pimples on my neck

Doc:

Every so often I get an outbreak of pimples on my neck.  I can't say if there is any pattern to it, but I have been getting them for over 5 year now consistently.  I wear a shirt and tie every day, and do sweat more than most people.  Sometimes I think they may be linked to stress.  I tend to notice them more when I'm overly stressed at work.  They actually started when I entered the real working world.  I also notice them after I get my hair cut.  I keep my hair really short, and the barber usually does take an electric shaver right over the area.  Maybe conincidence.  I don't have any other strange occurances any where else, and other than I appear to be a normal happy and healthy person.  Any help, ideas, or insight would be appreciated.  Thanks,  Matt

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Matt:

I don't know that your question, although it's a reasonable one, has any straighforward answer, other than to say that, "it happens sometimes."  I assume, by the way, that you are talking about the back of your neck.  If you mean your front, then you have to at least entertain the possibility that you have "razor bumps," caused by ingrown hairs from a close shave.  That can be treated with some success using medicated shaving creams and topical cortisone lotions.

For back-of-neck pimples, there's not much worth doing.  Oral antibiotics help temporarily, but the conditionusually isn't uncomfortable enough to warrant them.

I think you ought to show these to a doctor once, just to be sure there's nothing else going on that I can't picture.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff