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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!
Just to add clarification, Lyme disease infections (that cause Morgellons) occur when a lyme infected deer tick bites you. Deer ticks are tiny about the size of this dot before attaching -> •. Most infected don’t know they have Lyme (CDC estimates only 10% of who are Lyme infected are ever diagnosed). Almost half a million people of infected each year according the latest CDC estimates. Majority have more than one of the dozens of potential infectives potentially carried by ticks. When one contracts Lyme, there is almost always other related tick born infections. Often symptoms are mistakenly diagnosed as other diseases and maladies, and is highly effective in hiding from your immune system.
Thank you so much to all for this. I am infested with a Demodex or other mite. Discovered what was going on Saturday and started treating aggressively with tea tree oil, salicylic acid, Vaseline, ammonium lactate lotion. Doctor called in Ivermectin by tablet, lotion and steroids. I’m not going to take the steroid yet as I heard it could make it worse. I’m going to another dermatologist who missed it last year. I’ve enclosed a link to my google photos. They are all over my body.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jo3puXhnTu2w8a339
Thank you so much to all for this. I am infested with a Demodex or other mite. Discovered what was going on Saturday and started treating aggressively with tea tree oil, salicylic acid, Vaseline, ammonium lactate lotion. Doctor called in Ivermectin by tablet, lotion and steroids. I’m not going to take the steroid yet as I heard it could make it worse. I’m going to another dermatologist who missed it last year. I’ve enclosed a link to my google photos. They are all over my body.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jo3puXhnTu2w8a339
I feel compelled to respond to this. It goes without saying that I too suffer them. A lot of the comments are sad to read. Particularly, that people coping with this get labelled with a mental health problem. All the more troubling if you have this alongside a mental health problem. As a healthcare professional I find this deeply troubling, particularly the latter part which can only exacerbate the MH condition. The comments about demodex and a fungal cause may both be correct in some part. For what it’s worth, here is my current view and I hope it helps you navigate you doctors. Before I begin, I can’t find much in the medical literature, so we all suffer from a condition that is not described in the medical literature - not in my literature search anyway.
These, most likely, are sebaceous filaments, which if you read about them online are a ‘normal’ part of the skin structure. Before you jump down my throat, there is an issue with this. For me, I have cystic acne in small numbers, which causes skin damage. What seems to happen, is the sebaceous filaments causes an immune reaction in the damaged skin, that conversely causes the skin to become chronically inflamed. It’s almost as if the sebaceous filaments are treated by the skin as if they are a foreign body. Ever had a splinter? The wound seems to set up a chronic inflammatory reaction that fails to completely settle down. Hence the itching as it heals. I’ve tried lots of different things, steroid creams, antibiotics, facial products, etc. Extraction seems to be the most useful, although one has to be careful. It’s almost as if the tiny plugs are a form of pseudo cyst, a very tiny form, hence the slightly suctioning sound that can accompany them. You’ve seen dr pimple pooper remove large cysts and these seem similar but on a tiny scale. I know I have definitely ihad demodex although ridding these didn’t cure the problem. I guess once you have the skin damage ridding the demodex doesn’t make any difference, assuming demodex is the cause. On that, permethrin definately cured a crust patch on my scalp so thanks to those that pointed this out. They too would still be chronic sores if not for this forum. This area needs to be properly researched. I come back to the people with other mental health problems that are being failed by having a true organic problem that is recognised by my medical colleagues. To any dermatologists out there, you need to listen and not label.
***THIS COMMENT MAY HELP YOU***
Hello everyone, I have been following this thread for a long time now as I have been suffering from the same plugs for a couple of years. It started with a single plug in my beard that I was never able to “pop” - I didn’t realize it was a plug at the time as I never had one before so I thought it was a really stubborn pimple. After months of fighting this thing I finally removed it with sharp tweezers causing it to bleed profusely, though it healed quickly afterwards. I was amazed. However, soon after this I started getting more and more of them. I have literally tried every single suggestion in this thread and on the internet. I have put so many things on my skin at this point it is rather ridiculous. Early on I had a feeling this was fungal and I have suffered from tinea versicolor for most of my life. However, Nizoral didn’t help at all. Neither did Lamisil AT, Lotrimin or any other fungal cream I tried. I went down the bacteria path - using Hibiclens and other anti bacterials with no change in these plugs. I thought they were demodex mites so I tried those solutions as well but was unsuccessful. Most of these “solutions” seemed like they worked for 2-3 days but then stopped helping in any meaningful way. This issue has been driving me literally insane for too long.
