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What Causes Bad Body Odor In An Elderly Person?
My mother-in-law is 92 and was diagnosed with Shingles 11/25/16. I would consider that its a bad case as her skin is purple. It is on her right side, from her back around to underneath her breast and in between her breasts. She was given a steroid to take for 5 days and an anti-viral to take for 7. She is now noticing an odor coming from underneath her breast. She s a very clean woman and showers every day so this is disturbing her greatly. What might it be and what can be done for it?
Fri, 6 Jan 2017
Hi,
The odor probably seems to be due to maceration of the shingles lesions or might be secondary infection of the lesions. Steroids given to reduce the inflammation, reduce the immunity and thus might have allowed secondary bacterial growth.
In very unlikely case it might be some psychiatric issue if she alone is noticing the odor and none by any of her care givers including yourself in which case psychiatric evaluation might help. For the maceration or infection some antibiotic cream could be used along with general cleanliness and keeping the area dry.
Hope I clarified your concerns regarding your mother in-law. If you further have anything to ask please feel free to ask.
Regards,
Dr. Muralidhar Naiduk
The odor probably seems to be due to maceration of the shingles lesions or might be secondary infection of the lesions. Steroids given to reduce the inflammation, reduce the immunity and thus might have allowed secondary bacterial growth.
In very unlikely case it might be some psychiatric issue if she alone is noticing the odor and none by any of her care givers including yourself in which case psychiatric evaluation might help. For the maceration or infection some antibiotic cream could be used along with general cleanliness and keeping the area dry.
Hope I clarified your concerns regarding your mother in-law. If you further have anything to ask please feel free to ask.
Regards,
Dr. Muralidhar Naiduk
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