small round soar

My son has has 3 round soars on the surface of his skin.  1 approximately the size of a dime at his left elbow.  It is very tender with whitish scab and redness surrounding the scab.  2nd soar is about size or eraser tip but no scab.  final soar is on back just right of center.  It is dry, red and tender,  almost dime size and round.  He has had these for a week and each began at size of a pencile tip.  What could this be?

[maatson]

More like a bacterial impetigo. Should settle with an antibiotic creme.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms and the picture it can be a boil, bacterial infection or impetigo sore. It is a highly contagious superficial bacterial skin infection. Primarily caused by Staphylococcus aureus and sometimes by Streptococcus pyogenes. Topical and oral antibiotics are the treatment of choice. My sincere advice would be to consult a dermatologist and get prescribed oral antibiotics also because sometimes topical therapy with antibiotic creams is not sufficient for the treatment.

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.

[couldbeu]

Thank you for your responses.  Very helpful.  I have started on oral anitbiotic from family physician.  This is a great resource!!