Staphylococcal Folliculitis And Genital Folliculitis

Staphylococcal folliculitis genital folliculitis

        If you are wondering what is folliculitis, the answer is obvious: it is an inflammation of the hair follicles, which is caused by several factors, such as infection, chemical irritation and physical injury.

       Due to its diversity of causes, folliculitis can come in a variety of shapes and forms: bacterial, fungal, viral and parasitic folliculitis. Out of the bacterial folliculitis, the staphylococcal folliculitis is one of the most feared ones. Also known as folliculitis decalvans, its pathogen agent is Staphylococcus aureus, a vicious bacterium that can lead to death if it pierces the hair follicle and enters the bloodstream.

       Folliculitis decalvans is developed by about 10% of those already diagnosed with any form of scarring alopecia. Its pathology indicates that it creates a nastier version of the normal folliculitis, destroying the entire hair follicle by generating an inflammation of the root of the hair, filled with pus.

       The progression of this staphylococcal folliculitis is rather gruesome and unstoppable: the tiny bags of pus, located right on top of a hair follicle, damage the rhythm of hair growth and, eventually, stops it completely. The macroscopic manifestations are easily identified: your scalp and every other part of your skin that has been affected by folliculitis decalvans is filled with a white crust, that tends to break every time you touch. You can remove the white coating, but it will not disappear. It will just grow all over again, larger and more obvious.

       This disease has no preference for either sex, affecting both of them in equal way. It makes its undesired appearance as early as the mid - teenage years. Staphylococcal folliculitis is a devious one: it comes and goes, fooling the sufferer that he or she is cured and needs no more treatment.

       Its manifestations seem restricted to the crown area, but, in some rarer and more serious cases, this condition will attack the beard, the face and nape of the neck. Until recently, this staphylococcal folliculitis was hard, if not impossible to cure or even to treat. The end result seem inevitable for almost all the patients: complete baldness and a permanent redness of the affected skin. However, some drugs have manifested a strong interaction with whatever causes this illness:

• Erythromycin, cephalosporins and trimethroprim are used to temporary control the development of this condition.
• Oral corticosteroids are used in severe cases, along side with prednisone and broad - spectrum antibiotics.
• Topical antibacterial agents are considered standard procedure by those specialists that believe that the cause of this kind of folliculitis is Staphylococcus Aureus.

       You have to keep in mind that every one of these treatment schemes has side effects. For example, the use of rifampin, an oral antibacterial agent, turns the color of your body liquids from clear or whitish to red.

Genital folliculitis

       From all the types of staphylococcal folliculitis out there, genital folliculitis receives a special mention for two main reasons: first and foremost, its location is certainly not comfortable for anyone, making it easier for pain to develop due to the more sensitive tissue of the groin area and secondly, the same tissue, permanently moist, makes it hard for topical antibiotic creams to fulfill their purposes.

       Also, because of the almost permanent covering of your groin area with different kinds of underwear, the bacterium is given both the humidity and the heat it needs to develop past its saprophytic nature and grow into a full blown genital folliculitis.

       You must remember, at all times, that even the slightest scratch in such a sensitive and vulnerable area is not a thing to be recommended, so you should stop yourself from rupturing the tiny pustules of pus. If you do so, then you must wash immediately, preferably with cold water (which can lead to a whole other set of problems, especially for women), so as to eliminate as much of the bacteria contained in the pus as possible. Choosing to ignore genital folliculitis is not a wise choice, since it can lead to some severe affections and even to impotency, frigidity and sterility.

       The treatment scheme for genital folliculitis rarely includes topical antibiotics, but most surely your dermatologist will prescribe your some oral antibiotics, such as erythromycin and cephalosporins.