White Stretchy Plugs

Thinkingiwascrazy, you're not! My doctor (maybe the forth one I saw for this same issue?) basically said it was a cold sore. I get the same reoccurring sore on my chin that will not heal, probably every 3 months. I take 1 gram of Valacyclov-ir a day. Initially I was given Valacyclov-ir during a horrible breakout at a high dose (1gram 3x a day for 7 days, it made me very sick the first 3 days but worth it). They gave me a few options as far as medication....take something everyday, take something when you "feel an itch or tingle" of the sore coming (I do not get this, so the best preventative choice for myself was to just take something everyday), I think the last choice was an injection.

Hello Thinkingiwascrazy! I copied and pasted PlugPlague's post from page six. I received the same prescription. "The valacyclovir has helped a lot in finally healing the lesion I've had for almost 2 months. I was taking 1g 3x a day for 7 days, currently just 1g a day." I also took 1 gram, three times a day for seven days. Now I'm on the 1 gram per day for 21 days. A thirty day course. Day 12 for me. Feeling great again today! Amazing actually. Happy to have you aboard! Please let us know how you are making out as it will really help to get more confirmation about a treatment for us all. Go get 'em Tiger!

(Thanks PlugPlague) :-)

I have been treated for systic acne, demodex, KP, vulgar foliculitis over the last two years suffering from this life altering affliction. Nothing was ever a cure just a slight short lived improvement, then boom like clockwork back to reality. So many different pills, creams, when I had the answer sitting in my medicine cabinet from a familiar friend of HPV, its close cousin shingles. I called my doctors office today and I will see her on the 28th. The nurse practitioner was astonished and was so happy for me. I can’t wait to show her my progress. Now thinking of all these coincidences...I was diagnosed with HPV in 2002, which I get checked annually with my gynecologist, I also have had shingles, and I also have had psoriasis since I was 12 years old, which is an autoimmune disease in itself. All things that make this for sure what this is. Anyone suffering should at least try valvacycloir, it’s worth a try and could possibly save your time and money in the long run. To be honest I had read posts on another website where others stated it was warts and never put together that HPV is in the warts family. I am forever grateful for your posts and linking the two for me. I will post with update once I see the doctor. I am so excited and now I can finally plan for some laser treatments for some of my nasty scars! Never could before because I was always broke out some where

Shingles and HPV are entirely 2 different viruses....no relation whatsoever. I can see having HPV infection and pushing the immune system to sprout a shingles attack, tho. HPV is not related as being herpes regarding meds.

Well whatever it may be it’s on the mend and it’s a zoster of some sort which is related to shingles for sure. Valacyclovir is my answer to my two year struggle. I’m not a doctor or nurse of any sort.

I (vaguely) remember being diagnosed with a mild shingles outbreak when I was younger, sometime in my teens. It was one incident and no related problems since. I was not (and may still not be) convinced of the diagnosis of the sores to something HSV1 related, but the medicine works so what can I say? I'm so happy a few of you have also found relief with the antiviral! It took me YEARS and a countless amount of hours of my own research to finally find something that has been working. I brought a list of maybe 20 things I thought it could possibly be to my doctor and really had to become my own advocate until something was figured out. Still trying to rule out an autoimmune issue, such as discoid lupus.

Would your lesions scab and you have to peel off to get the plugs out to heal? That’s what I experienced and when pulling the scab off it sometimes would look like a bore strip with plugs attached? Sometimes not all would come up so the process would happen again until main thick one is out. I have to ask because when I went to both dermatologist they just said stop picking. They did not understand at all just told me ocd therapy could help my condition. There is satisfaction when you get those buggers out I have to admit but I haven’t messed with anything else since I’ve been healing. I have one left and it’s almost out and I can’t wait!

Good news and bad news my friends. Always like to hear bad news first. The Valtrex has not helped with my newest lesion. Yesterday, the burning was so intense, I removed more than a dozen infected hairs - hairs embedded, covered with a membrane of sorts. Tore the area up pretty good. Feels a heck of a lot better this morning. Looks like crap though. At least it is below the jawline. I had done the same thing with my original "wound" four weeks ago. That is the good news. The original wound is causing no issues. Perhaps for me, surgery is the only option. I can't discount that Valtrex has worked for PlugPlague and may work for you too Thinkingiwascrazy. My next step is a visit with my family doctor on November 3rd. He mentioned a referral to another dermatologist but honestly, I don't know if one can help. It may be an autoimmune issue. Still could be a herpes thing. I did have sex a couple of times - marriage puts an end to that - ha ha. Be positive! Still two weeks to go on Valtrex. Will check back soon. Sorry for the bad news. :-(

They would scab eventually, but I'd say it was not a normal scab...the slightest touch/wrong movement it would come. Sometimes plugs would come out, sometimes not. Doctors do not understand this thing literally will linger until the plugs are removed. I've picked at it, I've left it alone. There is no relief or real healing until what ever these plugs may be are physically removed. I do feel the plugs changed a bit...size/shape wise, and become more difficult to remove. They were perhaps deeper, or would break and not remove the "rooted" end. Absolute satisfaction but for me its like "fuck yes...I removed them all, now this thing will heal and close".

