Strange Skin Problem

I am a 31 year old female.  My mother is 55 years old.  We are both experiencing the same problem.  My mother has been to a dermatologist and has been told everything from hormonal acne to complications from a bowel infection.  She took a round of tetracycline and it seemed to help but they come right back.


  Here is the problem:

Occurs on face only- start out as raised lump (like a pimple under the skin)  It will not go away until squeezed.  It never forms a whitehead.  It just oozes and oozes clear liquid for weeks!  There is so much!  It dries into a crusty, grainy scab only to open back up and ooze more. One can last for a month or more.  It will NOT go away until all of the puss is gone.  Mine will just keep peeling away.  Some look like they have left a small pin size hole on my skin.  It seems like it forms a pit in the center with raised edges.  They are sore to the touch.  There may be numerous small holes in the same lesion.  It doesn't itch or spread.  It can be the size of a dime to a quarter.  When we apply makeup during the day- it will just crust over and look like brown sugar.  I don't think it is acne at all.  Healing just means weeks of peeling skin and left over liquid.  It will bleed eventually, but that will be mixed with puss as well.  It is totally disgusting, and we are at a dead end.  I thought it was just me, and then my mother and I compared notes, and it is the same thing!  Please help!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

There is no such thing as something that "will not go away until squeezed."  There is, however, such a thing that will not go away because you squeeze it.  I suspect that the reason both of you have the same intractable problem is that both of you are under the simultaneous impression that when you get a bump, you have to squeeze it.  When you squeeze an area vigorously, you can get all the changes you describe--crusts, scabs, draining sinuses, and so forth.

Now I expect that you will meet this suggestion with skepticism.  So here's my advice: give it a try.  For a period of 4 weeks, do not pick or squeeze your lesions--not ever, not even once.  Instead, apply warm compresses with a washcloth and then put on bacitracin ointment (over-the-counter.)  Other than that, don't change anything in your routine: the same soap, moisturizer, etc.  I suggest you both do this in consultation with your skin doctor or doctors.

See if that doesn't solve your problem.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[mekololo]

That is fine and all, but what is it?  I understand your philosophy, and I have had acne my whole life.  I meant my comment as a generalization- they seem like they will not go away unless they are squeezed. They are not pimples. I wrote to you to ask your opinion what they could be.

[omega16]

hi, my name is maria and i wanted to try something new with a guy i was talking to at the time and we performed anol about 5 times out of the time that we where talking to each other and yes, it hurt and i bleed after words but we did it rite using K.Y. jelly and i was shore that we where doin it rite.
that was like 2 months ago and i havent did it sense but never noticed that when i whiped my back side after doing number two there was just a little bit of blood there thinking that it was just from the waste (poop) i payed it no mind. today i was taking a shower and was cleaning my back side with my hand and felt something like a bump thinking to myself maybe its from my shaven to closly but then i was feeling alittle more back there and felt two more then i was conserned so i took my compac miror and took a look at was i was feeling there where skin like bumps that where in fromt of and in back of my anus then scared i spread my cheeks and looked harder seeing some of the bumps that where in the front and back  of the anus in the inside i panic and look for my doctors number but the thing is that it is a sunday and they are not open so i came to this site to look for alittle help what can this be that i have in and on my anus it is no where else but on my anus and so im thinking maybe it is a skin infection from haven anol performed on me. if there is anyone that can relate or is maybe going through the same thing or went throw this please email me a.s.a.p at ***@****
                          Thank You very much Maria

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

To Mekololo:

I am not sure what they are--perhaps blocked oil glands.  But there is no way a doctor will be able to tell if the bumps are picked.

Dr. Rockoff

[wayvik]

I am not a doctor but I had the same big bump with all the same symptoms when I was a teenager that reoccured all the time in the summer. I never had acme problems, so this was a big deal for me.  The answer to mine was Tomatos.  Yes Tomatos.  The acid in tomatos is so strong EVERY time I ate one I would get those and yes, they would last for a month, and NOTHING could hide it.
If I were you I would at least try to eliminate whatever aciddy food you are digesting, at least try that.  I figured it out by process of elimination and have not had a tomato in 20 something years, oh, and NO big bump that won't go away either.  I called it a risien (sp?).

[mekololo]

Thanks for your response.  I don't know what this is, but my mom has the same thing now.  The skin analysis websites I have looked at all point to impetigo.  I don't think that is it, but maybe.  I thought only children get that. It is driving me nuts.  :-(

[MABBY]

Try Cutivate cream from a doctor's prescription. This reduces the swelling so you aren't compelled to squeeze the lesion. It has helped me tremendously, though the Cutivate was NOT prescribed for this. Everyone treats it like acne, and I suppose it might be a type of acne, but the most STUBBORN form I've ever experienced. I'm trying the tomatoes tip next; will go a month without them to see what happens!