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The below is a forum entry made by one of our community members. If you want to know more about your condition, we suggest you read the following article written by a mental health professional on
Picking Scabs
White Stretchy Plugs
I've always squeezed bumps and blemishes on my skin, but recently I've gone through a period of work-related stress. I was off work for 2 months, during which time my picking and squeezing got worse. I had lots of blemishes on my chest which I squeezed and picked until I had a few nasty little wounds. One of them became quite deep, and I discovered that when I picked the scab off there were a few little white pinhead shapes under it, in the wound. They were screaming out to me to be picked out, but I couldn't do it by hand - I had to use tweezers. Sometimes I found I would need a wool needle to ease the white thing out a bit before the tweezers could get hold of them. When I pulled, a white elasticy thing would stretch and then come out. It was about 2mm long. It was VERY satisfying to pull it out, so I looked for some more in my skin. This made my picking worse, and I now find I am thinking of it quite a lot of the day. I am longing to pull more stretchy white things out of my skin. I put up with quite a bit of discomfort and pain just to get the satisfaction of pulling out these stretchy white plugs. To heal my wounds I use Savlon antiseptic liquid, and they begin to dry up quite quickly. But this is the most tempting time to pick - the scab becomes very crusty and itchy, and I see little white bumps underneath which could be those white plugs I long to pull out. They are itchy and I am dying to pull them out!
I’m glad I found this forum for I have the exact same problem. I’ve been trying corticoids, antibiotics, antifungal,... nothing works. The lesion would start as a “pimple”, after pressing it would become an open sore, releasing some transparent liquid. In the center of this lesion there’s this white stretchy plug, pretty deep, that won’t come off easily. After taking it off with tweezers, it would bleed and then heal. Sometimes there are no plugs though. Did anyone try laser treatment? Any info helps. Thanks!
Yah man. I am alive! Petroleum Jelly! Please try this. It is the side effect of the meds ..... Fucidin, Lamisil and Hydrocortisone. Each of these meds cause burning and itching. I saw a second dermatologist a few weeks ago. He prescribed more Cortisone - fool. I have used petroleum jelly now for two weeks and I am healed! Oh - Thank you! We are among the few who react badly to skin medication. Vaseline is your answer. Okay - Just some guy - over and out. :-)
Vaseline isnt an answer...one dermatologist suggested it, and I ended up in a hell worse situation of more blocked pores and certainly NO healing. .
Ah! Okay snipzie. Rats. It has worked for me. I googled how to treat a burn. I wish there was an easy answer for all of this. Sigh.
I have been taking 150,000 ui vitamin D a week for 4 months. I had these all over my body for years. I do not have a single one left now. I tried all the bandaid routes including vasaline, poroxide, tea tree oil etc.... Every cream out there... Including accutane (which cleared my acne but not these different plug leisions. I believe its an allergy caused by low vitamin D. When you are low or deficient (as in my case) you develop allergies. I developed many oral allergies (which were the obvious ones) to many types of fruits. With the vitamin D supplementation i am no longer allergic to these fruits and my skin is clear. My sons dermatologist says every single person in canada needs to supplement every single day. Yet, they think this is common knowledge and as serious as it is.. It is not. Most people i know do not. That is not to say every person who is difficient has the same allergies either. If you have tried everything to no avail please try high doses of vitamin D. You cannot overdose and Dr's will tell you this. Seriously, i struggled for many many years before i found this cure from the source. Bandaid solutions only work temporarily.
@Anne84
Yes, this is exactly how they start. And as far as Lazer treatment - it is not safe to use on open wounds/scabs because of the risk of spreading infection.
Many Thanks GillCo. Will start on high does of Vitamin D :-)
Hmm - I think I have stumbled across something. Please search Malassezia folliculitis. Treatment with topical azole antifungal agents may be effective, but oral therapy with itraconazole is often necessary and results in rapid improvement. They diagnosed me with Morgellons - I am not crazy!
I was wondering how things were going for you. Morgellons isn't Malassezia folliculitis. I was on fluconazole twice and nary a change in my skin. Who diagnosed you with Morgellons? What is your treatment? Thanks for coming back with an update.
Hello Snipzie :-) The second dermatologist I saw - in October. He prescribed another steroid. I met with my family doctor in December. We reviewed the dermatologist diagnosis of me. It was in the dermatologist report where he mentions Morgellon. My "wound" had been healing when I saw my family doctor. I was using only petroleum jelly at that point - gave up on the steroid. My infection has been troubling me again these past six weeks again. Yesterday, I saw about Malassezia. Went to the pharmacy here and picked up an oral yeast infection tablet and dandruff shampoo. I will have to get the brand names. All - over the counter in Canada. The articles I have read about Malassezia all make sense. Antibiotics and penicillin only make this infection worse. Antifungals don't work. Malassezia is always missed - not diagnosed - produce our "plugs". I know it is early for a report from me yet - but I think this is it. (Maybe - lol) I just want to help everyone find relief from this terrible infliction.
