Non-acne breakout on face

[Ibbie]

At the beginning of August, my sister began having acne-like spots on her face. At first there were only a few. Now, after more than two months, she has over thirty of these spots. Four of them have become more like boils than pimples. They don't go away or get smaller and are tender and sore. Every once in a while, one will break open and a pus-like fluid will come out. She also has several spots under her arms. She has also had one on her ear and one on the back of her neck.

She went to her primary care physician two seperate times. Cultures were taken and nothing was found. She was prescribed cipro, a sulfa/bactrim drug, and altabax. These didn't work. Another doctor then prescribed Clindomycin, thinking that she had MRSA. That was last week and there has been no change. She finally saw a dermatologist who said they need to use the process of elimination because she was not a "textbook case" and has prescribed tetracycline. The problem with the process of elimination is that she does not have health insurance, and she has already spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on this.

Does this sound like anything you've seen? Can you suggest anything for her doctors to look for? I feel like someone has to have an idea or have seen something like this before. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[abhi12345]

A related discussion, I have acne plz help was started.

[alcorrea]

A related discussion, What is on my face was started.

[van33]

If the problem is what I belive it to be its still some what of a mystery illness with not a lot of answers.What I belive will get rid of it is either of these following products(everCLR3,or quick clear,available on the web).They are herbal treatments/cures that will work on a wide range of viruses and fungus, belive it or not it will work in about 6 weeks but stay on it for at least 6 months.

[BeautyCochran]

Dear Dr.
I have ME-CFS and have had it since 1998.  Last fall in 06 I got the sickest ever with the illness.  I have had a breakout on my face since then that is severely itchy and no Dr. has been able to offer me anything to stop it.  It is not contagious and one Dermatologist said that it is lichenmous not to be confused Lichen Planus.  One of the places never heals and is open, not real big but I scratch it in my sleep thru Benedryl and it can never heal.  Basically the Dermalogist said "you did it to yourself" which I find highly offensive, putting something back on a patient and making feel worse than they already do, is unprofessional and brings up the ole "it's in your  head" comment.  He tried to send off to a specialist at a research hospital and that specialist refused to see me.  I don't expect them to treat the ME-CFS, I have my MD for that.  And since it is treated symptomatically other Drs. don't need to spaz out over it.  I wasn't ugly or rude to any of these guys.  Either they don't want to mess with it or they don't believe me.  It's a sad place to be in.  Can you offer any treatment options other than cremes or ointments?  Is there anything oral that I could take to clear up my face?  Thank you -Beauty Cochran/member

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Why "acne-like spots"?  Why not acne?  Also, pus usually doesn't come out of lesions like this unless they're squeezed or otherwise tampered with.  If your sister sometimes does this, even unconsciously, she needs to make herself aware of doing it and stop, or else no treatment will help.  I'm afraid that's all I can say from a distance, but none of what you describe sounds dangerous or exotic.  It's just going to take sustained effort with the help of a doctor in person, I'm afraid.

Good luck.

Dr. Rockoff