Residents with Cheesy-Smelling Hands

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

I have a lot of residents with contracted hands, which get all moist and smelly inside. When I wash up these residents I do the hands first and after doing my best to get them dry, I take dry washcloths and stick them in the resident's hands and stuff it between the fingers to wick away any remaining moisture. I leave the cloths there until right before I leave the room so they're in there as long as possible. But the inside of their hands still smelly cheesy.

I have residents that get cheesy/yeasty areas under their breasts, and the washcloth trick works *great* with them, but not the hands.

Does anyone have any tips to get rid of the smell?

[i_love_patient_care]

For residents with contracted hands, we were trained to fold a washcloth or stack of dry wipes in half, roll it up and tape it, then put it in their hand to grab on to. It keeps the contracting from getting worse and also smells from developing. Check with the nurse who is in charge of the Resident first before doing that, though.

[Missingyou, CNA]

I had a resident with the same issue and she actually had a Dr. order to apply a light coat of corn starch with a cotton ball or Q-tip to the area. It absorbs any moisture from sweat.

Be careful not to apply too much because it will cake up and get gross.

If it's a yeast infection like under her breasts or folds of skin, there is medication for that. Talk to the nurse.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

they make "appliances" that fit in the hand and separate the fingers, ask OT.

[slilly]

I know that at my work for the breast area we have a medicated powder that is ordered for patients with issues like redness under the breast. Its called Nystatin powder, I would ask your RN about it to see if that would help. As for the cheesy-smelling hands I would see if the doctor could come by and look at it and see if there is something like a topical lotion they can prescribe to be put on the hands to reduce the smell and whatever is going on to make the hands so moist. Good luck!

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

It would be nice if they all had splints for their hands. Nursing has repeatedly put in for those through the therapy department and the requests get ignored or "lost." The facility only seems to care about private-payers. I do use hand rolls, but nobody else I work with does that, so the hands are always closed and sweaty. At the very least I would like to be able to get the stink off just once! No amount of soap and scrubbing seems to do anything.

[systoly]

are you sure it's just from sweat and not any open wounds?

if the skin is intact, i'd try a mild vinegar solution, but always

check with the nurse first (avoids ruffled feathers)

above is for the hands, of course