@teeneybeans I actually have been hit in the face with an airbag yes not directly in my face but neck and chest. I had these before that though and had never been hit with one previously 🙁

@marimariemorrison

Holy smokes everything you have described is precisely the exact same thing I'm experiencing, right down to the adjacent cystic acne, which I noticed a while back and assumed was being caused by whatever the hell these white plugs are, as a secondary symptom or whatever.

I did a bit more research on the Morgellons thing, and while it does seem like a candidate, there are a couple of things that don't match up, such as the "hairs" or fibers or whatever that are associated with Morgellons are supposedly microscopic, and require a strong magnification (like 50x or so) to be able to see. And while the ones I have are very small and fine, they're definitely not microscopic.

So, I did a bit more searching and digging and reading, and I came across another condition called fibrosis that seems to kinda fit the bill, at least after a quick skim of the information. I've attached a screenshot for quick reference, and here's the link to the article:

https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/atlas/nnl/integumentary-system/skin/Fibrosis

Now, be sure to note that this info is based on the clinical observation of a MOUSE (lol), but you get the idea. There's a whole lot of medical terminology in there that I obviously am not familiar with, and also since I am not a medical professional of any kind I could be grasping at straws here - but then, haven't we all been doing just that this entire time? It's so frustrating.

Parenthetically, something I've been thinking about with regards to these dermatologists that have been no help is that they (along with most or all other medical professionals) always seem to bristle and scoff at a patient whenever we mention that we've tried doing our own research and reading in an attempt to come up with some answers, and they almost always IMMEDIATELY dismiss whatever it is we've come up with. And like...I get it. There's a LOT of misinformation out there, and generally speaking, the average person who claims to "do their own research" isn't typically capable of sifting through the garbage on the internet, and can't differentiate between solidly documented scientific information and the all the hokum out there. Having said that, I believe that a Dr automatically dismissing anything a patient has to say just because they've mentioned looking for answers online is detrimental to the patient in a number of ways.

ALSO: While these medical professionals make it clear that they are uninterested in any patient's input gleaned from their own efforts to find answers and learn more about their condition, I have yet to find one that is willing to SHARE any helpful or educational information with their patient AT ALL. So it's like, we go to these derms practically begging for help, and we get a lot of shrugs and we're sent away with prescriptions that we know aren't going to help and an admonition to stop picking at our skin. Over and over. So we start doing our own research and try to bring what we've learned to these same derms, and we're met with eyerolls and dismissal. ARGH.

Anyway, I'm just venting. It's frustrating.

But, after having gotten all of that off my chest, I'd like to share a tiny glimmer of hope - I have recently started on YET ANOTHER new topical, and damned if it doesn't actually seem to be helping...!

Now, please be aware that I've only been using it a few days, but already my wounds and lesions seem to be receding somewhat. I know it's too early to tell (I've had other meds and topicals that seemed to help a little at first then stop), but I'm hopeful in spite of myself. It's called Dapsone, and it was pretty expensive (at least to me), but it was recommended to me by another member of this forum who reached out to me in a private message and told me they were seeing a lot of improvement with it. (I don't want to name them directly since they haven't posted about it themselves, and I don't wish to overstep any bounds.) After doing a quickie Google search to learn about Dapsone and how it works on various forms of acne as well as folliculitis, I decided to give it a shot because why the hell not. And like I said, it does seem to be helping, so do what you will with this information. If anyone else here tries this stuff, please do report back and let us know if it's working for you!

And to answer other questions posed in previous posts by others - no, I've never been hit by an airbag in a car, and no I've never had a skin scraping done. You'd think a dermatologist would try that, but what do I know. 🤷‍♀️ Lol