Ring-shaped diaper rash

[emmasmama]

We use CD's... Emma has a tiny bit of a diaper rash in the creases between her thighs, but part of it is kind of weird looking. It's an oval ring shape that's pink, about 1/2 the size of a dime, and instead of being pink in the middle it's a little bit yellow-ish looking (very slight) and dry looking. Is it just where there is a little bit of skin breakdown? It's not even as bad as I'm probably making it sound, it's just not going away very quickly - I just thought that when babies got diaper rash it was usually "free-form", not shaped.

She's had it for about a week - previous to this I only put diaper cream (Burt's Bees) on her at night and she had never had any rashiness at all. I change her when she first wakes up from a nap and about an hour or so later before she goes down for another nap. I also started putting Aquaphor on her at every day-time diaper change starting Saturday. The overall rash (which was mostly patchy pink dry skin) looks a little better since the Aquaphor, and the ring is lighter, but still there.

Should I be concerned or am I just being overanxious?

edited to add: okay, she just got up from her first nap (I had put Aquaphor on) and the rash looks worse - now it has little tiny bumps all around her diaper area and the oval ring is less defined and more bumpy and red. Does this sound like yeast?

Laurie
mom to Emma 5/25/03

[blnony]

Try looking at www.askdrsears.com
And look up diaper rash, he has some pictures of rashes that you can compare the rash to.
Also, could the ring be ringworm? I know it sounds gross, but its worth looking into just to rule it out if nothing else?
If it isn't yeast rash, try using Dr. Smith's or Triple Paste, both of these have worked well but if its yeast, don't use anything with corn starch in it. With Audrey, a lot of times, using a blow dryer to keep the area very dry, and liquid antacid dried on with a poof of powder and changing every hour worked well when she had a terrible bleeding rash a month or so ago.
Rashes are horrible--- I hate them and A. always get rashy when she is teething. Good luck-

[emmasmama]

It's so hard to tell from the descriptions - although the pic of the yeast rash could be it. The one in the picture is just so horrific looking though - it's certainly not that bad - could just be the beginnings of it. The "satellite spots" seem to fit though - she has this sprinkling of little teeny bumps all over her diaper area, concentrated on her genitalia, but that go up almost to her belly button.

I logged a call to the ped and they're going to take a look - I just want to make sure before I start self-medicating so to speak.

Thanks for your reply!

Laurie
mom to Emma 5/25/03

[emmasmama]

Went to the ped and she confirmed that it's yeast and this is interesting... she said that yeast is actually a type of ringworm and that's why a yeasty rash will sometimes grow in a ring shape with distinct edges (but not necessarily). I had no idea!

Anyway, just thought that might be of interest for anyone else trying to tell the difference between yeast and a regular diaper rash! DD's initially showed up as just a ring on her upper inner thigh and then, over the course of a week, turned into an actual yeast rash. If I ever see the ring again, I'll know and will be able to treat it right away!

Laurie
mom to Emma 5/25/03

[blnony]

Thanks for letting us know. I'm glad you went to the Ped. Its hard to diagnose a rash like that at home. Thank goodness your DD can start improving. Just curious - what course of treatment did your Ped. recommend?

[emmasmama]

Prescription Nystatin 4x/day until rash clears and then continuing for 3 days following.

Laurie
mom to Emma 5/25/03

[emmasmama]

Well, it was back to the ped again today because the rash just seemed to be getting worse and her whole diaper area was this mass of red angry welts :(... my poor baby!

The ped switched us from the Nystatin to something called Vytone cream 1% (combo of hydrocortisone and iodoquinol - whatever that is). The yeast rash is still there, but the Nystatin wasn't cutting it and she was getting all inflamed. She also has this patch of excema in this huge chunk all along the side of her thigh.

So now I'm supposed to put the Vytone cream on her 3-4x/day and cover over it with some kind of zinc oxide barrier (I'm using Burt's Bee's) and when I'm not using the Vytone, use the Burt's Bees. I've basically been letting her go naked whenever she's not napping, to air it out, but even that wasn't helping!

Hope this new stuff works!!!

[liya]

Did you BOIL your diapers and wash them out really well....are u using cloth at all...the yeast stays in the diaper so you have to make sure to get it all out before you put them on once again or its hello yeast rash....

If you already did it then discard the comment, or if ur using sposies ;)

[emmasmama]

Linda, I'm using cloth... thanks for the tip! I wasn't really sure what to do in order to "kill" the yeast. I'd been adding vinegar to the wash, but boiling them sounds like the way to go. Do you think I could get the same effect just by turning my water heater all the way up like I did when I was prepping my unbleached prefolds? Our water gets crazy hot if I do that, so thought it might suffice?

[emmasmama]

This stuff is amazing! The horrific looking rash was already starting to look better after 2 applications and now, just 24 hrs after starting it, the rash is looking 110% better! Highly recommend!