Red, Sore bumps on my face but they don't come to a head like a pimple :(

It is not Rosacea. I have had a doctor look at it, many doctors actually, it is not Rosacea. I have the same thing that the others here at the post have. It is not constantly red, it comes and goes. This looks like pimples but is not. Please people stop posting that it is Rosacea. If anyone else has had this diagnosed please tell us what it is.

It may be Perioral Dermatitis

I am in the same boat, I have read everyone's posts and can relate to most of them. Soo far from what I can tell, these bumps are stress related which I can say is prolly true because I have been getting these recently and im under quite a bit of stress at the moment. I am a college student and prolly eat only once a day and its never really healthy. Malnutrition might be another factor to these bumps. I am going to break down what I have learned from these posts. DO NOT MESS with these bumps as in trying to pop them like zits or poking needles into them to get the fluid out. They may be ugle bumps on your face but I have messed with one and the bump eventually went away but the skin is still red around the area. I now have my second one on my forehead and I am going to just let this one take its course (even though its big and ugly and makes me self conscious) and hopefully it just goes away after a bit of time. Im kind of mad that this site (whoever runs it) hasnt come to an answer for us and just has us all gathering here knowing we arent alone and maybe a couple helpful tips on how to go about these. Its been 2 years since this has been started and there is no clear answer on what this is? or how to prevent them? or how to deal with them? I will report back here when the one on my forehead goes away and I will tell you how it goes. Hopefully somebody figures this out soon because I dont want scars and red marks on my face forever !

I get these very often, especially in times of stress and have been told by several GPs and derms that it is Impetigo. As it always returns in the same place (chin), I have been tested for Herpes 1 and it came back negative, which rules that out.
Squeezing or picking at them (which I do uncontrollably) will cause them to scab and look even more unsightly.
Tea tree oil helps me out, but your doctor should be able to prescribe some medication. In the past I have had Flucloxacillin antibitotics and Fucidin cream, both at different times as immunity develops to antibiotics. At some point I also had a disgusting pink liquid antibiotic, but it didn't help much and I don't remember it's name. Homeopathy treatment also worked, but it was at a time when my Impetigo was at it's worse and as a result I left it alone- so I'm unsure which remedied it.
Right now I have 3 on my chin, and unusually, one on my cheek as well. I am treating them with tea tree oil at present but should they persist I am going to get a course of antibiotics.
Obviously this is just my case, and I'm sure similar conditions exist with the same symptoms, so it's always better to go see your GP or go to a dermatology clinic.

Its from shaving I think man.
Iv one now and its the only logical thing I can think of.

This is my second post on here and it's definitely not rosea, I too notice that when stress is present I seem to develop
More. And I too, have recently bought the body shop brands tea tree oil, and over the period of 2.5 weeks I have noticed that I haven't had as many of these monsterous zits! I think that most people who suffer from these spots will agree that it is hard to explain the exact symptoms and the way they form ect. But like I said teatree is a huge help, I'm using it in the Morning and night after cleansing, and I'd be glad of any tips anyone has to offer to help, :-) as for going to my go, he can't diagnose a cold let alone something like this! I'd defintely agree with the above person dismissing herpes and impetigo, as a girl I work with has herpes and is on medication, and her impefctions and completely different to ours. X

