Folliculitis.
Why do we get Inflamed or Irritated hair follicles?
Why do we get Inflamed or Irritated hair follicles?
Folliculitis literally means “inflammation of the hair follicles” and is usually caused by infection or irritation from hair removal.
It’s often assumed that folliculitis equates to an infection. When infected, Staphylococcus bacteria is the usual cause. This bacteria is carried by many of us on the skin and at the front of the nose.
Folliculitis is most often caused by physical irritation to hair-bearing skin. Think of shaving, waxing and other methods of hair removal.
Folliculitis may be recurrent, severe and distressing. At the other end of the scale, many people have mild folliculitis that may be picked up for the first time by a skin cancer doctor. Most people with folliculitis do not have underlying medical problems although it may be associated with Type 2 diabetes, obesity, immunosuppression, and chronic antibiotic use.
Folliculitis is neatly divided into two types:
Let’s start by looking at folliculitis on hair-bearing areas. Compared to areas of skin without obvious hair, this is both more common and an easier diagnosis to make.
Look for multiple bumps each centred on a hair follicle. The bumps contain inflamed material. When infected, you’ll see whitish material leading to the name “pustules.” You may see a hair come from the middle of the bump. Multiple pustules each centered on a hair follicle is very typical of bacterial folliculitis.
In non-hairy areas it may be harder to know if you’re looking at an inflamed hair follicle, or something else like an insect bite.
The deeper the inflammation, the more pronounced the appearance – as you’d expect. A boil is the deepest type of folliculitis whilst superficial folliculitis may appear very subtle as you can see in the photos.
Look at the distribution of the folliculitis. There are characteristic types of folliculitis that occur in certain parts of the body:
Gallery of Folliculitis
Please click on the images for details.
What other infectious types of folliculitis are there?
There are other rare types of folliculitis.
Clearly, the treatment of folliculitis depends on the cause. Identify any relevant physical factors. For example, avoid tight fitting clothing, occlusive skin products and stop waxing for a while in the affected area. Shaving of the affected skin area should be avoided to let the area of folliculitis heal. For shaving on the face, it may help to use an electric razor, leave a bit of stubble, and shave in the direction of the hair (and not “against the grain.”)
Superficial infected folliculitis may be treated with antibiotic cream whilst deep folliculitis is usually treated with oral antibiotics.
What can I do about recurrent infectious folliculitis?
Recurrent folliculitis is often caused by recurrent staphylococcal infection (staph) that is carried on normal skin in-between flare-ups. There are different ways to eradicate staph:
Fascinating Facts about Folliculitis
Folliculitis is frequently misidentified as pimples or boils.