boils or ingrown hair?

[xmaggiex]

Every once in awhile , I get these bumps, not really sure if they are boils but the doctor says they are ingrown hairs. They swell up and are very painful to touch. Since I started getting them, I've had one appear in my underarm, the rest either appear in my inner thigh or above my public line. I've even had two going on at once on each inner thigh. Hot compresses seem to help, but it hurts so much, I've tried topical creams and other liquids, each and every one leaves a nasty scar behind. Does anyone know for sure what they might be or what causes/prevents them?

[jbeliever]

I have noticed that when I have them alot of the times It happens when I may have had too much sugar in my diet...example, went on vacation and didnt eat like I normally do, we had donuts for breakfast, desserts with our meals...i guess you get the picture...Now 2 days later I have the sore, raised heat area and its started leaking pus....ugh....no solution but anti-inflammatory pills and antibacterial creams are what I lean toward, but they are no miracle cure.   Had this stuff pretty much my whole life.
Thanks
Sue

[Rosieee08]

Hi I just got one wasn't sure if it was
A ingrown hair or a boil its like a red
Scab in the centre with a head around it
I thought it was a spot and popped it:/
And seen as though its in my eyebrow it
Infected my eye!the head came back so I
Left it a couple of days and now just
Used warm salty water and compressed it,
The heads now gone and I'm left with a
Red scab :/! Now don't no what to do with
It, its quite saw :(

[ncampbl]

I had cancer and did the chemo and radiation and was very run down,  I was feeling very very bad but thought it was from the chemo.  I felt a little lump but thought it was a bartholin cyst.  It ended up being an ingrown hair and I guess it had gotten infected in my run down condition from the cancer treatments. I had 3 different Dr's look at it on a Wednesday.  2 of the appoinments were already scheduled and the Oncologist also wanted me to see a surgeon that afternoon at 4 but did not tell me to wait for them to lance or anything and I asked him before I left to see my primary care Dr. and he said, no, to just let my primary care dr do whatever was needed but he wanted the surgeon to see it.  The primary care Dr. opened a brand new set of tools, gave me lidocaine and lanced it.  He said it looked like there was a lot of dried puss in it.  I went to the surgeon at 4 and he looked at it but did not do anything because of the primary care dr lancing it.  By now, I was feeling even worse.  They gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and sent me home.  By Thursday I was really really sick and drank a little gator aid and maybe a peanut butter cracker.  I live by myself.  My cousins came over of Friday am and took me to my scheduled radiation treament and by this time I had hardly any blood pressure and could not verbalize my thoughts.  They sent me on to the hospital where the hospital put me in ICU for 4 days.  The surgeon came over and cut some more in ICU. He was afraid that in my rundown state I would never make it through a regular surgery. He also used lidocaine and packed the incision and the nurse repacked every day.  It ended up being a staph infection that I have no clue where I got it.  I noticed on one of the earlier posts  about dirty people getting staph infections.  That is not the way they explained it to me.  When I go to the Dr. office now, I do wipe down my chair and chair arms with disinfectant.  The Dr. at the hospital said if I had waited 4 or 5 hours longer it would have been too late.
My advice is if you get something in your groin area that has not been diagnosed by a Dr. as this or that no matter your age(I noticed a lot of young girls who were having problems), please go to the Dr.  It could save your life.  I used to be just as shy as you about Dr.,s looking at certain areas..  I have now had 4 surgerys since that and have had male nurses(believe me, it is only a body to the Dr.s or Nurses no matter your gender or theirs)  who help me if I need them to go to the bathroom or what ever I need and after all of the tests and treatments for my cancer (by the way, last test shows no carcinoma cells) I would walk down Main Street at High Noon Nude as the day I was born and it would not bother me a bit.  It might bother others so I don't plan on doing it.  Again, please have your problem diagnosed by a qualified medical professional (preferably a DR.)

[Kolieko]

An ointment over the counter named Boil Ease accompanied with as hot as you can bare wet compresses. Apply with clean fingers. Any Boil should be gone in 1-3 days Max. I have suffer from them for years (20+). It works miracles.

[Chelle1979]

Hi ya

I had the same problem myself and went to the doctors and he told me it was a ingrowning hair folicle and that it would pop in time....and it did....loads of gooey stuff.  Just had one on my breast too.  You can get them anywhere.  Just feels like a spot to me tho.

[emmajayy89]

AFTER MONTHS OF CONFUSION I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!

Hello all. I recently had a boil at the top of my pubic hair line SO PAINFUL! I didn't think it was an ingrown hair because I make sure I stay bare down there. It started off small about two or three months ago. Today was about the size of a dime. It popped so easily I almost didn't feel it. But after it burst it was so painful and hard. I took a warm shower thinking that would ease it but it didn't. So finally I started squeezing it....it was painful but WORTH IT. A hard substance came out first and as I pulled it a hair about an inch long came out. It was still kinda hard so I pushed more and another hair came out about an inch long. Then as I kept squeezing and the pain and swelling went down and just a little bit of blood mixed with a clear substance came out.

I believe what you guys have is an ingrown hair especially if it keeps coming and going; it probably becomes more noticeable when the hair starts growing. It may be painful but I'd rather go through 5 minutes of pain rather than months of embarrasment :)