Brief overview
- Treatment: ointments with antifungal agents, zinc ointments, keep skin in diaper area clean and dry
- Causes and risk factors: Yeast infection of the skin with Candida albicans (candidiasis), irritation of the skin due to too infrequent diapering, diarrheal illness of the baby.
- Symptoms: red rash in diaper area (buttocks, thighs, genitals), pustules, scaly skin areas, pain, itching
- Course and prognosis: With appropriate treatment, diaper thrush heals completely. There is a possibility that candidiasis may recur.
- Prevention: Sufficiently frequent diapering, careful skin care.
What is diaper thrush?
Candida albicans also infects other areas of the body in babies as well as in adults, for example the oral mucosa, moist skin folds such as the groin, anal crease or the armpits, intestines and esophagus, and in individual cases also other internal organs. However, this occurs much less frequently than diaper thrush.
Not only infants contract diaper thrush – adults who wear a diaper for incontinence reasons also have the possibility for diaper fungus. In any case, the most important treatment measure is to keep the diaper area as clean and dry as possible.
How is diaper thrush treated?
If the baby’s skin is very inflamed due to diaper thrush, the doctor may also prescribe an ointment with hydrocortisone for a short time. If there is also thrush in the mouth or intestinal area, the baby will also be given an antimycotic (usually nystatin) as a gel or solution to swallow.
What you can do yourself for diaper thrush
- Change your child’s diapers at the shortest possible intervals. In the case of thrush, it is ideal if air gets to the baby’s bottom, i.e. if the baby does not wear a diaper at all in phases.
- Use especially absorbent and breathable disposable diapers or cotton diapers. For the latter, it is important to boil them after each use.
- Diaper thrush is contagious – so use a fresh pad on the changing table every time you change diapers and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.
- As a diaper sore home remedy, mild and anti-inflammatory baths do some babies good, such as oil baths. They help to rehydrate the skin and thus support the skin barrier.
What is the cause of diaper thrush?
The cause of diaper thrush is Candida albicans, a yeast fungus also known as thrush. This pathogen is widespread: Candida fungi can be detected in most healthy people, especially in the intestines, in the mouth and throat, on the fingers and on the genitals. The fungi normally settle here without causing symptoms.
In babies with diaper thrush (also diaper fungus), this happens on the one hand because they do not yet have a fully mature immune system. On the other hand, the skin in the diaper area is often attacked anyway, which facilitates a fungal infection. The moist, warm environment in the diaper, often enriched with stool and urine, softens and irritates the skin.
Candida albicans gets to the baby’s bottom in various ways – either from the outside via the parents’ hands, the changing mat or the diaper itself. In some cases, the fungus settles unnoticed in the baby’s intestine beforehand and eventually develops into diaper thrush when it multiplies in the sore anus area.
Thrush (candidiasis) also occurs in adults.
Diaper thrush: symptoms
A characteristic feature of diaper thrush is red, sometimes white-edged blisters and pustules, some of which merge to form red areas. In addition, the skin often forms a whitish, scaly ring around the edges of the rash. Unlike a candidal infestation of the mucous membranes, white plaques are not usually found in diaper thrush.
Examinations and diagnosis
The diagnosis of diaper thrush is usually made by the pediatrician. He asks the baby’s caregivers how long the redness has existed and how it started. He also wants to know if the infant shows other abnormalities and symptoms, for example, if there are problems with drinking.
If diaper thrush is suspected, the doctor will also examine other parts of the baby’s body (especially the mucous membranes of the mouth) to check whether the fungus has also settled there.
The detection of fungus secures the diagnosis of diaper thrush
Sometimes a stool sample is also useful for diagnosis. If a particularly large number of fungi can be detected in the baby’s stool, this is an indication that a strong fungal colonization (candidiasis) in the intestine has triggered the diaper thrush.
Course of the disease and prognosis
Diaper thrush: prevention
Safe prevention is not possible with diaper thrush. However, various hygiene measures can at least reduce the likelihood of your child contracting diaper fungus:
- Change your child’s diaper frequently – especially if he or she has diarrhea.
- Be sure to clean the skin in the diaper area thoroughly but gently each time you change the diaper (do not use harsh soap!).
- Be careful with baby powder – some babies react to it with skin irritation.
- Let your baby romp or crawl naked as often as possible. Light and air on the bottom prevents diaper thrush and other infections.
