Are Red Bumps Ingrown Hairs or an STD? Posted: 08-20-06 00:21am
Hi recently I have gotten small outbreaks
on my inner-upper thigh and a swollen
lymph node in my groin. Before the swollen
node and before the outbrakes I just had
what appeared to be a couple ingrown hairs
where the outbrakes are now. I shaved down
there which aggrivated the what I think
were ingrown hairs so now there are
outbrakes. They are red or white, and the
skin comes off easy (like a bad burn).
They don't itch much and seem to be oozing
puss or water (also like a burn). They
don't even hurt that bad. Could this just
be infected razor burn (the infection
caused the node to swell maybe)?
Follictus? Jock itch? I don't think it is
herpes based on that I have been with my
current partner for a year and he has
never had any signs of herpes that I can
tell. And my other 2 previous partners
wore condems when we had intercourse and
one of them gets tested regulary for stds.
The outbrakes have only been there for
about a couple days and the swollen lymph
node only came yesterday. Putting
antibiotic ointment on the outbrakes seems
to be helping and taking ibuprofin seems
to be making my lymph node go back to
regular size. I am getting a pap test in a
few weeks but I would like any information
you can give me just to ease my mind.
Thanksss!
It doesn't seem likely that you have any
sexually transmitted disease. The swollen
lymph nodes in the groin are probably a
reaction (lymphadenitis) to an infection
of the hair follicles in the inner-upper
thigh. In the case of an ingrown hair,
infection is not the only concern. The
real problem is that the hair is not
growing up; rather, an ingrown hair grow
inside the skin acting as a foreign
object. What happens in cases of ingrown
hairs? Abnormal hair growth prompts a
local inflammatory reaction against the
hair and an additional bacterial infection
can occur. Antibiotics can help
temporarily if the hair stays in the skin.
You can visit a dermatologist to extract
hair from the skin, if necessary, and to
diagnose the condition after examination.
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