Bumps In Pubic Area

[eddy4763]

I have been getting these pubic bumps for quite a while now and it seems that there is nothing i can do to make them stop recurring. At first I thought it was herpes but I went to my doctor and I discussed it on this forum and found out that it was not herpes, but folliculitis. These bumps can recur sometimes two or three months consecutively. They are flesh colored and dont appear "on the skin" like herpes does, but they itch like crazy. They do not hurt or anything else but my skin on the side of my thigh and on my lower back gets sensitive. They keep coming back in the same place. My doctor prescribed be Bactroban which seems to work because in about 5 days or so the bumps turn purple and just fall of in the shower with no form of ulcers or open skin present, the skin under it is healed, by best description of how the skin under it looks is how it looks like when a scab had just fallen of somewhere you got cut or something. This is what keeps reassuring me that it is not herpes because if it were the Bactroban would have no effect, right? They dont turn into pimples or anything they just remain their same color, but the start of small and then they get a little bigger, but nothing like the size of an eraser or something. My question is that is this really folliculitis? One bump may actually have a hair in the middle of it but the rest do not. If it isnt folliculitis, what is it and how do I make it stop coming back because for that week that they appear the first three or four days are really bothersome. They itch like crazy and I would really like this to stop coming back. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated Thanks.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

It sounds like folliculitis.  The only way folliculitis papules can scab is if you scratch them.  Folliculitis doesn't itch, so I have to assume that yours do because you're worrying about them.  Ask your doctor about suing an antibacterial soap like PhisoHex on a regular basis to keep the bacteria at bay, along with the Bactroban.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[eddy4763]

I forgot to add, that sometimes these things can scar and sometimes spread if i keep scratching.

[eddy4763]

Im sorry, but also i would like for you to know that my lymph nodes always get swollen when this happens, and they are fluid filled because when there is a hair in the middle a little clear fluid comes out of it when i pull it out, not an extreme amount either, but still there is no pain, just very itch, unless the medication is placed, then the itching becomes a little less aggrivating.. Thanks.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Please do not scratch.  Please do not pull the hair out.  If you need further reassurance that these are OK and should be left alone, please talk to your doctor again or get another opinion.  Thanks.

Dr. Rockoff

[son10]

I have this small red bump in my pubic region its like a pea and has been around for about a month. It is just one bump and has been squeezed once where a little white pasty substance came out. It does not itch it is just there with no other bumps in site. I have thoughts of Herpes, epidermal cysts could it be one of those or something....Thanks