Bumps/Lumps?

Ok here goes..... About a year ago, I started dating someone new. Around 2-3 months after dating I noticed i started getting small bumps only around my waistline that start small and get to about the size of a quarter and are very painful.. They start out as a very small tender bump, then escalate to almost like a pimple.  If popped they puss, bleed and then heal and start to go away...My unofficial guess is that it is an infected ingrown hair that gets extremely infected from sweat and dirt and being around my waistline(i'm in construction)  I've noticed they only occur if I trim or shave the area.. I'd gotten ingrown pubic hairs during puberty but never anything this bad.. Searching the internet I have come across pictures and descriptions and it seems like it's closer to an ingrown hair that has become infected than herpes or other STD's.. I'm obviously very concerned.. The girl I was dating just got tested about two months ago and everything came back clean.. and the doctor told her that herpes sometimes may come up/be able to show up in blood work (something about a certain count of something?) Like I said they only occur when/if i trim or shave the area..One has even left a scar from my incessant picking and what I believe to be the ingrown hair. I haven't gone to the doctor for it yet because a hot compress and antibiotic cream helps a lot and makes it go away..  Although when it happens I become extremely self conscious as I am easing myself back into the dating world..  Can anyone help please?  

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Since you get these painful bumps after shaving or trimming so definitely the chances of these bumps being due to infected hair follicles or oils are more. A Boil is caused by an infection of the hair follicle by staph aureus. Bacterial skin infections can be spread by shared cosmetics or washcloths, close human contact, or by contact with pus from a boil or carbuncle.
Apply warm compresses on the bump and keep the area clean. You should consult a doctor as you might need a course of antibiotics/anti-inflammatories to take care of the same. To completely rule out herpes, you can get investigations done. Laboratory tests include: culture of the virus, direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) studies to detect virus, skin biopsy, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to test for presence of viral DNA. I sincerely advise you to consult a dermatologist and get it ruled out. I hope it helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing. Kind regards.

[Goathill]

Not to fret I have read alot of post and usually the people I hear that have this have a mother with the same condition most the times not the father see I have the same exact thing and trust me it is a real pain usually they appear around the waist line but can come up under arms or between legs it is a rare blood condition that was passed on to you there is no treatment for it but can be slowed or almost stopped I have found that if you keep weight off and scrub with a good sponge and for the love of god don't squeeze them (this does not work only makes matters worse) you will see them almost go away there is a name for this condition and I will google it now and get back if interested let me know hope I was some help