Non-Toxic Skin Formulation Promotes Healing ofDermatitis and Skin Injuries That Are Prone To Infectionin Long-Term Care Facility Residents

Elderly patients in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) often exhibit skin disorders caused by multiple factors, including aging skin and co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes, dementia, and urinary and fecal incontinence. Conditions common at LTCFs can also exacerbate skin disorders. Finally, skin conditions such as fungal dermatitis, incontinence-associated dermatitis, moisture-associated skin damage, pressure injuries, and venous ulcers often occur in bodily creases, making it difficult for clinicians to assess the areas, particularly in obese patients. Standard remedies can be ineffective if they congeal in body folds, or aggravate moisture-related dermatitis and skin injury if they contain a moisture or zinc additive. Cleansing agents used to clean patients with fecal incontinence can dry out the skin, making the patient more infection-prone. If the patient has fungal dermatitis, dryness can impede or prevent resolution. The two cases discussed herein demonstrate these issues and show how a novel skin care formulation used in place of standard approaches addressed the problems. The formulation is intended to restore the skin’s normal pH level to support the natural antimicrobial action of the skin’s outer layer, maintain the skin’s permeability barrier to prevent moisture loss, reduce the bio-burden of potentially infectious skin flora, and moisturize dry skin. In the first case, a Stage 2 pressure injury closed and fungal dermatitis resolved after treatment with the formulation and Diflucan. In the second case, a venous ulcer improved markedly after treatment with the formulation following a year in which standard treatments produced no results. Janalynn Miller, FNP-C, GNP, CWCN-AP2* and Joseph F Renzulli1* 1Department of Urology, University Urological Associates, USA 2Extended Care Specialists, Inc Joseph F Renzulli, et al., Annals of Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Remedy Publications LLC. 2016 | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Article 1007 2 with Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Certification (CWCN-AP) who serves several LTCFs in her area. Residents in these cases had been treated according to customary standards of care, but they did not respond favorably to those approaches. Typical products for cleansing incontinent residents include various chemicals and soaps that can dry out patients’ skin, leading to a raised skin pH, damage to the stratum corneum, and therefore an increased chance of infection. The author decided to substitute a novel skin care formulation (Theraworx, Avadim Technologies). The formulation is a nontoxic topical application available as a foam, spray and moistureimpregnated cloth. It is intended to restore the skin’s normal low, acidic pH and maintain the skin’s permeability barrier, which prevents moisture loss. Normal skin pH supports the natural antimicrobial action of the skin’s outer layer (stratum corneum). It reduces the bioburden of potentially infectious skin flora. The formulation also has moisturizing properties that appear to alleviate incontinence-related skin conditions.