Just some guy, do you feel like your new spot is the same as the others? Are there usually hairs in your lesions? I'm wondering if its an additional issue or the same in regards to the white "plugs". I'm on board with the thought of it being an autoimmune issue. I originally thought maybe it was Discoid Lupus. I'd love to see a rheumatologist to rule that option out for myself. I have experienced a lot of things that have added up to me believing I may have an autoimmune issue. I honestly feel if it were HSV1 related, why have so many of us gone undiagnosed? It's such a common thing unlike an autoimmune issue which can be harder to diagnose and mistaken for many other things. Theses are the questions that keep me up at night. But I am happy to find relief in the antiviral and hope it continues to be some sort of relief. Maybe these new spot is just stubborn and more aggressive.

Thanks PlugPlague. I was thinking that - It isn't the "white plugs" that I had when this started. Those plugs would either come out in one piece or break. I am finding now, as I mentioned, these facial hairs. About as big as the font here with these words. They do not pull out like a normal hair would do. If I were to remove a hair from an uninfected area, it looks like a normal hair with a ball at the end. These hairs are buried below the skin surface and covered by a sheath of something transparent. Left there, they burn and are sensitive to touch. Removed, the pain is gone but they return. This new spot is exactly the same as the wound that is healing. I did look at Discoid Lupus but don't think this is what is causing my troubles. I really am healthy otherwise - a tad overweight but not much. I am a smoker and wonder if this may have something to do with it. On no medications. Get enough sleep and exercise. A strange thing indeed PlugPlague. Appreciate all your help and ideas!

The scabs on these tends to slough off in the shower or if wet. And yes, it can be like a biore strip if it is dry. I get very small ones lately but I am clear at the moment. I get both ones desvribed with a hair and a ball at the root (sometimes the plucked hair leaves behind the "plug/root") or a blemish on my face or neck that looks like a pimple and it's got the plugs in it. I find they take a while to go away if u dont pick the plugs out, however, I believe it creates more plugs in the process when picked. The best course of action is to not pick and wait for it to come up more. The last one I had was very small and finally came up like 2 months later and when it came out it went away. If it is bigger it needs to be covered and left alone (with an antibacterial ointment to keep it moist) and try not to change for a couple of days. Do not pick when replacing the bandage. Bottom line, if it's small dont touch; it will eventually come up to the surface (even though it takes forever). If its already a mess cover it and dont touch). These techniques have given me the best results. I feel like all meds do is help heal to a point and then nothing.

I too feel like this could be an autoimmune disorder. I read somewhere in this thread about EDS syndrome. It describes stretchy velvety skin, among many other symptoms I have.

Yah man - a quick update. Old wound is good, get the odd twinge, can say it is healed. New wound, not expanding, perhaps on the mend. Agree GillCo, keeping the area covered helps with the healing in my case too. Each time I think of what this may be, I always think it is something new, something yet to be diagnosed. 90 percent of all scientists are alive today, maybe we can find one. :-)

A question for GillCoe please - been reading back through this forum. You were on Accutane. Would you recommend it?

I would definitely recommend acutane. It's worth a shot (when nothing else works). It will get rid of most types of "acne." My son is just finishing up 11 months on it and it has changed his life. Also, it did for me as well. It shrinks your pores and helps rid of all cystic problems. However, it is not a cure all. The pictures I shared (earlier in this thread) were after acutane even the biggest one I had was after acutane (turned into an ulcer with strep A --had hundreds of plugs); yet my face is basically blemish free. That is also how I know these plugs are not the typical acne, they are different but they were hiding in my acne (it was diagnosed as papulopustular rosacea). That problem is 100% cured but somehow I still get these plugs from time to time. Since the big ulcer and Dr calling me crazy, I really try to moisturize and not touch them. No matter how bad I want to (that ulcer had what seemed like millions of plugsI kept trying to take out and the more I did it the more that would come) They start off small and itchy. If you dont scratch and destroy the top layers of skin it will stay small and eventually go away. This is the best advice I can give. If you scratch and open the skin you better cover it with ointment or it will grow. I left the bandaid on my ulcer for 10 days and it finally went away. I've battled these things for months not covered.

I wanted to also mention exfoliating. This is a huge deal. I scrub with ivory body wash with a shower puff and dry myself completely when I get out. (I didn't always... sometimes I would just put the towel on and do my hair) ... it is important to actually exfoliate the skin with the towel and DRY everywhere. Every crease and every part of your skin. It will remove any skin that wants to come off, thus, getting rid of any buildup of dead dry skin. It's important to do it while your skin is moist from the shower, and then after drying yourself and clearing off dead skin use moisturizer right away (for absorbancy).

