Folliculitis- Acne necrotica

[aedjlali]

I am a 22 yr old Male. I started developing very bad sclap acne in the winter 3 years ago. I had moderately long hair and it would continuously itch with my scalp being mostly red and acne in various places. I tried many shampoos to ease the itching and redness Nioxin, Head and Shoulders,Selsun Blue, Nizoral, Neutrogena T-Gel Extra Strength, non helped. I noticed when my hair was short it helped the redness and acne go away. I went to a dermatologist and he said its just stress. This problem presists, i figured out that it can be a form of folliculitis and more specific Acne Necrotica or some type of Fungal Folliculitis. I have countless pox like scars, random bald spots when my hair fell out and patches of highly concentrated hair. What can I do to make this go away and restore my scalp to its original normal state?

Thank you!

[bensam79]

Hello everyone, espcially to  aedjlali, 4kiki, bbinjabr, RyeGuyLA and jjhere.

I would like to thank you all for taking your time and bring attention to our struggle and this disease that is called folliculitis.

I am also experiencing same symptoms due to folliculitis on my scalp i lost all my hair and still having this issue. At first I was very depress by losing my hair and having this nasty skin disease and now I lost my hair this issue still did not go away.

I plea with you guys please come back to this forum and update us on your progress.... I also saw many dermatologist most of them dont care and I did take many drugs everything from Accutane to topical medicated creams by prescription...Nothing helped.  I am really upset and no will to do anything due to this disease.

Someone mentioned Terrasil product...I would like to hear if this product helped you. Do you guys use any special shampoo maybe

Any additional help would be greatly appreciated it. I thank you all from bottom of my heart

[bensam79]

Hello everyone, espcially to  aedjlali, 4kiki, bbinjabr, RyeGuyLA and jjhere.

I would like to thank you all for taking your time and bring attention to our struggle and this disease that is called folliculitis.

I am also experiencing same symptoms due to folliculitis on my scalp i lost all my hair and still having this issue. At first I was very depress by losing my hair and having this nasty skin disease and now I lost my hair this issue still did not go away.

I plea with you guys please come back to this forum and update us on your progress.... I also saw many dermatologist most of them dont care and I did take many drugs everything from Accutane to topical medicated creams by prescription...Nothing helped.  I am really upset and no will to do anything due to this disease.

Someone mentioned Terrasil product...I would like to hear if this product helped you. Do you guys use any special shampoo maybe

Any additional help would be greatly appreciated it. I thank you all from bottom of my heart

[jjhere]

I never post any letters like this or belong to any forum, but I've been living with folliculitis on my scalp since your age (for >10 years). It only occurs on the scalp and no where else.  Worried that my hair is getting thinner with sores eventually becoming more visible (embarrassing), I’ve been on many many antibiotics (including long term) but they only help temporarily! As soon as I stop antibiotics the folliculitis return worse than before. What’s worrying is that all these medicines are really bad for you in many ways. Apparently long term antibiotics can cause folliculitis!. So stay away antibiotics if you can. However, every person is unique and maybe one dose of antibiotics will clear it up for you forever, I don’t know.
I’ve also tried hard core shampoos, antibiotic ointments and cortisone.  But latter only treats symptoms and is not good for your skin.  The problem is the follicle sits deep within your skin!  

A specialist thought it could be an immune deficiency problem, but those results proofed him wrong. Another told me nothing can be done since the real reason for this type of folliculitis is unknown (that my immune system sees my follicles as a “foreign body”) and I have to take antibiotics like tetralysis to prevent inflammation. Another told me my scalp produces too much sebum (to keep hear oily) and makes me susceptible to bacterial attack. All I know in my case it’s not just an infection or germ or fungus etc. because I’m very healthy and sanitary with a good immune system etc. The only thing I know is that my dad also had it on his scalp, therefore I inherited genes/scalp prone to folliculitis. Furthermore, it is definitely stress related, since it becomes worse when I’m under more stress than usual.  And I agree that hats (my bike helmet) and sweating makes it worse.  

My next step is a second proper biopsy (not just of the hair) end of this month. I’m also considering Terrasil cream but it’s very expensive including shipping cost to my country. But hey if you’re desperate it may be worth a try. I also do believe in miracles.

[RyeGuyLA]

I've been suffering from the same symptoms as you & have not found anything that works. Other than a treatment of antibiotics (which clear everything up while I'm on them), I still get terrible outbreaks. Can you give me an update on what you found/use now? I had a culture done last week @ my doctor & waiting to hear back.

THANK YOU

[aedjlali]

I went to the dermatologist about 1 week ago. they took a swab to see what it is, in the meantime they prescribed me 2%Nizoral shampoo and some type of antibiotics. It has helped so far. I will let you know what happens when the month is over. The one thing that helped the most throughout all the things ive tried was a tea tree oil shampoo i bought from vitamins.com. Also keeping hair short and breathable helps (no hats or hoodies). But you def need to get a sample taken to diagnose what type of folliculitis it is.

[bbinjabr]

I have the exact same problem and have tried everything possible on earth.. but nothing worked. I even had t courses of accutane with no luck..tea tree oil is not helping also..
I hope some one will have an answer.
Thanks

[aedjlali]

I just messaged you back through the messaging system. I currently use tea tree oil shampoo and then lemon and tea tree oil directly on my scalp after I shower. It is helping but not completely fixing the problem.  Ill update my post with results. Im also going to get it diagnosed as the previous post mentioned by Boron.

Thanks again!

[4kiki]

I just sent you an email.  Not sure how to work the forum so I'm posting here as well.  My 9 month old had staph... folliculitis.  I used Mupirocin 3x a day but when it got really bad (after a course of antibiotics for an ear infection) nothing seemed to work quickly.  He had to inflamed areas that would not heal.  I found a site about folliculitis where people said the Terrasil (formerly Tetrasil) cleared their folliculitis.  I ordered some right a way and it cleared up the bumps within a couple of days (this was the bad area).  Now if he gets one a put the Terrasil 2x a day and by the next morning it's already drying up.  He has not had an outbreak since!!  This is made of Silver and Oxygen so you can't have an allergy to Silver.  The small jar for $25 goes a long way.  You can find it online.  Also, I use Tea Tree Shampoo by California Baby on him everyday which is natural anti-fungal, anti-bacterial properties and very gentle.  I've read reviews from many adults that have used this for their dandruff when nothing else would work.  God Bless!

[aedjlali]

Thank you!

[boron]

You should visit dermatologist who should tell you, if this is
- staphylococcal folliculitis
- Pytirosporum folliculitis (or other fungal infection)
- scalp folliculitis
- eosinophilic folliculitis
- gram negative folliculitis,
...or whatever.

Dermatologist can take a swab or even makes a biopsy, so you get reliable diagnosis. Then you can think about treatment.

For staphylococcal folliculitis, you can get over the counter antibiotic ointments, which contain mupirocin. One brand is Bacitracin. Just ask in local pharmacy, what do they have.