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Chronic Scalp Folliculitis
Hello,
I am a 25 year old female that has been battling with scalp folliculitis for the past 2.5 years. I have been on Bactrim DS for several years now for acne, I would say since 2005, but I developed scalp folliculitis in approximately Feb. 2008. I have tried every shampoo imaginable, prescription & non prescription (tar-based, salicylic acid, sulfur, sodium sulfacetamide, zinc, ketoconazole, salicyclic acid AND sulfur combined, hypoallergenic, selenium sulfide). I currently go to a dermatologist every 3 months for follow-ups (mostly for acne, but my scalp as well), but have received at least 3 other opinions. First doctor switched me to minocycline & Re-10 Wash (containing sodium sulfacetamide) which did no good. Second doctor took a biopsy of one of my lesions revealing folliculitis. He placed me back on Bactrim and Clindagel for topical use. He instructed me to use regular Head and Shoulders as well as Pantene Pro V. The Clindagel does help clear up all the active lesions, but it does not help prevent any new lesions. Of course, I don't use the Clindagel on ALL of my scalp, so I understand there is no way to prevent new lesions with just this medication. Third doctor, whom which I saw earlier this month, suspects I have scalp acne & has switched me to doxycycline. So far, no results. I still use the Clindagel on all my lesions, but I am so frustrated with this disease. I also recently used a steroid shampoo called Clobex 2x a week for 2 weeks - no results. I have had my nose cultured-normal, and 2 lesions cultured as well. First culture came back as normal scalp, second one was done recently so I do not have results yet. Everyday I seem to have 1 or more new lesions on my scalp. They are itchy,painful, and range from small to moderately large. I am at my wit's end with this condition. My routine dermatologist has recommended possibly ketoconazole for 5 days only to help flush out any fungus, yeast that may be causing this. I am willing to try anything at this point. Any thoughts?
I am a 25 year old female that has been battling with scalp folliculitis for the past 2.5 years. I have been on Bactrim DS for several years now for acne, I would say since 2005, but I developed scalp folliculitis in approximately Feb. 2008. I have tried every shampoo imaginable, prescription & non prescription (tar-based, salicylic acid, sulfur, sodium sulfacetamide, zinc, ketoconazole, salicyclic acid AND sulfur combined, hypoallergenic, selenium sulfide). I currently go to a dermatologist every 3 months for follow-ups (mostly for acne, but my scalp as well), but have received at least 3 other opinions. First doctor switched me to minocycline & Re-10 Wash (containing sodium sulfacetamide) which did no good. Second doctor took a biopsy of one of my lesions revealing folliculitis. He placed me back on Bactrim and Clindagel for topical use. He instructed me to use regular Head and Shoulders as well as Pantene Pro V. The Clindagel does help clear up all the active lesions, but it does not help prevent any new lesions. Of course, I don't use the Clindagel on ALL of my scalp, so I understand there is no way to prevent new lesions with just this medication. Third doctor, whom which I saw earlier this month, suspects I have scalp acne & has switched me to doxycycline. So far, no results. I still use the Clindagel on all my lesions, but I am so frustrated with this disease. I also recently used a steroid shampoo called Clobex 2x a week for 2 weeks - no results. I have had my nose cultured-normal, and 2 lesions cultured as well. First culture came back as normal scalp, second one was done recently so I do not have results yet. Everyday I seem to have 1 or more new lesions on my scalp. They are itchy,painful, and range from small to moderately large. I am at my wit's end with this condition. My routine dermatologist has recommended possibly ketoconazole for 5 days only to help flush out any fungus, yeast that may be causing this. I am willing to try anything at this point. Any thoughts?
Hi I have the same problem, seen 4 Dermatologist in the last 3 year, was on different Antibiotics, Steroids and every shampoo you have mentioned and nothing help with my foliculitis. Last week I stopped everything and tried EMU oil, applied 2-3 times a day and alovera shampoo to clean my hair. In a matter of 4 days I already seeing a lot of improvement.
Good Luck.
Good Luck.
Hi I have the same problem, seen 4 Dermatologist in the last 3 year, was on different Antibiotics, Steroids and every shampoo you have mentioned and nothing help with my foliculitis. Last week I stopped everything and tried EMU oil, applied 2-3 times a day and alovera shampoo to clean my hair. In a matter of 4 days I already seeing a lot of improvement.
Good Luck.
Good Luck.
Any pics to share? I believe I have folliculitis as well, but not sure since one doc told me it was acne and other one just had no idea and didnt even try to get a culture to determine what it is. Fed up with docs, I know not all are created equal, but I feel that some are just drug pushers.
I think your problem may be yeast related (fungal). Most doctors/derms ignore this and prescribe anti-bios, which make it worse. Try cutting out all sugars (incl fruit), gluten/grains/bread, dairy and junk food. Drink plenty of water daily. Take vit C (1000mg), B complex and cod liver oil (Vit D and A). Be careful with Vit A - its easy to overdose on it, and can be toxic, so check re:safe levels.
