Ok so, Fast forward 6 hours. It has been another busy day on the ward. Our healthcare worker has probably walked the equivalent of 3 to 4 miles, all in the confines of a hospital, and all in the confines of a 2-day old pair of underpants housed in a rather tight pair of scrubs. Much sweating and rubbing has been occurring. Then it begins...
The day had been so busy that he didn't notice at first the itch that was getting worse 'downstairs'. Only now, at nearly 3pm did he realise that he had been adjusting himself down there a little more often than usual.
"It must be the tight scrubs" he thought. The shift continued.
7pm: Okay now the itch was becoming uncomfortable. He had popped to the loo quite a few times now and had even used paper towels to soak up some of the sweat between his legs. This most likely only had the effect of temporarily drying his inner thighs allowing them to rub together with even more friction because they were becoming redder and more sore:
But then there was something else...
He glanced down to look at his watch which he kept on the ID lanyard around his neck (hospital staff must be bare below the elbows for infection control reasons- how ironic!). He notices a red rash on both of his forearms. His face grimaces in mild shock and moderate disgust.
"What the...!"
7:30pm: He shows one of the nurses who works in the intensive care bay in the ward (this is where mothers go after their C-sections, of which there are far more than nature intended if you ask me). She looks at his forearms and suggests that it could be a reaction to something.
"Have you used a new washing powder recently?" she asks.
He has a think. He doesn't think so. It must be the scrubs. Those darn scrubs! Tight as well as rash-inducing! He'll be happy when he can take them off.
9pm-ish: He arrives home. Tired and itchy he showers and inspects himself. The rash on his arms is still there but the itching has subsided a bit after taking off his clothes. He goes to bed at around 11pm.
3am- He is woken up in the middle of the night with an almighty stinging itch in his groin!
“What the…!” Ok this is getting serious now!
Half asleep, he stumbles out of bed, switches on the light and inspects himself. His inner thighs are dark red and bumpy and his scrotum is swollen and sore. His belly button is red. His arms are red and bumpy. He looks in the mirror. He sees a rash on one side of his neck and notices red bumps on his ears. He feels itching under his arm pits so raises his arms to have a look- "Ewww!" It was red and bumpy there too:
Now he starts to mildly freak out.
“What the…!” What is happening?
He has a good think. He knows a bit about health, having worked in a hospital for a few years and having also studied biology.
He doesn’t think its a reaction- it couldn’t have spread like this.
He thinks some more. What has he done differently recently?
Then, like a mental slap in the brain, his mind's eye flashes back to the shift before last.
The toilet seat..!
The lack of antibac wipes…
the unisex toilets…
the midwives…
ladies...
fungal infections!!!
The more he thought about it the more certain he became. Judging from where the itching had started and where it spread to he concluded that he had caught something from the toilet seat, which spread from his inner thighs to his special place and then from his hands to wherever else he had touched since then.
He went to the medicine cabinet to find anything that could help. He rumbled through the shelves…
Cough syrup- no…
Suncream- no…
Canesten cream- yes!
This is an anti-fungal cream used usually by women, but it would do the trick he thought. He applied the cream everywhere he had a rash or itching. The cooling sensation was mildly relieving. After he was sure he had applied it everywhere, he got back into bed and quickly fell back asleep again. He was off tomorrow so he could have a lie in...
5:30am: He is woken again by the same stinging itch in his crotch. This is crazy! He gets up again and goes to the bathroom. He pours cool water over his crotch area.
"Ahhhhhhh!" That felt good!
Ok this account is taking longer than I thought so I'll get to the point quickly...
So I ended up going into the hospital again a day later for another 12-hour shift. But 4 hours into the shift my skin was burning- especially 'downstairs' and my scrotum had swollen to the size of a grapefruit! I asked a doctor what she thought it was and she thought it was a reaction to something. I ended up leaving early and made an emergency appointment to see my GP. He said he wasn't 100% sure and said it could be either an allergic reaction, scurvy or an infection: basically he knew squat!
When I got home I decided to trust my instincts and take my health into my own hands.
The fungal cream I had used hadn't really helped a great deal. I remembered reading something about the anti-fungal properties of garlic and coconut oil. I did a google search and low and behold; article after article about the healing properties of garlic and coconut oil. I thought, right let's do this! I crushed 1 garlic clove and downed it with a teaspoon of honey. I crushed another clove, mixed half of it with coconut oil and proceeded to rub the mixture over all the infected areas, including my inner thighs and all things in between.
I probably put a little too much on my cahoonas because they began to sting quite a bit so I wiped it off and reapplied a very thin layer.
To cut a long story short, the natural treatment worked quickly, which, to me, shows that it was indeed fungal. The stinging rash is almost completely healed and the itching has stopped!
Here is what I learned from my ordeal:
Trust your instincts and
(a) don't doubt yourself
(b) make the effort to go with you gut.Doctors nowadays know squat, modern medicine doesn't always work and natural cures and treatments are hugely underrated.
I tend to babble on quite a lot.
So that's the end of that! I admit my tale wasn't in the best of tastes and I apologise if anyone is grossed out by the pics, but it was a true story and sharing is caring, right?! :-)
Have a nice hygienic day! x
M