Recently my wife all of a sudden started getting them out of nowhere, she has never had these things in her entire life. She also tried most recommendations and nothing helped. THEN a rash showed up on my dog’s neck around the same time and started spreading. It looked a lot like a hot spot and so I purchased the following for him:
BEXLEY LABS Curaseb Medicated... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JVSQY8I?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
This stuff cleared up my dog ALMOST INSTANTLY. The rash caused him to lose most of his hair on the left side of neck/head. Within a week or so the oozing stinky rash was gone and his hair started growing back. This spray is nothing more than Chlorohexadine (Hibiclens) and Ketaconazole (Nizoral), two things I have already tried on myself without success. The bottle says “FOR ANIMALS ONLY” but I said what the hell, I’m spraying this shit on me, what do I have to lose at this point. My wife ended up doing the same…
Well guys, I seriously do not have a clue but this spray completely cleared up every single plug and crusty sore on both me and my wife within just a couple of days. It doesn’t make any sense. Hopefully someone here can explain how this spray for animals is any different from the ones made for humans and why this worked when nothing else did. I have no explanation… I just know there was a night and day difference within 24 hours of using this spray. I AM NOT HERE TO RECOMMEND PUTTING THIS ON YOUR BODY, I HAVE NO IDEA IF IT IS UNSAFE. All I know is that it worked for me, my wife and my dog. I am 100% convinced these plugs ARE fungal but I can’t explain why fungal medicines made for humans are not effective. The only reason I purchased this stuff is because I thought my dog had a hot spot and noticed on the bottle it says it is for bacteria, fungal and yeast infections.
It has been a few weeks and I have no new plugs and the ones I had all over (arms, face, back, neck) have completely disappeared and my skin is almost completely healed up. These sores would NEVER heal before unless I removed the plug manually and destroyed my skin in the process.
Hopefully this helps someone, I just wish I had answers as to why this worked for me when nothing else would.
Hi. I have also been living with these for many years and they have ruined my life. I’ve always had a hunch that it was a parasitic infection but i was tired of doctors just thinking I was crazy so I’d slowly pick the plugs out over months to minimize damage until the sores would go away. In the summer it would get worse and winter not as bad. Anyways I wondered if it was something like demodex… I wasn’t sure but I’ve been so depressed about these terrible sores for years that I have nothing left to loose and am willing to try anything…anyways, I had a hunch so I took a Nextguard Spectra. That was a week ago. For the first time in 15+ years I actually think ALL my sores are healing. And they no longer feel like there are splinters in them or leak all the time.
It's not a parasite, fungus, or something autoimmune.
Its a cold sore.
Have your doctors prescribe you an antiviral. Just trust me on this one & give it a shot. Please come back with updates if you start this process.
This entire skin condition is maddening!
Ok first of all these are NOT PLUGS! NOT AT All and they ARE PARASITES of some form that once contracted, NEST and LIVE in OUR SKIN and Perticuly I believe in the shins putter pores or hair focule pores!
I know these are a real living PARASITES because hears something I bet none of you KNEW OR KNOW ABOUT, so this year has been ," hell in wheels for me with this skin disorder and left a very noticable large parts of my upper body extremely scared after sitting for three months in so much pain and discomfort I would just cry and cry! After being seen at 6 different emergency rooms and on 5 different antibodies without 0 response to my condition; I noticed these white stringy things inside my wounds as well! HOWEVER these R NOT PLUGS and due to a girl friend if mine making a treatment home remedy to try I absolutely Discovered THAT WHAT R CALLING PLUGS R REAL PARSITES LIVING WITH IN our hair focules or putter pours!
SO I KNOW Y MUST BE DIEING TO HEAR THIS And SOME OF U MAY EVEN BE LAauGHiNG AT ME RIGHT NOW .....
lAUGH IF U WILL, BELIEVE ME OR DONT , ......hears what happend.....
