Shaving, Fungus and Irritation

skylight35 · Newbie Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 10

Hi,

About a month ago I shaved myself clean. Figured what the hell, everybody's doing it? Then about a week or two later, I noticed a couple pimple-like bumps on my scrotum and penis. Painless and soft to the touch, I believed these to be infected hair follicles.

Then they got more numerous. I began to panic. I was tested for STD's last month after remaining abstinent for awhile and everything came back clear. Could this possibly be an STD?

To put my mind at ease I visited my doctor. He diagnosed it--Folliculitis. He prescribed antibiotics but it had no effect. I panicked even more.

I did my research on folliculitis, and found that there are actually a couple different strains of bacteria that causes it--one called Staph and the other Pseudomona auregosa; the latter of which is most commonly found in hot tubs, thus nick-named, "Hot tub folliculitis" Then it dawned on me. I had been in one hot tub twice that month. Can shaving and this bacteria have a double effect?

Then I began itching on my legs. Horrible, wake-up-in-your-sleep itching. I couldn't figure it out. I went to an allergest, I'm allergic to dust mites, ragweed and mold. I cleaned, vacuumed and shampooed my room spotless. Since then, the bumps spread from my scrotum to the tip of my penis. Now I was really scared.

I went back to my doctor. He said that I may in fact have both hot tub folliculitis AND a fungal infection. He said it would explain the itching and the rash on my thighs that had since developed.

I'm a skeptic, and the only thing that is going to nail this down for me is to know I'm not the only one out there suffering from something like this.

I guess my four questions are, is this some type of STD, and if so, what? Is this permanent, and if not, how long does it take to go away?? I am currently on Cipro and anti-fungal cream. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Miia · Gold Member Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Posts: 390

I have recurrent foliculitis problems. They always show up on my legs after vaxing, not to mention the groins. My groins look like a battle field from constant ingroings and picking. The thing is that I don’t get any inflamed hairs when I shave my legs but I hate to shave my legs because they become pretty sharp and dry.

I tried cold vaxing and that turned out to be a bit better, maybe because it is only one-time vax.

I almost never go to a doc but once I did after I had a breakout that lasted from over a week. My dermatologist gave me antibiotics that did no help. I had to stop vaxing, shaving for almost three months in order for them to grow out completely.

It’s certainly not an std, at least not in my case. I develop it on lower legs.

Shaving, Fungus and Irritation

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