Pretty sure the oral med is itraconazole. I am applying a cream - Clotrimazole - and the Selsun Blue. The dandruff shampoo has 1% selenium sulfide
Hi...the biopsy would have shown Malassezia, wouldnt it? What exactly did the specialist state regarding Morgellons?
Looking forward to your updates :)
THIS IS HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS IMPETIGO!
Erythromycin 2% topical solution is what finally cleared it up for me. Tried literally everything else under the sun to no avail over the course of ~3 years. Not fungus, not demodex. In my case a shave biopsy showed gram-positive rods.
The oozing and white ‘plugs’ are indicative of impetigo/infection. Keep yourself and your living space clean—make sure handles, faucets, etc., are regularly sanitized, change your pillowcase daily, do laundry on high heat... research how to clean properly, so you’re not continuously re-infecting yourself. My favorite disinfectant is just very cheap vodka in a spray bottle.
But, I believe there’s a strong mental component to this as well, and anyone suffering should be cognizant of making the problem worse with picking. Whatever the culprit, digging around in your skin will only spread whatever irritates it and damage and inflame the skin. These sores will not heal if you’re actively picking, and suggestions on this board of the contrary—that these sores somehow require picking to heal—are disturbing.
I think it’s very important to realize that this problem is one with both mental and physical causes—and you’re never going to solve it unless you’re willing to address both. But do have hope that it can be remedied.
I don't think they tested for malazzezia Snipzie - would make sense to though. The results came back as normal staph bacteria. Not sure about impetigo Bookwormlee. Can't dismiss that. Totally agree about not picking and allowing the wound to heal. I am taking fluconazole. Two pills so far and I am improving. My wound has actually scabbed over this morning, hasn't done that in like forever. To be honest Snipzie, both my doctor and I dismissed Morgellons, I am not removing any fabrics, only the white stretchy plugs. He did not give me a copy of the dermatologist report. Might come in handy one day for my defence attorney for when I finally lose it - lol. We are not from "off planet". And, this can't be anything new. The professionals have treated me for bacterial, viral and fungal diseases. I can't wait the three months to see my doctor again. Oral Fluconazole (one pill every 3 days at $10.00 per pill), Selsun Blue application and a Clotrimazole cream is what I am following at the moment. I don't expect miracles overnight - will check back in, in a few days :-) (Thanks Snipzie)
I have struggled with this on and off for a couple of years having one major breakout which was when I joined this forum. Quite by accident I have found the solution. I have completely changed the way I eat and have moved over to a Ketogenic diet. My skin has completely cleared up in less than a month. My friends can’t believe the difference as my pores have shrunk back to their normal size and are no longer jam packed with dead cells, infection, inflammation and the dreaded demodex. If you want to discover the benefits of this diet for yourself watch “The magic pill”. And get your beautiful natural collection back. Good luck all.
Oh my Bikerchick - that is great news! You will be beating the guys off with a stick now - lol. Just want to congratulate you on your hard work. Cheers :-)
I would encourage everyone to look at these two sites please: https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/370396-tiny-white-plugs/ and: https://www.dermatologytimes.com/article/it-acne-or-pityrosporum-follic…. I have upped my intake of Fluconazole to once every evening. Four pills now in total. Using the selsun blue as a body wash. Applying the Clotrimazole four times daily. These sites I list say antibiotics, both oral and topical, only aggravate our condition. Other topical medications such as coconut oil and tea tree oil only provide the malazzezia yeast with more food. It explains why I found temporary relief with just using the drawing cream and petroleum jelly. I had taken away the irritants (antibiotic creams and steroids) but had not yet found the medicine to stop the plugs from forming. Please read what AussieScientist writes in the forum. One entry in that forum mentions suicide (Sigh). I have made an appointment with my family doctor. It is in six weeks. I am going to request a script for Fluconazole to prevent or quash any future outbreaks. I have two more Fluconazole pills which I will take tonight and tomorrow night. I had to come here, first thing this morning, as I can finally put my finger to my wound and there is no pain. I can move my mouth, and there is no pain. The wound is drying up with no visible plugs. Ha Ha! "Today is going to be the best day of my life" (I will come back in a week's time to provide an update - do your homework in the meantime) :-)
Thanks for the sites SG! Good to hear healing is happening. Looking forward to your update!
I discovered these white stretchy plugs were hair follicles that I was pulling out of my skin. So I guess I have a cross between dermatillamania and trichotillamania. This is a picture of what I pull out. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f1/86/99/f186996674b9bcac70db848f79a84a2…
I agree Plug Puller - these are infected follicles. You are not OCD! None of us are. Your picture is very similar to the ones posted in the other forum I mentioned earlier. It has been two weeks since I have been treating my infection as a yeast infection. I am definitely seeing improvement and having better days. I do not want to give any bad advice, nor cry wolf. I am going to continue with the oral fluconazole and apply Lamisil and petroleum jelly. I will be back again in a week with hopefully good news.