So my questions are
what is it?
what do i have to do to make it go away?
So yeah, thanks for your help. I thought i'd ask a health site before i went to the doctor (that would be extremely embaressing).
This poster describes a "bump" in the pubic area that initially seemed like a "giant pimple". He got worried when he noticed that blood was oozing from the area after "popping" the offending area of skin, after pus first left the building. Embarrassed to have a skin lesion in the groin area, or perhaps embarrassed to show his groin area to his doctor altogether, the poster thought he'd ask for advice from the SteadyHealth community before seeking medical attention.
Discussion highlights
Questions
Questions from people with pimple-like skin lesions in the groin area mainly wanted to know what can cause them and what can be done to clear them up:
- I have so many right now I wish someone would find a solution.
- So my questions arewhat is it?
- what do i have to do to make it go away?
- This is my 2cond time having a big bump on my pubic area wat habe i done wrong im only thirteen s i plz tell me its not a std
- So, I can't figure out what this is because it's close to my bikini line and it's only one, not a collection of disgusting bump pimple things.
- i also am sexually active, so if that helps narrows anything down any information or advice would be helpful and greatly appreciated!
- any idea?
- i'm kind of freaked out right now and wondering if it's some kind of STD or something.
- my girlfriend might have diabetes as she sometimes get allergy from too much of sugary staff if that makes difference, is this thing transferrable?
- i have the same problem but i was able to squeeze mine and white puss came out actually it was pretty dry and now im just paranoid about an std :-(
- So I'm guessing it's safe for me to just think it's basically a cyst or an infected ingrown hair or whatever?
- and if I got one does that mean i am diabetic?
- So not shaving would be makes them go away?
- Kind of personal but do u shave ?
- I have the same thing can any one help me with that?
- I've got the same thing today I wanna know if I should pop it or not
- I'm having the exact same issue and looking for answers
- You can leave it alone or use witch hazel.
- this might be molluscum contagiosum?
- I have the same thing occasionally and it's caused for me anyways sleeping with a pillow between my legs no issue maybe it will go away on its own?
- I’m a girl and I have it too have u found out what it is yet?
Symptoms
Pimple-like phenomena in the pubic area were described in detail:
- I get big lumps in bikini area that are painful.
- but when i popped it the puss that came out was a dark yellow and it hasn't bruised or anything
- Its horrible, it hurts and I am a picker.
- They hurt so badly, I first had them on my bottom then between my breasts, now on my underarms and pubic area.
- I have had these for years and I know how unpleasent they can be.
- I have had these types of cysts for the past five years or so.
- Have one of these hard painful nodule things.
- I have had the same thing where it was hurting so bad and I dexised to a have bath and put the stream on water on it.
- It killed but I squeezed it and yellow pus squrted out along with a little bit of blood.
- I have gotten ingrown hairs before, but this is different.
- Noticed it about three days ago- more cyst like, but hard.
- it's like a ball beneath the skin.
- It shrunk in size after it popped but it's still pretty big and now it's bruised.
- I think I know what it is, it's a 'boil.' I had that once on my inner thigh, very painful.
- I had a large (slightly bigger than a quarter in diameter) raised lump about a half inch above the base of my penis that got harder and harder every day and became more irritated looking every day.
- It got to the point where my boxers and pants with a belt on top of it hurt too much and I couldn't make it through the day without going crazy.
- It finally developed a small white head so I put a needle over a flame to disinfect it then popped it and, like others, a bunch of puss and blood came out and it finally went away after a week or two of healing.
- This is my 2cond time having a big bump on my pubic area wat habe i done wrong im only thirteen s i plz tell me its not a std
- you should probably see a doctor to get some prescription ointment or something.
- Every so often i get these type if big bump under the pubic/under skin area on my vagina and then it turns into a big pimple and pus and blood comes out then it goes away and it is bruised it only hurts when i try to squeez it.
- I noticed this purple spot on my vagina and it was hard.
- i didn't know what it was because when I pressed on it, it was not soft, or feel like it was full of anything, just hard.
- But when I tried pressing the area together to see if anything would come out, it started to bleed and puss came out, not like zit popping white stuff, but clear puss and blood came out.
- it hurts especialy when i try to squeeze it.
