Brief Answer: Antifungal dusting powder to prevent recurrence Detailed Answer: Hello and welcome to healthcaremagic. I am Dr. Kakkar. I have gone through your concern and I have understood it. Apart from the treatment with antifungals, it is the prevention of recurrence of fungal infection that seems to be the main concern. Instead of approving the usage of coconut oil in the groin folds, I am more in favor of using an antifungal dusting powder regularly. Coconut oil is not recommended for application in the groin folds because in my view, it will actually encourage local candidal proliferation by providing an occlusive environment. It might provide you symptomatic relief from itching but it is never going to cure you from candidal infection of the groin, rather it may further propagate. Yes, there are a few scientific studies but till date no approval for caprylic acid for candidiasis, anyways if it was so effective it would have been patented and marketed widely by now. Internet is a world wide market which allows us to google search for all the available alternatives/options and invariably you will find a home remedy/alternative remedy for each and every condition in this world but how effective they are?is a big question mark. You can try the caprylic acid oral capsules, though. You have to order them online as I really doubt you will find them anywhere in India. Body folds, specially when they are deep and closely apposed to each other, as in people who are overweight, presents an ideal environment for the fungus to grow (warm, moist and humid) specially in summers and in coastal and tropical areas e.g Mumbai, where body sweats a lot. If the folds are deep and closely apposed, the moisture gets trapped in between the folds, thus favoring fungus growth. Clinically it presents with itching, redness and scaling. If this is allowed to continue then constant itching and scratching makes the skin become darker and thick in that area and thus an element of eczema sets in along with fungal infection, where the more you itch the more is the desire to itch ( vicious itch scratch cycle sets in). Treatment is commonly based on: -Antifungal creams: Either Clotrimazole/Ketoconazole/Sertaconazole/ OR Luliconazole for 4-6 weeks -Antifungal tablets: Either Fluconazole/Itraconazole for 4-6 weeks -An oral antihistamines like either Cetrizine/Fexofenadine or Loratadine can be taken once or twice daily symptomatically, for the itch associated with fungal infection -An antifungal dusting powder like Clotrimazole dusting powder is an important part of treatment and for prevention of relapse/recurrence of infection, specially in hot, humid weather conditions like mumbai, because frequent dusting with an anti-fungal dusting powder not only keeps the area dry but also inhibits the fungus from regrowing (being an antifungal). Some general measures like: Wearing loose fitting clothes, cotton undergarments, bathing twice daily(in summers), managing one's weight (if overweight) and sticking to the treatment for the entire duration (4-6 weeks) goes a long way in getting the desired results. Hope this answers your query regards

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