Suspicious Indentations on Face

[spepper18]

A month and a half ago, a staph infection appeared on one of my temples.  It started with a simple boil that formed and then disappeared in a couple days, and after that a large lesion and several others formed in the same area.  Three days after finishing 10 days of Bactrim, another small boil appeared in the same area, so I took another 10 days of Bactrim and was put on 5 days of Altabax ointment.  Since then, I have not seen any new boils.  However, I have noticed some small indentations that look sort of like enlarged pores forming in the same area where I had the infection.  They have appeared spontaneously, and nowhere else on my face.  I am concerned because the staph started as tiny indentations as well, although I do not remember if they were identical in appearance.  Thank you for your help

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hi,

From the symptoms the possibility of folliculitis needs to be ruled out. 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).

Please 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. 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

[spepper18]

I should add, the infection first appeared in late June.