I am 40 years old and had exactly the same problem of dancer 4j since 1993. I tried all kind of antibiotics, but the best success I had so far was 3 years ago after my dermatologist put me on Isotretinoin (Roaccutane) same like Accutane for 1 year. I took the Isotretinoin on 4 different occasions in the last 17 years but never for 1 year no stop. The course was 20mg B.I.D. with accumulated dose of 83mg/kg (I am 100 kg). After 8 months the dose was reduced to 10mg per day until the end of the cure to reach 100mg/kg. After the course finished I didn't have an episode of fulliculatis for 14 months, the longest time ever. Then they came back, slowly.
I was prescribed antibiotics again for 4 months (doxy) but they don't work anymore. I am still using and tried all possible kind of shampoos.
Tomorrow I am starting again Isotretinoin 20mg per day for 1 year and see if this time it works. I am in Asia for work at the moment, I have been to dermatologist and specialist in Europe and Asia and no one really know what is going on. My fulliculatis is only happening on my scalp, I don't have it on my beard or anywhere on my body. I don't even have acne.
So far all swabs have came back sterile, so there is no staph infection that is causing this. I had some alopecia problems on my beard, so I m guessing this is an immune problem. Beside that I am very fit 6,3 ft and healthy, no HIV , Herpes or Diabities. If anyone else have ideas on this condition or like to share your experiences I would be happy to know.
cheers
I was prescribed antibiotics again for 4 months (doxy) but they don't work anymore. I am still using and tried all possible kind of shampoos.
Tomorrow I am starting again Isotretinoin 20mg per day for 1 year and see if this time it works. I am in Asia for work at the moment, I have been to dermatologist and specialist in Europe and Asia and no one really know what is going on. My fulliculatis is only happening on my scalp, I don't have it on my beard or anywhere on my body. I don't even have acne.
So far all swabs have came back sterile, so there is no staph infection that is causing this. I had some alopecia problems on my beard, so I m guessing this is an immune problem. Beside that I am very fit 6,3 ft and healthy, no HIV , Herpes or Diabities. If anyone else have ideas on this condition or like to share your experiences I would be happy to know.
cheers
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,
I agree with the dermatologists that the standard treatment of folliculitis is topical and oral antibiotics. You can also use antifungals for any superimposed fungal infection. Folliculitis is the inflammation of one or more hair follicles. The condition may occur anywhere on the skin.
If you are getting repeated folliculitis, please get your blood sugar checked.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing
I agree with the dermatologists that the standard treatment of folliculitis is topical and oral antibiotics. You can also use antifungals for any superimposed fungal infection. Folliculitis is the inflammation of one or more hair follicles. The condition may occur anywhere on the skin.
If you are getting repeated folliculitis, please get your blood sugar checked.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing
1 Comments
A large number of people with chronic folliculitis actually have tinea capitis for which there is no topical treatment. Oral antibiotics do not remedy tinea capitis, and neither do many oral anti-fungals--especially if only prescribed for a short duration.
Tinea capitis requires a 4-6 week treatment of the correct oral medication. In the US, most tinea capitis is caused by Trichophyton. Trichchophyton is a genus of fungi, which includes the parasitic varieties that cause tinea, including athlete's foot, ringworm, jock itch, and similar infections of the nail, beard, skin and scalp. Trichophyton fungi are molds characterized by the development of both smooth-walled macro- and microconidia. In adults, it is best treated with 250mg of terbinafine hydrochloride (Lamasil) once day for 30 days. It also helps to shave the head with an electric clippers, and to keep the scalp open to air, dry, cool, and subject to sunlight as molds and fungi prefer covered, moist, dark, warm environments.
Children should be given griseofulvin though it has a higher failure rate.
The anthropophilic varieties cause forms of dermatophytosis, that is, fungal infection of the skin. They are keratinophilic: they feed on the keratin in nails, hair, and dead skin.
Trichophyton concentricum causes "Malabar itch", a skin infection consisting of an eruption of a number of concentric rings of overlapping scales forming papulosquamous patches.
Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton interdigitale cause athlete's foot (tinea pedis), toenail fungal infections (a.k.a. tinea unguium, a.k.a. onychomycosis), crotch itch (a.k.a. tinea cruris), and ringworm (a misnomer, as there is no worm involved; it is also known as tinea corporis). The fungi can easily spread to other areas of the body as well and to the host's home environs (socks, shoes, clothes, showers, bathtubs, counters, floors, carpets, etc.).
They can be transmitted by direct contact, by contact with infested particles (of dead skin, nails, hair) shed by the host, and by contact with the fungi's spores. These fungi thrive in warm moist dark environments, such as in the dead upper layers of skin between the toes of a sweaty foot inside a tightly enclosed shoe, or in dead skin particles on the wet floor of a communal (shared) shower. Their spores are extremely difficult to eliminate, and spread everywhere.