Okay, last..I wanna say August I replied to this thread and every now and then I get a "topic reply notification" I used to out of curiosity click the link to see if anyone has come to a conclusion yet..but it seemed to be the case stated above~I would skim...see that some responses were of those that misunderstood what the question at hand was~but I understand. I concurr with the exact problem you are identfying. Because it evebtually went away, my curiosity only lasted so long as I got back to life and enjoyed the fact that I wasn't dealing with it anymore. Until recently. I started to think that I was having another case of stubborn acne (after having a phase of perfect skin for so long) I thought I would bounce back no problem. I upped my facial cleansing with Proactive routine~not on thouruoghly~but excesively~and still~no head(no pun intended) It wasn't untill I finally broke down and was going to cheat and pop them myself, scrub the open pore with alcohol, put a face mask on and call it day that I realized...it can't be popped. I guess it's not poppable I thought to myself, but soon enough..it will be. Days turned to weels as the grim reality set in and the long lost memory of this thread started to surface in mind. As of last night I came to a shocking realization and decision. It was back. It was back and I'm going to find this thread and share what I learned that now I must reaplly and while I'm at it share with others. Strangely enough as I open my computer to sit down and type this response, I didn't look far~nature has a funny way of sending hits because at the top of my email~a "topic reply notification" What a strange coincidence I thought. Upon viewing the latest response I empathise as this too was my frustration. I've come to conclue one of two high probabilities. 1.) I might have put something on my face in August that is the same product I applied to my face recently. What coould that be? An extreme tingle tanner (not intended for your face but I sometimes lightly blot for an extra boost of color so my face isn't pale in contrast to the rest of my body. 2.)MOST likely of the two isn't good news. I believe that this is an undiagnosed condition brought on by SEVERE stress. I'm talking an EXTREME amount of stress that FAR supercedes a "bad day" and consistantly at that. When you internalize this stress and appear to the outside world you are handling your troubles with a firm head on your shoulders you are reaking havock on your body and mind to supress what you cannot share with others~or abnormal amounts of extreme pressure/responsibiliies/or fear of survival pushes your bodie to produce hormones to aid in your plight and throughs off the natural body chemistry. There is NO quick fix. The fact that these "pimples" appear in the SAME place...almost like a cold sore on your skin...makes me believe that this is a dormant condition activated BY these stressors. For me..they appear around my mouth~but no where near my lip mind you (for those who want to suggest herpes or cold sores~they are not) I even have a spot high on my cheek in line with my ear that persists the same as around my mouth (and sometimes nose). It could be a medical mystery that if not made enough noise about will be shuffled under the rug or misinterpreted as something it clearly is not. You cannot mistake what a pimple looks like. Now imgaine a pimple that does not go away~nor can be popped~and in specific patterns and places. If this happens to you more than once you have to ask yourself~what rae the similliar variable between the two time frames. Make a note and stick it somewhere you can easily find again (say one of your email folders) so that a yr later or whenever you can compare the similliar situations. This information may need to be raised to a higher level for evaluation and could be potentially a new "disease" One you would not know you had untill certain environmental or physiological stressors provoke it. Like momo and herpes they say lie dormant in your body forever and that when your immune system suffers or you are STRESSED it can cause a flare up. This could be something LIKE that. Because I have pictures of my face back then and they are the exact-same -spots! Now THAT is curious indeed! Hope I haven't stressed you out further but that is just my interpretation and I'd rather someone give it to me straight. For me it eventually went away...but only when my problems became less of entaglement and I was able to juggle my complications with a little more functionality. It's kind of like the stages of grief. There are stages of stress. And "accepting" your stressors instead of the anger and denial that may be associated with them could be the first step towards your skin irritant solution. Best wishes and goodluck!

Okay, last..I wanna say August I replied to this thread and every now and then I get a "topic reply notification" I used to out of curiosity click the link to see if anyone has come to a conclusion yet..but it seemed to be the case stated above~I would skim...see that some responses were of those that misunderstood what the question at hand was~but I understand. I concurr with the exact problem you are identfying. Because it eventually went away, my curiosity only lasted so long as I got back to life and enjoyed the fact that I wasn't dealing with it anymore. Until recently. I started to think that I was having another case of stubborn acne (after having perfect skin for so long) I thought I would bounce back no problem. I upped my facial cleansing with Proactive routine~not only thouruoghly~but excesively~and still~no headway(no pun intended) It wasn't untill I finally broke down and was going to cheat and pop them myself, scrub the open pore with alcohol, put a face mask on and call it day that I realized...it can't be popped. I guess it's not poppable I thought to myself, but soon enough..it will be. Days turned to weeks as the grim reality set in and the long lost memory of this thread started to surface in mind. As of last night I came to a shocking realization and decision. It was back. It was back and I'm going to find this thread and share what I learned that now I must reaplly and while I'm at it share with others. Strangely enough as I open my computer to sit down and type this response, I didn't look far~nature has a funny way of sending hints because at the top of my email~a "topic reply notification" What a strange coincidence I thought. Upon viewing the latest response I empathise as this too was my frustration. I've come to conclude one of two high probabilities. 1.) I might have put something on my face in August that is the same product I applied to my face recently. What coould that be? An extreme tingle tanner (not intended for your face but I sometimes lightly blot for an extra boost of color so my face isn't pale in contrast to the rest of my body. 2.)MOST likely of the two isn't good news. I believe that this is an undiagnosed condition brought on by SEVERE stress. I'm talking an EXTREME amount of stress that FAR supercedes a "bad day" and consistantly at that. When you internalize this stress and appear to the outside world you are handling your troubles with a firm head on your shoulders you are reaking havock on your body and mind to supress what you cannot share with others~like abnormal amounts of extreme pressure/responsibiliies/or fear of survival pushes your body to produce hormones to aid in your plight and throws off the natural body chemistry. There is NO quick fix. The fact that these "pimples" appear in the SAME place...almost like a cold sore on your skin...makes me believe that this is a dormant condition activated BY these stressors. For me..they appear around my mouth~but no where near my lip mind you (for those who want to suggest herpes or cold sores~they are not) I even have a spot high on my cheek in line with my ear that persists the same as around my mouth (and sometimes nose). It could be a medical mystery that if not made enough noise about will be shuffled under the rug or misinterpreted as something it clearly is not. You cannot mistake what a pimple looks like. Now imgaine a pimple that does not go away~nor can be popped~and in specific patterns and places. If this happens to you more than once you have to ask yourself~what are the similliar variables between the two time frames. Make a note and stick it somewhere you can easily find again (say one of your email folders) so that a yr later or whenever you can compare the similliar situations. This information may need to be raised to a higher level for evaluation and could be potentially a new "disease" One you would not know you had untill certain environmental or physiological stressors provoke it. Like mono and herpes they say lie dormant in your body forever and that when your immune system suffers or you are STRESSED it can cause a flare up. This could be something LIKE that. Because I have pictures of my face back then and they are the exact-same -spots! Now THAT is curious indeed! Hope I haven't stressed you out further but that is just my interpretation and I'd rather someone give it to me straight. For me it eventually went away...but only when my problems became less of an entaglement and I was able to juggle my complications with a little more functionality. It's kind of like the stages of grief. There are stages of stress. And "accepting" your stressors instead of the anger and denial that may be associated with them could be the first step towards your skin irritant solution. Best wishes and goodluck!

