Staph on Nipple/Areola Area ...

[KatieBarTheDoor]

I had never even thought that the little glands on my breasts were in danger of becoming infected with Staph. But one of them did! I work at a pharmacy and HAD long nails. But after getting Staph on my nipple I no longer have long nails and wash my hands very frequently. I had noticed a pea sized, red bump on  my areola and figured one of the little glands was clogged. So I put a hot wash cloth on the area in hopes it would loosen the gland and all would be well. After 20 minutes, I tried to squeeze the gland (BIG NO NO) and nothing. I didn't think much of it and went on my way. That whole day at work my bump was itching me to death, I never touched it but it became sore by the end of the day. When I got home (13 hours later mind you) I took off my bra and gasped in horror! The bump was the size of a marble! I thought about going to the ER, but I thought I would try to fix it myself. I heated water and a salt mixture and held a wash cloth to the ear for about 30 minutes, reheated and applied the mixture again. Nothing had happened. I went to bed that night thinking that maybe all this would help it to drain overnight. The next morning my head was pounding and my whole body felt achy like I was getting the flu. I went to take my morning shower and saw the bump was the size of a quarter! Then I got scared, this had happened within 48 hours. I knew this was not at all normal, I immediately made an appointment with my OBGYN for the next day (the receptionist could tell I was panicking). The next day at the doctor's office, the area was drained with a needle (which the area was so large I didn't even feel the needle) and cultured. I was prescribed Bactrim to take for 2 weeks, which I had to change to Cipro because Bactrim made me deathly ill with stomach pains and headache. My doctor called 2 days later confirming I had MRSA saying I had probably contracted it from work, my long nails being the carrier or from my boils I had got under my arm pit since high school being that the breast and arm pit were in close relations with each other. I scheduled my follow-up visit for a week later. Upon getting the news, I cleaned the wound with saline and gauze, I changed bras to only cotton (nylon or spandex doesn't breathe as well), washed everything my breast touched with bleach and hot water, washed my hands all day long, and took a shower twice a day -- all this taking hours out of my normal routine. I mean this was my nipple! I could not let this happen! Of course I looked at all the horror images on google and never found ANY who had staph on their nipple. My follow-up yielded wonderful news! I was healing very rapidly! Either the cleaning, antibiotic or both were working well. My skin never turned into a completely open wound, just a series of holes. Now, I have 4 large holes. One hole travels under the skin and out the other side. As does the other hole. Skin builds up on it, but later flakes off. I will clean and irrigate once every 4 months, just to make sure no random debris occludes the healing. I posted a picture to show the after effects 2 years later. The skin never fully recovered. My question is will it ever? And is there anything I could do to help it heal faster? I no longer have raw skin and it now seems tough around the areas I have described. So is this as good as it is going to get?

[kary810]

What should i do i m having no pain nothing but the colour of my  aerola nd the skin around it changed.and i m only 18 now

[KatieBarTheDoor]

After looking into the skin disorder, I would have to agree! Thanks for your help!