raw, red armpit skin

[MJ2.0]

a few weeks ago I thought it would be a good idea to really scrub my underarms. Well, I did a really good job of scrubbing several layers of skin off my left one especially. It was red and very painful for a while but I guess dried? This week it's back with a vengeance - very red, raw, and shiny. Yesterday I tried a baking soda and peroxide mix on it and it felt like a chemical burn. It did dry and flake, but it became the same raw mess after my shower this morning. Right now I have a dry sock tied to my armpit to keep it dry, but what is this and how can I heal/get rid of it?

paging mmhmm and weltschmerz ... and whoever else has medical experience! This is VERY painful and I need relief!

[Green Eyed Lady]

I was just reading about the newest craze of spraying deodorant on your skin until it burns. Could it be your deodorant making you react? It can happen at any time - just not the first time you use it. Have you changed your brand?

I have extremely sensitive skin and I break out and get red and raw from just about any deodorant. I use coconut oil under my arms at night to relieve the itching and rawness. It feels sort of icky and you have to sleep in a shirt to keep it from getting on your sheets, but it seems to relieve the problem.

[Tennesseer]

? Diagnosis by Internet.

Intertrigo

[MJ2.0]

May 8, 2018 11:45:13 GMT -5 Green Eyed Lady said:

I was just reading about the newest craze of spraying deodorant on your skin until it burns.

people must really have nothing better to do for entertainment. I could understand whippets/huffing and I even kind of get the tampons soaked in alcohol - but purposely burning yourself isn't a good feeling.

[Green Eyed Lady]

May 8, 2018 12:38:12 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

May 8, 2018 11:45:13 GMT -5 Green Eyed Lady said:

I was just reading about the newest craze of spraying deodorant on your skin until it burns.

people must really have nothing better to do for entertainment. I could understand whippets/huffing and I even kind of get the tampons soaked in alcohol - but purposely burning yourself isn't a good feeling.

It appears its the newest craze in elementary schools.  The article showed a 10 year old girl who is, most likely, scarred for life on her forearm - I believe.  She's already had to have a skin graft.  Evidently, you are supposed to spray till the person can't take it anymore and yells "uncle". 

Sorry about your issue.  Hope you get it figured out.  I had to use a prescription deodorant during menopause that badly irritated my underarms.  It was painful on the worst days and highly aggravating on the best.  As I said, I still use coconut oil because any deodorant irritates my skin.  Also, remember to use lots of soap or gel when shaving as your underarms are pretty sensitive and not using enough lubricant can really irritate them also. 

[engineerdoe]

(No medical background so take all of this with a grain of salt)
It sounds like you had a rash of some sort (maybe due to heat) and scrubbing angered it.  Peroxide is good to clean debris out of a wound but it also can eat away good tissue so I wouldn't use that on it again.  I think you are going the right way of keeping it dry.  I'm wondering if corn starch or talc would be more appropriate to use to keep it dry than baking soda.  Applying an ice pack when you are home and taking tylenol or ibuprofen may be the only way to relieve the pain.  It could take awhile to clear up too.  Wouldn't hurt to go to doctor to eliminate a bacterial infection.

[weltschmerz]

Have you tried a hydrocortisone cream? That usually helps. 
Peroxide is very hard on the skin and is no longer used in hospitals. It can made things worse.
You should avoid all deodorants and shaving for now. You can also try a dusting of cornstarch.
(Not talc, as that usually has perfumes in it.)

[MJ2.0]

thanks all. I just went to get some baby powder with cornstarch and diaper rash cream. I applied the cream and plan to do the powder before bed. Guess I'll do this for a few days and go to the doctor if it's not cleared by the end of the week.

[MJ2.0]

May 8, 2018 12:48:48 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Have you tried a hydrocortisone cream? That usually helps. 
Peroxide is very hard on the skin and is no longer used in hospitals. It can made things worse.
You should avoid all deodorants and shaving for now. You can also try a dusting of cornstarch.
(Not talc, as that usually has perfumes in it.)

I have some at home - I might try that as well.

[swamp]

I was just going to suggest A& ointment. 

[weltschmerz]

May 8, 2018 12:55:31 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

thanks all. I just went to get some baby powder with cornstarch and diaper rash cream. I applied the cream and plan to do the powder before bed. Guess I'll do this for a few days and go to the doctor if it's not cleared by the end of the week.

I would recommend plain cornstarch, not baby powder with cornstarch.

[engineerdoe]

May 8, 2018 12:55:31 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

thanks all. I just went to get some baby powder with cornstarch and diaper rash cream. I applied the cream and plan to do the powder before bed. Guess I'll do this for a few days and go to the doctor if it's not cleared by the end of the week.

Please tell me it was Monkey Butt cream.  Best name ever for diaper rash cream.

[MJ2.0]

LOL no - it was A & D. I meant to get Desitin because I liked the smell when I used it on DS but I didn't want to pay the $3 premium.