- and today i squeezed it and puss came out.
- i kept squeezing it a few days after and was getting more puss out until eventually it was empty and it healed up, but it bruised after i first popped it.
- I have exactly same thing, i have quite number of white pimples in my pubic area.
What is it?
People had plenty of ideas as to what can cause pimples or things that look like pimples around the groin, too:
- IT IS NOT AN STD.
- your skin is probably sensitive to whatever you are usingit can be an ingrown hair , or infected.
- It's a cyst.
- It isn't technically a type of acne -- or at least it is different from the type of acne you get on your face because the infection is in the sweat glands and not the pores.
- The doctor told me that it could be hidradenitis supportiva, but he wasn't certain.
- Instead, I think it is just a bad case of cellulitis.
- You may have a condition known as hydradenitis suppurativa.
- Yes , it's most like due to bad shaving ( ingrown hair).
- Also if you are all shaved , your skin is more exposed and vulnerable , so be even more hygenic when you are on your periods , especially if you have a heavy flow ** good luck ladies
- These pimples may be due to some bacteria infections also.Try to apply neem leaves juice at night before sleep within a week you can see the change.
- Check out sites on Hidradenitis Supprativa, I have the same thing in the pubic area and arm pits
- It might be a sebacious cyst.
- This could be an ingrown hair that has become infected or it could be a cyst.
- If you shave in that region, I would guess an ingrown hair.
- Apparently it is just a type of Cystic Acne, or an infected hair follicle.
- almost all of you have ingrown hairs.
- its from shaving, you have to get anti-biotics for it.
- its because you cut the hair the wrong way and its now an ingrown hair.
- I have no idea how to express how absolutely RELIEVED I am that this seems to be fairly common!
What to do?
There were — and quite rightly, too — more than a few suggestions for people with pimples in their pubic region to get themselves checked out by a doctor, but some other advice also showed up:
- Just contact your doctor and see what he says, i would really recommend getting the sack out by numbing injection and all that, it usually does not come back and it doesn't really leave a scar.
- If it's not cysts and it's acne, take accutane.
- If I don't use the right soap they come back.
- but you should get regularly checked anyways.
- If it is infected you should your doctor.
- they should prescribe you for some Amoxcillin to make it go away within 10 days
- Try to keep your private area as clean as possible!
- If you feel even a little sick, go immediately to the hospital!
- Check your sexual partners privates before having sex!
- But if one still happens wait until the skin over the top is thin enuf to lance (with a pin) and GENTLY press.
- Its gross I know but leaving them or pressing too soon will cause more problems.
- Press too soon and it will not pop and it will get bigger fast!
- So if it does not pop/drain easy leave it alone for a few more days!
- Any doubt, go to the doctors!
- And suck it up as far as your embarassment!
- I would suggest simply icing it and trying to not wear any clothes that will put a lot of pressure on it.
- The bad news is that ther is no cure and no agreed treatment but you may benefit from applying topical nticiotics when you get flareups (benzoyl peroxide for example) and also avoiding tight clothing that might irritate the infection.
- Black salves are amazing and so much better and effective than prescription medications.
- Just keep area clean, leave it alone and it will go away.
- I don't know if/how you remove your pubic hair but i shave and i just improve my technique.
- Also do shower with a good vaginal soap like vagisil , because when your hair is regrowing , your skin rubbing against your clothes might also so cause that ( plus sweat , heat etc.
- shower first and let hot water pour on you a good ten minute before starting your shaving .
- I use soap and babyoil to shave my pubic area, i get a better shave and no ingrown hair issue.
- but when i did get those painful pimple , I constanly ran warm water on it , for it to become softer sooner and the pus to come out faster .
- Then once it popped out I just rinsed the area with warm water again and then shower with vagisil.
- Also if you are all shaved , your skin is more exposed and vulnerable , so be even more hygenic when you are on your periods , especially if you have a heavy flow ** good luck ladies
- Don't try to pop it, it may lead to spars in the place and may look awkward.
- These pimples may be due to some bacteria infections also.Try to apply neem leaves juice at night before sleep within a week you can see the change.
