Treatment of Yeast Lesions

This drawing is only a rough simulation of a yeast lesion. The center areas (in the author's case) were typically about 1/4 by 1/2 inches in size. It is so dark red that it verges on black. It consists of a combination of yeast in fungal form, and blood products (scab). It has eaten completely through the outer skin (1 to 3 mm). There is a clear borderline between it and the outer coloration. The outer areas start with bright red, and gradually shade outward to normal skin color. These outer areas result from pronounced dilation of capillaries in the skin, which color the skin. The dilation is caused by the effects of acetaldehyde.

 Contents

• White (or decolored) iodine
• Tea Tree Oil
• Mechanical debreeding
• Clotrimazole cream (Lotramin) (and other such medications)
• Treatment long-term results
• Prevention

Go to Main Contents for the Yeast Site.

Several times a day I applied drops of white iodine. This is a very strong killing agent. It will kill just about any kind of germ, yeast, fungus, or other living cell. It is a strong oxidizer, which means it rips apart the organism. This is why it is so very painful to apply to an open wound. However, in this case, there is little or no pain.

Apparently the release of acetaldehyde into the blood stream was at a low enough rate that my body was able to cope with it without any noticeable systemwide symptoms. I suspect the iodine breaks it apart.

Once I applied too much. After a few minutes, it had run down my shin in two little rivulets. This resulted in contact dermatitis, producing a pair of very angry red raised welts, where the liquid had run.

The author believes this was the mechanism for the contact dermatitis. The iodine had ripped apart a lot of yeast cells liberating a lot of acetaldehyde, which it then carried out of the wound, and down the skin. According to a paper circulated by OSHA, acetaldehyde can cause contact dermatitis.

(Note: The bottle of iodine was tested for contamination by saturating the same area on the other shin with iodine to see if the iodine itself was the problem. It had no effect.)

(Note: acetaldehyde is an industrial chemical. Ref : R17 Also see Advanced Scientific Information, which discusses acetaldehyde.)

Refer to the treatment and comments as described, above, using iodine. It takes a few weeks to heal.

Tea Tree Oil is a very strong smelling liquid. Some people find its odor offensive.

Treating with Tea Tree Oil and rubbing it around the treated area causes a lot of bright red discoid rash. The rash spots are centered on hair follicles. The writer suspects this is caused by contact dermatitis from acetaldehyde released from the lesion and/or from yeast colonies growing in the follicles. Treating with Hydrocortisone suppresses the rash in a few days.

It takes guts and a special tool to do this. The author slowly ripped out the center area of the lesion. There was very little bleeding and almost no pain. (It sounds terrible, but wasn't!) This is the quickest way to get rid of the infectious material. He treated the open hole in the skin several times a day with Clotrimazole (same as Lotramin) cream, and covered it with a bandage.

Not recommended as the main debreeding agent. The author did not have good results using Clotrimazole cream or other typical antifungal skin treatment. He thinks the problem is the killing rate is not fast enough to exceed the rate at which the yeast regrows. A much more aggressive action is required.

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Treatment long-term results

The way these lesions heal is somewhat different than other (small) open sores. There is no scar tissue formed. Instead, brand new skin is created directly over the underlying tissue. This is normal skin,except it has no pigment. It is essentially translucent. The color of the underlying tissue tends to shine tough. It looks kind of reddish, and over time appears brown.

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Prevention

Of course, the best treatment is prevention. The author is now alert to notice any injury to his shins. He has trained himself to be more aware of slight pain on the shins, and to inspect the skin at least once a day. If any even very minor injury is found, he treats immediately and for a couple of days with white iodine, or an anti-yeast agent.