that suppress your immune system, you have to work even harder to keep up with it, but it's worth the fight. Babies who develop a skin yeast infection rash from a simple diaper rash need to be treated with an anti-fungal cream prescribed by a doctor. A simple diaper rash is the skin's natural response to consistent wetness and acidity trapped close to the body, but if Candida gets in then there's a whole other cause that won't be defeated by simple barrier creams. Let the baby's bottom air often, leave the diaper off from time to time, and apply any prescribed medicine strictly according to the directions. To prevent these, again, change the diaper more often, wash cloth diapers well in hot water and mild soap if you use them, and let the baby go bare from time to time. If you get an infection of any kind around an IV site, bring it to a doctor or nurse immediately. As stated previously, that can be a life threatening condition and needs to be treated with the full power of modern medical technology. Skin yeast infections that are too near an open incision or wound are not the sort of thing you can treat with home or natural remedies, the risk of permanent 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 a yeast infection elsewhere in the body. However, if local conditions are right, such as for people who chew their nails, babies who have diaper problems or people who have skin folds that rarely see the light of day, skin yeast infections are perfectly capable of showing up on their own and migrating to other areas of the body or even other people. Knowing how to deal with them will keep skin yeast infections from making life miserable.