[imawino]

May 8, 2018 11:21:22 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

a few weeks ago I thought it would be a good idea to really scrub my underarms. Well, I did a really good job of scrubbing several layers of skin off my left one especially. It was red and very painful for a while but I guess dried? This week it's back with a vengeance - very red, raw, and shiny. Yesterday I tried a baking soda and peroxide mix on it and it felt like a chemical burn. It did dry and flake, but it became the same raw mess after my shower this morning. Right now I have a dry sock tied to my armpit to keep it dry, but what is this and how can I heal/get rid of it?

paging mmhmm and weltschmerz ... and whoever else has medical experience! This is VERY painful and I need relief!

oh sweetie, you know I love ya, but the above sounds like a really terrible idea! As does scrubbing your armpits raw in the first place! I am so sorry that you are suffering now though.  Take Weltz's suggestions and then don't do any of that other stuff again!!     Alternating a hydrocortisone cream (for relief of itching and swelling) with cornstarch to dry it out should help. If after a few days it does not you may need to see a doc for a prescription steroid or something. Maybe you could do an ice pack (or bag of frozen peas ) held under your armpits for 20 minutes at a time when it's convenient.  I mean, that might be weird at work, but at home you could kick back with a glass of wine a couple advil and your frozen peas and perhaps feel some relief.  Good luck! 

[MJ2.0]

May 8, 2018 13:49:44 GMT -5 imawino said:

May 8, 2018 11:21:22 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

a few weeks ago I thought it would be a good idea to really scrub my underarms. Well, I did a really good job of scrubbing several layers of skin off my left one especially. It was red and very painful for a while but I guess dried? This week it's back with a vengeance - very red, raw, and shiny. Yesterday I tried a baking soda and peroxide mix on it and it felt like a chemical burn. It did dry and flake, but it became the same raw mess after my shower this morning. Right now I have a dry sock tied to my armpit to keep it dry, but what is this and how can I heal/get rid of it?

paging mmhmm and weltschmerz ... and whoever else has medical experience! This is VERY painful and I need relief!

oh sweetie, you know I love ya, but the above sounds like a really terrible idea! As does scrubbing your armpits raw in the first place! I am so sorry that you are suffering now though.  Take Weltz's suggestions and then don't do any of that other stuff again!!     Alternating a hydrocortisone cream (for relief of itching and swelling) with cornstarch to dry it out should help. If after a few days it does not you may need to see a doc for a prescription steroid or something. Maybe you could do an ice pack (or bag of frozen peas ) held under your armpits for 20 minutes at a time when it's convenient.  I mean, that might be weird at work, but at home you could kick back with a glass of wine a couple advil and your frozen peas and perhaps feel some relief.  Good luck! 

yeah... I tend to think I'm an intelligent human being most of the time, and then I do things like this.

[imawino]

May 8, 2018 13:52:15 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

May 8, 2018 13:49:44 GMT -5 imawino said:

oh sweetie, you know I love ya, but the above sounds like a really terrible idea! As does scrubbing your armpits raw in the first place! I am so sorry that you are suffering now though.  Take Weltz's suggestions and then don't do any of that other stuff again!!     Alternating a hydrocortisone cream (for relief of itching and swelling) with cornstarch to dry it out should help. If after a few days it does not you may need to see a doc for a prescription steroid or something. Maybe you could do an ice pack (or bag of frozen peas ) held under your armpits for 20 minutes at a time when it's convenient.  I mean, that might be weird at work, but at home you could kick back with a glass of wine a couple advil and your frozen peas and perhaps feel some relief.  Good luck! 

yeah... I tend to think I'm an intelligent human being most of the time, and then I do things like this.

LOL.  We all do it.  It's like all of us who know we absolutely should not poke at that pimple, or pick at some dry skin. Then a half hour later, there we are standing in front of the mirror bleeding and thinking "yep, that was a stupid idea".

[weltschmerz]

May 8, 2018 13:49:44 GMT -5 imawino said:

May 8, 2018 11:21:22 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

a few weeks ago I thought it would be a good idea to really scrub my underarms. Well, I did a really good job of scrubbing several layers of skin off my left one especially. It was red and very painful for a while but I guess dried? This week it's back with a vengeance - very red, raw, and shiny. Yesterday I tried a baking soda and peroxide mix on it and it felt like a chemical burn. It did dry and flake, but it became the same raw mess after my shower this morning. Right now I have a dry sock tied to my armpit to keep it dry, but what is this and how can I heal/get rid of it?

paging mmhmm and weltschmerz ... and whoever else has medical experience! This is VERY painful and I need relief!

oh sweetie, you know I love ya, but the above sounds like a really terrible idea! As does scrubbing your armpits raw in the first place! I am so sorry that you are suffering now though.  Take Weltz's suggestions and then don't do any of that other stuff again!!     Alternating a hydrocortisone cream (for relief of itching and swelling) with cornstarch to dry it out should help. If after a few days it does not you may need to see a doc for a prescription steroid or something. Maybe you could do an ice pack (or bag of frozen peas ) held under your armpits for 20 minutes at a time when it's convenient.  I mean, that might be weird at work, but at home you could kick back with a glass of wine a couple advil and your frozen peas and perhaps feel some relief.  Good luck! 

