folliculitis?

[Franco28]

I had a red bump on my grown,  the NP I saw thinks it's folliculitis but did not perscribe anything to treat it.   I've had it for 5 days now and it does not appear to be much better,  the pustule opened up yesterday but the skin underneath it still irritated and red.     I'm worried about it, treating it at home with white vinegar hot compress and apply iodine.

How long should this take to clear up?

I had a smaller one in the same place a month ago but it cleared up in a couple days,  could I have a deeper infection?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms it can be folliculitis or boil. Folliculitis starts when hair follicles are damaged by friction from clothing or blockage of the follicle. In most cases of folliculitis, the damaged follicles are then infected with the bacteria Staphylococcus (staph).

Keep the area clean and apply some topical antiseptics. 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. Please consult a dermatologist in that case.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[Franco28]

still not better,  used hot compress get get boil to come to a head, now two days later still red and sore what should I do?

[Franco28]

oops meant to say,  "red bump on my groin",