I'm 29. I'm a healthy guy in good shape. I do have bad allergies to pollen. I've never had any skin problems growing up, except a couple years ago I started getting dandruff. Head and Shoulders helped for a bit, then it seemed to stop working so I switched to Selsun Blue which worked for a bit. Then after a little bit that seemed to stop working, so I just keep switching to new shampoos.

I started getting this redness and bump thing on my face a few months ago around late October when the weather got cold. During the winter, my skin gets really dry, so I start using a natural moisturizer daily in the morning. The condition started with mostly just redness, itchiness, and a couple bumps around the sides of my nose and on my chin. I did a bit of a search online and decided that it was probably Perioral Dermatitis. I'm a guy, and 90% of Perioral Dermatitis sufferers are women. But the symptoms seemed to fit and the condition can be caused by an overuse of facial creams such as heavy moisturizers. The moisturizer I use is not heavy, but I cut out the moisturizer and started cleaning my face constantly. The problem didn't go away even after a few weeks.

In December, the redness and itchiness started around my eyebrows too as well as my scalp, neck, the part of my face where a beard would grow (if I had one), and center of my chest. The bumps would sometimes get a bit dry and flake especially on my scalp, eyebrows and side of my nose. It was very minor. All it took was a thorough picking in the morning before work to get rid of the flakes. The redness and bumps remained though. Sometimes it would get a little better or seem to go away almost entirely.

The past few weeks, I have been going through a lot of life changes. I am basically getting kicked out of my house. So I had to find a new place to live and am in the process of a very stressful move. I haven't been eating as healthy as I usually do. I've been eating less fruits and vegetables and more fast food. A couple days ago, I totally broke out with these bump things. They are all over my scalp, neck, the part of my face where a beard would grow, etc and they are more itchy than they've ever been. They burn. I was getting very freaked out which seemed to make them burn even more.

Today it was so bad that I called in sick. I've been doing more research. And voila: Seborrheic Dermatitis. I'm almost 100% sure that is what I have. It can be caused/worsened by stress, a bad diet high in fats and sugars, a weakened immune system, increased alcohol consumption...all sorts of stuff I've been doing lately. It is definitely stress related. Thinking back to when I first started getting it on my face in October, that's when all of my problems at home first really started and have been getting worse since. Some of the more severe cases of it are really disgusting and nothing at all like what I have. But the less severe cases look just like mine. I even came across a couple Youtube videos of people showing what their Seborrheic Dermatitis looked like and what they were doing to treat it.

There is no cure. It is something that can come and go for the rest of your life. However there are several recommended treatments that can help ease symptoms. Most people recommend getting a dandruff shampoo and lathering your entire scalp, face, and body and letting it sit there for 5 minutes. Most recommend starting with Nizoral and then possibly switching shampoos each month or when they seem to stop working. Most recommend diet changes to include more vitamins, vegetables, less fat, and less sugar. Most recommend stress reduction techniques. Some recommend using something like cortizone with aloe on your face. Some recommend other herbal creams and oils. People that seem to have the best results use a combination of many of these things.

I'm starting off with a combination of Nizoral and cortizone with aloe. I will also be watching what I eat, taking vitamins, and trying not to be so stressed out (but one is a little tough right now). We'll see how it goes.

I'm not entirely counting out the theory that it's some unknown condition that more and more people are getting all of a sudden. But we'll see...

These could be due to some allergies.

I have had allergies all my life to many things (pollens, chicken, wheat, walnuts, tmatoes, rice, maize, dairy and so many others)

I also had very good skin. Till I stopped taking dairy (and all dairy products, cookies, chocolates, cream, milk, ice cream etc) due to weight issues. Then after 1 year when my weight was in acceptabel range, i restarted taking dairy, and I broke out as if someone had infected my face. Since then i have had these breakouts. So stopped taking all dairy completely and other things I was allergic to. Then 10 years later, i decided to try and take everything - had very bad breakouts initially and then it went away.

