10 replies to this topic

[Erik the Viking]

Greetings,

I have had painful itching acne (?) on my scalp since I was 17, --20 years ago. ( Anyway, the condition always seemed to clear up when I was taking antibiotics for different infections, etc. Recently, I went to see a Derm and he insisted it was non bacterial Seborheic (sp?) Dermatitis. He gave me some topical steroid and some prescription shampoo. I follwed the instructions religiously. After nearly 4 weeks its worse than ever.

My scalp gets red acne-like sores which are painful to the touch. They will bleed at times in thie middle of the night. I am very pissed at a 90 dollar office visit plus prescription costs just to get nowhere.

I had shaved my head for a while, and applied cortisone cream. That seemed to help, though not eliminate the problem.

Does anyone know what this might be? I guess its back to the Derm. Wonder if he'll give me a refund? LOL!

Erik.

[tweety]

Hi Erik,

I have a little experience with something like this. My 2 children have a condition called eczema. When my daughter was 2 weeks old her cheeks broke out with a little baby acne, which is normal. The pimples then spread onto her scalp and all over her body all the way down to her toes. I found out that it was not baby acne, it was eczema. Her spots were the size of whiteheads, but they were not filled with pus. They were filled with clear liquid. They itched and she would scratch them and they would break open and ooze honey-colored liquid that would crust over. The blisters would grow together and form a large red rash. If this sounds similar to what is on your scalp you may want to do some research on eczema. You're more than welcome to ask me any questions you have and I will try to help.

My daughter is 5 months old now and her rash is so much better. It was so bad on one cheek I had to put a prescription ointment called Protopic on it and it cleared right up.

Rebecca

[Erik the Viking]

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for the input. My wife has had Excema over the years, (though not in noticeable areas) so I am somewhat familiar with this condition. I went to the Derm today (insisted that I come in since the problem was so bad) I got a sub. derm because the regular guy was out of town.

Anyway, he took a culture and made out a prescription for some meds (antibiotics an topical solutions). I think that I have a secondary bacterial folicalitis. I am going to give this treatment a shot for a week or two and see what happens. If all else fails, I'll return to my previous home remedy of shaving my head and using hydrogen peroxide and cortisone cream. (My wife thinks the shaved head is sexy anyway!) ;-)

Erik.

[Wally]

Are they related to ingrown hairs any???? If they are you should try Polysorbate 80. Rub it into the area for like 2-3 minutes, less if its sensitive, then wash it out with water. Do this for a couple of days and it should help.

[Erik the Viking]

Not sure about whether the hairs are ingrown, although the sores do resemble this condition as I have seen it on others. My problem seems to be more permanent and does not clear up when my hair gets long, in fact it gets worse. We'll see what happens.

Regards, Erik.

[Sambo253]

I think i'm experiencing the same thing. I have this acne on my scalp and if i scratch it it'll start bleeding and I'll have dried blood stuck in my hair. They bleed very easily also. I have no idea what to do about it. If you have any good results I'd love to hear about it.

[Erik the Viking]

Well, so far the oral antibiotics and the topical oinment Klarion seems to be helping. Its about 50% better I'd say. I am also going to return to keeping my head shaved or at least very short. The hair growth seems to be really aggravating to the condition. Also, having less hair allows a more direct contact with the ointment.

I'll keep you posted.

Erik.

[viscous]

I have been suffering with "scalp acne" for years. My derm calls it scalp folliculitis and puts me on tetracycline. My family doc initially called it dermatitis and put me on betadiene. The failure of betadiene (isopropyl ointment) to work made him refer me to a derm. I am not sure if I have eczema or not. My cysts and pimples grow on the back side of scalp (the place above the neck). It hurts terribly. My left lymph node on the neck swells like crazy. H&S has failed to work. Nizoral only aggravates teh situation by making my hair as hard as that of a brush. Generally my scalp feels tensed and as if something tight is covering my skull. Any suggestions pleasE?

[kerrylee]

Viscous, My 16 year old son has been dealing with this almost 2 years now. He is in the worst shape now and in a lot of pain. Hundreds of pustular pimples on his scalp. We are seeing an Infectious Disease specialist tomorrow. The top dog here in Florida. If they cant figure it out I wouldny know what to do. Im very scared, Thats my baby and he hurts so bad.

Im worried it came from an Accutane treatment he did a year before this started. Who knows.

Ill keep you posted and good luck to you,

Kerry

[AKeshi]

I had a horrible case of folliculities once, mainly caused by a yeast fungi, and a courtesy of one year of military service where they give you the same helmet the previous guy wore without properly disinfecting it.

Anyhow, I used Nizoral to treat my condition, and it worked wonders. I still need to use Nizoral twice a week to keep it in check. It will never go away, it's just something I have to live with.