When the hyphae of the fungi burrow into the skin and release enzymes to digest keratin, they may irritate nerve endings and cause the host to itch, which may elicit the scratch reflex, which directs the host to scratch. Scratching directly transfers fungi and dead skin particles that are infested with the fungi to the fingers and under the finger nails. From there they can be transmitted to other parts of the host's body when the host touches or scratches those.
Scratching also damages skin layers, making it easier for the fungi to spread at the site of the infection. If the fungi and infested debris are not washed from the fingers and fingernails soon enough, the fungi can also infect the skin of the fingers (tinea manuum), and burrow underneath and into the material of the fingernails (tinea unguium). If left untreated, the fungi continue to grow and spread.
It is a damn shame dermatologists don't consider tinea capitis a strong suspect even when the person they are dealing with has brittle hairs, tinea pedis, tinea cruris, and a sick cat that sleeps on their head every night. Dermatologists don't ask patients to shave their heads to get a better look at the condition. They simply tell patients there is nothing they can do for them.
Obstructive sleep apnea headgear can create an ideal environment for tinea capitis. The headgear causes patients to sweat in the area it covers, while keeping the covered areas: closed-off to air, dark, warm and moist.
I have had ten different chronic illnesses in my life that I had to cure myself because so many doctors are incompetent.
Resistant folliculitis secondary to a demodex infestation is best treated with sodium sulfectamide 10% sulfur 5% cream.
Tinea capitis requires a 4-6 week treatment of the correct oral medication. In the US, most tinea capitis is caused by Trichophyton. Trichchophyton is a genus of fungi, which includes the parasitic varieties that cause tinea, including athlete's foot, ringworm, jock itch, and similar infections of the nail, beard, skin and scalp. Trichophyton fungi are molds characterized by the development of both smooth-walled macro- and microconidia. In adults, it is best treated with 250mg of terbinafine hydrochloride (Lamasil) once day for 30 days. It also helps to shave the head with an electric clippers, and to keep the scalp open to air, dry, cool, and subject to sunlight as molds and fungi prefer covered, moist, dark, warm environments.
Children should be given griseofulvin though it has a higher failure rate.
The anthropophilic varieties cause forms of dermatophytosis, that is, fungal infection of the skin. They are keratinophilic: they feed on the keratin in nails, hair, and dead skin.
Trichophyton concentricum causes "Malabar itch", a skin infection consisting of an eruption of a number of concentric rings of overlapping scales forming papulosquamous patches.
Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton interdigitale cause athlete's foot (tinea pedis), toenail fungal infections (a.k.a. tinea unguium, a.k.a. onychomycosis), crotch itch (a.k.a. tinea cruris), and ringworm (a misnomer, as there is no worm involved; it is also known as tinea corporis). The fungi can easily spread to other areas of the body as well and to the host's home environs (socks, shoes, clothes, showers, bathtubs, counters, floors, carpets, etc.).
They can be transmitted by direct contact, by contact with infested particles (of dead skin, nails, hair) shed by the host, and by contact with the fungi's spores. These fungi thrive in warm moist dark environments, such as in the dead upper layers of skin between the toes of a sweaty foot inside a tightly enclosed shoe, or in dead skin particles on the wet floor of a communal (shared) shower. Their spores are extremely difficult to eliminate, and spread everywhere.
When the hyphae of the fungi burrow into the skin and release enzymes to digest keratin, they may irritate nerve endings and cause the host to itch, which may elicit the scratch reflex, which directs the host to scratch. Scratching directly transfers fungi and dead skin particles that are infested with the fungi to the fingers and under the finger nails. From there they can be transmitted to other parts of the host's body when the host touches or scratches those.
Scratching also damages skin layers, making it easier for the fungi to spread at the site of the infection. If the fungi and infested debris are not washed from the fingers and fingernails soon enough, the fungi can also infect the skin of the fingers (tinea manuum), and burrow underneath and into the material of the fingernails (tinea unguium). If left untreated, the fungi continue to grow and spread.
It is a damn shame dermatologists don't consider tinea capitis a strong suspect even when the person they are dealing with has brittle hairs, tinea pedis, tinea cruris, and a sick cat that sleeps on their head every night. Dermatologists don't ask patients to shave their heads to get a better look at the condition. They simply tell patients there is nothing they can do for them.
Obstructive sleep apnea headgear can create an ideal environment for tinea capitis. The headgear causes patients to sweat in the area it covers, while keeping the covered areas: closed-off to air, dark, warm and moist.
I have had ten different chronic illnesses in my life that I had to cure myself because so many doctors are incompetent.
Resistant folliculitis secondary to a demodex infestation is best treated with sodium sulfectamide 10% sulfur 5% cream.
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