Another 4 years later, when I was interning in Chicago area, i started eating in Chipotle. I had these huge red painful bumps around my chin, jawline, and back. Took lots of medicines from dermatologist. After going back to school these automatically disappeared. I found that they probably use beef and that is what I react to.

Now, I still react to beef related food. And also walnuts. Today I am getting these bumps again on my jawline, and that is because I am trying to eat walnuts every day (they are soooo good for health). These are high, painful and red, but go away after I stop taking walnuts. But I am trying to get my body accostumed to walnuts (dont know it might not work). I have also observed that these breakouts flare up when I have high stress (have a 3.5 year old who is sick almost weekly, and work at motorola's crazy bureaucratic environment, and husband is almost always out of town, and no family in USA).

So yes, it could be related to some form of food allergy. Initially when I used to go to the doctors 15 years back, they used to laugh and say breakouts due to alergies ????

But this is my observation (reproducible and replicable) and I am sure even if I cannot prove it scientifically since I do not work at a Bio lab, some day they will come up with acne due to food allergies.

Good luck!

Okay Im kinda going through the same thing for the past 2 years now every so offten I get little red bumps on the end of my nose. At first they kinda burn and are really sore, well it just gets worse over time, and it kinda looks like dry skin, it always forms in the same place! I have no clue what this is and why it keeps popping up!It hurts so badly though! It looks like Im going to have to go to the doctor and get it checked out! Ive never had trouble out of acne a pimple here and there but nothing serious! I know this isnt acne it never forms a head, and the bumps are right together after time it always gets worse and sorer then it will go away! Ive tried everything washing my face good doesnt seem to help, Its like a skin burn or something! Im so worried that the doctor wont be able to tell me what it is or whats causing the problem, Ive tried every skin care product thier is I think! Anyone got any advice?

Hi guys - I also suffer from these red, sore bumps with no head, which usually scab and then peel. I've had them on my forehead, chin, cheeks and i have one right now beside my eye - I haven't been able to resist squeezing it, so i know it will be around for the next week at least. I think some of you had discussed and discounted rosacea, but after reading the following I am fairly certain its what I have:

Rosacea consists mostly of small red bumps that are not "squeezable" or extractable like blackheads. Squeezing a rosacea pimple usually causes a scant amount of clear liquid to expel. Unlike traditional acne where professional extractions can help remove whiteheads and blackheads, squeezing or extracting rosacea bumps does not help improve the rosacea. People with rosacea tend to have a rosy or pink color to their skin as opposed to acne patients whose skin is usually less red.

Rosacea strikes both sexes and potentially all ages. It tends to be more frequent in women but more severe in men. It is very uncommon in children, and it is very infrequently seen in darker skin tones or black skin.

This ticks all the boxes for me - i've always blushed/flushed easily, am white, of Scottish backgoround (back three generations ago). The clear liquid thing fits as well. I'm pretty convinced. Anyway, hope it helps some of you...

i have an  irritated patch on my chin with redness and smal hard white bumps.  I have been using my grandmothers diprosone chream(steriod based i think) and it is the only thing that helps..  but if i don't use it every day or every second day then it gets itchy and starts forming blisters..  weird, but i don't suggest anything acidic like lemon juice or baking soda as it will damage already stressed skin..  i'm going to the doctor on monday, you should to

Guest wrote:

Oh wow.  That is EXACTLY what's happening to me!  I've always had clear skin, in fact it's one of the only features of my body that I'm proud of.  And now I keep getting these stupid things on the right side of my face, right between my lower lip and my jawbone.  The first time I got one I tried popping it and it only made it WORSE!  When I woke up the next day it was swollen even more and hurting really bad!  I left it alone and it eventually went away, but it left this red mark or "blemish" on my face.  Not too long after, here it came again, in the same area as before, just in a different spot, very close to where the first one was.  Again, I left it alone and it went away, but left a blemish.  Now it's back for like the fourth or fifth time, and I've tried everything.  I use my daily pore cleanser, hot compresses, and even tried popping it with a needle... but I'm a wimp and couldn't bring myself to stick the needle far enough into my skin. 

I had surgery back in December to have an abscess removed on my lower back, and it seems like this started just after my surgery.  I'm wondering if what we're all experiencing are abscesses.  If so, the only way I know of to make it go away is for it to drain... but I certainly don't want to go through surgery again!  Anybody with tips PLEASE help me out!

I have experienced this as well.  It does go away after a week or so.  Since it is a large build up of puss, a way to make it less noticeable is to put hot water on it for extended time like when you shower.  The hot water will create a better way for the blood to move the puss out and will make it disappear within a couple days.