Had a boil, it healed, but there is still a superficial lump?

[sparkbark]

Okay, so I had what I believe was a boil appear on my skin last week. It's, well, on my butt. I am kind of prone to ingrown hairs and such but it usually resolves within a day or two. This one got big and inflamed and painful, with a hard lump under the surface. Based on remedies found on the web, I treated it with Campho Phenol (?) and it soon began to shrink and after a few days it no longer hurt at all and there was no more lump under the surface. However, now over a week since it appeared, there is still a red "bump" on the surface of my skin. It does not hurt at all nor does it seem to be any kind of open sore... it's just a bump. I'm not sure what to do about it. I plan to make a doctor's appointment in a few days if it does not go away, but, what could this be? I do not have any STDs. It started out exactly like every ingrown hair / inflammed hair follice I've ever had. But I am not sure what to do about this leftover bump... it's not exactly appealing to look at and I don't want to look like I have some kind of disease! Why is this bump still there if the under-the-skin part of the boil seems to have disappeared? (There is nothing under there anymore-- no hard lump-- just skin...)

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

From your symptoms,it looks like a boil on the buttocks. A boil, also referred to as a skin abscess, is a localized infection deep in the skin. A boil generally starts as a reddened, tender area. Over time, the area becomes firm and hard. Eventually, the center of the abscess softens and becomes filled with pus. Finally, the pus "forms a head," which can be surgically opened or spontaneously drain out through the surface of the skin.

Boil on buttocks is usually due to plugged sweat glands that become infected or by an ingrown hair.In your case,the centre of the boil could not be formed ,so there was no drainage of pus and hence the red bump is still there. Pls keep the area clean and apply some warm compresses. Also wear loose-fitting cotton clothing and use an antibacterial soap or mild soap like dove.Avoid any kind of cosmetics. Topical antibiotics such as mupirocin or neomycin containing ointment are also useful.In case the symptoms persist then oral antibiotics may be needed.Pls consult a dermatologist in that case.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing.Kind regards.

[sparkbark]

Thanks for your reply.

So if I understand you correctly you are saying that the boil hasn't healed yet, and the loss of the hard lump under the skin is just part of the process before it heals? I have been washing the area with antibacterial soap in the shower in the morning and also before bed. After my shower I have been applying neosporin to it. I am very careful to keep it clean. However in the last 3 or 4 days it doesn't seem to have changed at all, it's just sitting there with no difference in appearance. I had been bandaging it at first to keep it clean but I had to stop that because it was really irritating my skin when my bandage came off, and I didn't want to create a wound near the boil because the wound could get infected with bacteria from the boil.