- Put some antibiotic cream on it for a few days, and then this morning, put another hot compress on it (not from the tap hot, boiling water hot- pour some in a cup and put in a washcloth, then when it's cooled of enough to handle, wring out and apply).
- Anytime you have something like this, I think it's probably always a good idea to apply a hot compress and let nature take it's course- which it will!
- They lanced it out but I felt so much better whatever you do NEVER lance it yourself you can cause an infection and you be in big trouble.
- It's probably not the best idea to squeeze it.
- Keep the area clean and hopefully it should go away.
- Popping it was such a relief because I was starting to get worried without any head developing to tell me it was a spider bite / some kind of pimple / ingrown hair.
- Check out sites on Hidradenitis Supprativa, I have the same thing in the pubic area and arm pits
- However, if whatever you have has become infected because you picked at it.
- If it does not clear up within a few days, becomes very painful, or becomes a reoccuring event, see a doctor to receive treatment.
- I know that these heal without u touching them but it takes months for them to go away completely.
- the best way to get rid of them is leave them be and they should eventually heal without scarring.
- SO please have this checked out.
The SteadyHealth team reacts
What was wrong?
The person who posted the question described his problem as a "giant pimple" that felt like a bump just below the skin and that emitted a fair amount of pus when he popped it. Going by his words, we think he was most likely dealing with a boil, an infection surrounding a hair follicle often caused by Staphylococcus aureus, when he posted his question. Boils most often show up in sweaty areas covered by a lot of hair, the groin being a prime example — and they do indeed look like giant, angry, pimples.
The good news? Boils usually go away by themselves within two weeks. You can send them packing faster if you place hot compresses on the area a few times a day, but even if you don't, nothing bad typically happens if you don't see a doctor. Some people suffer from recurring boils, develop a fever, suffer from large clusters of boils (a carbuncle), find the boil doesn't go away within a few weeks, or just feel generally ill. Those are some of the signs it's time to ask for antibiotics for boils.
This is probably the right place to mention that popping boils isn't generally a good idea — it can cause the infection to spread. Even if you do pop a boil, however, it's quite unlikely that anything serious will happen to you.
We said the poster probably had a boil because he said his "pimple" was "giant", he appeared to have only one, and pus emerged from the site. He could also have been suffering from folliculitis, a smaller-scale infection that looks very similar but not as big. Also called barber's itch or razor bumps, this phenomenon is — as many posters commented — often caused by improper shaving techniques or wearing tight, often synthetic, clothing when found in the groin area. The best thing to do is to stop shaving for a while and to switch to roomier cotton undies.
Skin lesions in the groin: Other causes
Since skin lesions in the groin area are quite worrisome as well as very common, we should also take a look at other possible causes. They include sexually transmitted diseases:
- Genital herpes. Google Image it if you're brave enough — and actually, that's generally quite a good way to rule different kinds of skin lesions in or out. Genital herpes, unsurprisingly, resembles a cold sore quite a bit more than it does acne. The blisters that can form are more likely to emerge in clusters than on their own, but they do contain a yellow fluid that resembles pus.
- Genital warts look like anything from cauliflower-like proliferation of excess skin to protruding, rounded-off, moles. They will not contain any kind of pus, and cannot be "popped".
- Syphilis is a frightening sexually transmitted disease that should be taken very seriously. A single sore often shows up in the genital area shortly after infection, and this sore is usually hard and round but not painful.
Non-sexually transmitted causes of skin lesions in the genital region include:
- Molluscum contagiosum, a viral infection, was mentioned on the thread. It leads to multiple small lesions with a yellow center, but they can appear anywhere on the body.
- Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic skin disease that initially looks a lot like very angry and severe acne but that can also lead to extensive scarring. It most commonly appears in the armpits and groin.
- Psoriasis is another chronic skin condition that can cause red and scaly patches on pretty much any part of the body.
- Eczema causes dry, itchy skin that can ooze fluids when scratched.
- Jock itch is a fungal infection of the groin area that often occurs in athletes.
The take-home message
Not all genital skin lesions necessarily require medical attention — if you shave your pubic hair or wear tight, synthetic, undies, folliculitis is almost bound to strike you at one point or another, and it usually goes away if you just leave it alone. Boils, too, often get better without a doctor's involvement.
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