Understood GillCo. I see my family doctor this afternoon. Appreciate your time. I think he will agree that Accutane will be worth a try. The only ointment I have found useful is petroleum jelly. Ok :-)

Just chiming in here after many months and 2 new punch biopsies. Well, I have answers. The initial plugs can very well be caused by something inflammatory (fungal, bacterial, autoimmune, etc.). But here’s the thing. If you’ve picked at these, or if you truly believe that the only way for these to heal is by pulling the plugs out... you without doubt have scarring and scar tissue. And the scar tissue can and will trap keratin/dead skin cells/oil beneath the surface and create a whole new round of plugs.

The scar tissue will not heal on its own. As long as you are picking at these and seeing a new doctor every other week for a new prescription, you will be in this cycle for YEARS. The cycle will not stop. You will never find something that ‘cures’ the lesions. You will live in this misery with open wounds for easily 5, 6, 7... who knows maybe even 10 years.

Here is the thing: you HAVE TO STOP PICKING. PICKING A WHITE ‘THING’ OUT IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO. YOU ARE CREATING PERMANENT SCAR TISSUE. If you picked a white thing out and there was blood, you 100% created scarring in the area.

Stop picking and stop rotating doctors. Find a medical dermatologist. Don’t pick. Don’t touch. Cut your fingernails. Cover mirrors. Stick with ONE doctor. If you truly have non-healing wounds, the doctor NEEDS to biopsy it. If you stick with the same doctor, and he/she sees that your wounds are suspicious, any good doctor will be eager to biopsy.

I believe people initially experience the plugs from something very real (maybe folliculitis or another infection). But when they pick and create scar tissue, what prolongs the cycle is not some mystery infection or condition, it’s the self-inflicted scar tissue and irritation.

Once you have the biopsy, you have answers. It might be something. It might be nothing. But I have some bad news for you folks. In two of the spots where I get recurring white plugs, the punch biopsies came back as literally just scar tissue.

Deep, scarred tissue. It creates a terrible cycle where new plugs re-emerge and you think you’re ‘helping’ the situation by pulling them out... but oh boy this is so, so not the case.

Be honest with yourself about how much you’re manipulating and irritating your wounds and skin. Going on Accutane is not the right move. Accutane creates so much irritation and sensitivity and, worst of all, will be for nothing. Accutane will not fix this issue.

But, the plugs are real. I don’t deny that. They’re simply keratin plugs. A gentle derm-approved keratolytic can help a lot with the inflammation/size of the plugs. I use De La Cruz Sulfur Ointment 2x/day for 10 minutes at a time on my ‘spots.’ It hugely reduces the size, redness and discomfort of the plugs. Another gentle keratolytic is salicylic acid. These won’t get rid of every single plug. But it should make them more tolerable and less noticeable and most importantly buy you time. Buy you time to reclaim your life by working on what is certainly at play here: an obsession. I saw a specialist for OCD, specifically skin picking, and I so regret not doing it sooner. The physical component can very much so be real, but it’s being taken advantage of by a mental component that is ultimately doing incredible harm and prolonging this terrible cycle you’re in.

Here’s a synopsis of my case: I had an initial fungal infection that I picked at. The picking creates a new round of infection and scarring. The wounds seemed to get better when I picked the plugs out, so I kept doing that. But I was only prolonging my own misery. I was creating tons of scar tissue that would wind up creating new plugs. Trying dozens of different topicals and never leaving the wounds alone meant my skin was incredibly inflamed and irritated 24/7. Not sticking with the same doctor and always presenting to doctors with irritated/manipulated wounds prolonged getting a biopsy that would provide actual answers. Now I just have tons of scarring and still so many plugs! But with a little bit of therapy and some sulfur ointment, they don’t bother me. So I’m able to continue with my doctor and the process of treating the scars and reclaiming my life.

I hope this will provide answers to some people. And I pray to God you’re able to overcome the ‘obsession’ that has you thinking you have some undiscovered condition or that physically excoriating an open wound somehow helps it. Please stop. Please. The longer you continue this, the worse the scarring. Please be aware that chronic scarring/wounding predisposes skin to cancer and malignancies. You have so much to lose. When you start the process of coming out of this, it’s incredibly uncomfortable and painful. It’s so much easier to say ‘well it must be parasites/fungus/this condition/that condition/etc.’ and get hopeful about a new treatment or pill. Which may help for a few days. But that’s not really it, so it never works in the end. And you’re back to square one, except with more scarring and irritation. That cycle can and literally will continue for YEARS if you let it. But you have the power and control to end this cycle.