Actually, cold milk compresses would be better than frozen peas.

[mmhmm]

The cortisone cream and cornstarch to dry should help along with cold compresses. Desitin ointment to protect the area may help, as well. If it doesn't get a lot better in a couple of days, you really should see a doctor. I'm really sorry this happened to you!

[Chocolate Lover]

May 8, 2018 13:20:36 GMT -5 engineerdoe said:

May 8, 2018 12:55:31 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

thanks all. I just went to get some baby powder with cornstarch and diaper rash cream. I applied the cream and plan to do the powder before bed. Guess I'll do this for a few days and go to the doctor if it's not cleared by the end of the week.

Please tell me it was Monkey Butt cream.  Best name ever for diaper rash cream.

I'm kind of partial to Boudreaux's Butt Paste.

[MJ2.0]

I see a major improvement on the area today after doing the diaper cream for the afternoon and powder at night. It's got some shiny skin over it now, but it doesn't feel raw and it's much less red. I'm doing just the powder for today to see how that goes.

so PSA for everyone who doesn't already know: DON'T SCRUB SKIN IN SENSITIVE AREAS!

[Pants]

May 8, 2018 11:21:22 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

a few weeks ago I thought it would be a good idea to really scrub my underarms. Well, I did a really good job of scrubbing several layers of skin off my left one especially. It was red and very painful for a while but I guess dried? This week it's back with a vengeance - very red, raw, and shiny. Yesterday I tried a baking soda and peroxide mix on it and it felt like a chemical burn. It did dry and flake, but it became the same raw mess after my shower this morning. Right now I have a dry sock tied to my armpit to keep it dry, but what is this and how can I heal/get rid of it?

paging mmhmm and weltschmerz ... and whoever else has medical experience! This is VERY painful and I need relief!

NO BAKING SODA. 

Baking soda is caustic, and putting it on broken skin is a recipe for bad. 

I would try neosporin or like a cortizone cream on it. You need to keep out infection and keep the area lubricated so you don't chafe and keep reinjuring the skin as you heal. 

I was making my own deodorant for a while out of baking soda and coconut oil and... something else. Whatever. Anyway, I began getting terrible reactions under my arms. Turns out the baking soda was causing an allergy and then reinjuring my skin. It took weeks for it to heal. I smelled real bad. 

[countrygirl2]

DD has heavy breasts and she also does not always dry well under.  She gets horrible rashes,

first thing I do is make sure its good and dry after her bath, then use desitin ointment.  Once

we get it better then we go to powders containing cornstarch.  Once in awhile its so bad we

have to go to the doc.  But anymore she knows and tells me before it gets bad and we get

it cleared up.  I know it hurts, don't use peroxide, damn woman that would set me on fire!

There are all kinds of good over the counter stuff anymore, A & D ointment, cortisone crème,
etc.

[countrygirl2]

Now if I could find a magic elixir so I wasn't so tired all the time.  I'm taking

vitamin B.

[Artemis Windsong]

H. had a square place on his wrist.  Messed around with it for 3 weeks then went to the dr.  It was yeast.  He got 7 pills that females take for yeast issues and ointment. 

[countrygirl2]

I think now they have a 1 time yeast pill, seems like that was what they did the last time,

haven't had yeast in a long time.  Whatever, long as it works.

[weltschmerz]

May 27, 2018 15:40:02 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

DD has heavy breasts and she also does not always dry well under.  She gets horrible rashes,

first thing I do is make sure its good and dry after her bath, then use desitin ointment.  Once

we get it better then we go to powders containing cornstarch.  Once in awhile its so bad we

have to go to the doc.  But anymore she knows and tells me before it gets bad and we get

it cleared up.  I know it hurts, don't use peroxide, damn woman that would set me on fire!

There are all kinds of good over the counter stuff anymore, A & D ointment, cortisone crème,
etc.

Terrible rashes under the breasts are usually a fungal infection. Get an anti-fungal cream like this. It will clear right up. Wash the area every day and apply a thin layer.

[weltschmerz]

Desitin cream is mostly petrolatum (vaseline) with zinc added.
It will give some relief, but not inhibit the fungal growth,

[countrygirl2]

Thanks, she doesn't get it often anymore as she dries off better.  But if she does will keep that in mind for her.

[weltschmerz]

I have large, heavy breasts and in the summer, when I sweat, I get those rashes.
I called my doc and he didn't even want to see me.
"It's a fungal infection" he said. "It's always a fungal infection when women have large breasts. Get some anti-fungal cream".
It worked like magic.