So my girl friend suggested a home remedy treetment and I thought ok I'll give it a shot at that point I was in so much pain and so fed up I would have tried about everything and was all ready dousing my wounds in a half if bottle if peroxide alone in which case if you have this shit I'm sure you have used it tried this method as well too know HOW BADLY IT F N BURNS TO APPLY peroxide to these and leave on them for as many seconds as you are able to with stand the feeling if being burned alive before your nearly screeming out in pain and fighting to get to the water to wash it off as quickly as U CAN! This method all though quite effective would remove a morjirity of my sores immediately afterwards and even disappear the entire wound as if I was able to out it in too of these deep wounds and was able to just wipe off the entire portion of the wound after wiping off the porxicide! It was the most crazzyest and insane thing I ever seen but completely true! Afterwards I wipe it off and it would literLy remove everything even the site itself was removed with one application and you all know it's not true we can't just have a badly opened wound and out something on it once and the wound itself just wipe entirely off as if it was never there! But mine did; however the next day they would all be returned when I wake up each morning! Crazzy a** sh** right? Right ok so back where I was so I tried my friends suggestion and nine if you will never ever believe what I'm about to tell u in fact most if u will prob judge me and call me crazzy but hears what I'm going to say to you who think this after reading this the next time you experience these hell bound infections in your wounds keep reading this and at the end I'm going to reveal 2 everyone reading this what my home treetment I used was and maybe YOU TOO MUGHT LIKE 2 to discover the real truth about what these white strings are inside you deep painful wounds are....ok so I simply bought this product from the grocery store went home got a cup out half if it in and added water making a thick kinda paint. Next I decided this would be messy where my sores were and decided a shower application would be the easiest method of looking it, waiting for five to eight minutes( at least that was my plan);and walking it off! So that's what I did....and OMG you think porxicide burns like he** straight in fire....this shit....omg OMG literLy ALLmost had me screem madly as if someone was murdering it it hurt and burned mostly burned so fn bad. But I was desporate so I left this sh** on as long as I possibly could without jumping out and running naked down the street screening with I'm on fire pain literLy call a fire truck now help! About maybe three minutes I say really was all's I could take and washed it off as quickly as possible straight jumped out if the shower as quickly as I could because I was in so much fn pain I had too! So I jumped out looked in the mirror and was like wow this method as well had literLy washed some if my sores off completely gone as if they were NEVER THERE! Bet r thinking this chick is nuts???!!! But I'm telling you u it was the most unbelievable thing I would ever see with your eyes in the entire fn world! So literLy this treetment washed not just the inside of theses deep sores off but literLy washed the ENTIRE sore off and all left underneath them was my beautiful skin! Still there still flawless as if it had never had a single sore or blemish even on it! No redness no swelling no SKAR tissues no scab no nothing but my normal beautiful skin was there left where these deep wound sores had formed! They were GONE like a sticker stuck on my body looking like a nasty deep wound! SOOOO,
I decided the results was worth a second chance at the pain for the remaining sores that were left that I had not out this remedy on in the shower because who knows maybe all of them would wipe right off and who knows unlike the porxicide maybe just maybe I'll wake up in the morning still just beautiful me and they'll be gone and this nightmare for the moment will finely be over! So here we go hears what your all dieng to hear about so standing now in front of the bathroom mirror I grab the cup with the remainder left in it and grabbed a clean wash rag got it completely soaked with water and ready to put out my living body fire with, turned on the water for the get this sh** off me now I'm burning to death off me! And once again took a deep breath and with my entire handbreachesbib the cup scooped out the stuff and applied it as quickly as possible and within seconds all most immediate I was littelry set a fire but again I clenched my fists and just started screening let it all out screened as if I had been set a fire and then when screening even was not enoght and I couldn't take a second more I reached for my rag and started trying to wipe the wounds and this stuff off when something crazzy insane happened !!!!!!
I was wiping as hard as I could across my neck across one if the largest wounds and as I wiped and scrubbed the rag across my neck these little white strings just appeared out if know where's and like an army they wear following behind my rag not as if I was dragging them but rather as if they were chasing behind me , threating me like solders In a war! And I could not believe my eyes and I stopped wipping picked my rag up off my skin and all these worms like jumped back into my pores or hair follicles what ever they r and as they did each one caused a real quick sting and burn sinsation it hurt like a bee sting and as they all disappeared together a huge green scab formed immediately ! Right where they all disappeared! It was a completely new wound even! Or it looked like a deep wound with a nasty colored green scab on it! But it was never there where I had picked my rag up and these things disappeared. They were pissed and standing up out if my skin and drawn straight formed as if as tall as possible they looked like an army of little worms ! They were two times the length standing on top of my skin as they are when plucked there must have been 35 to 40 of them!
So now I knew this was not a infection which explains why I didn't respond to the five antibodies I took with out 0 results! This wasn't an infection it was a parasite living on my skin in my skin! So next few days I tried other home remedies and these are also some suggestions in which might interest you to try and prove me crazy on your days of he**, I used perperment for it's numbing pain effect, I used coconut oil to help add moister to my large and many painfully wounds and durning this I first rubbed a generous amount if the peppermint and then started applying the coconut oil on very slowly and gentally I rubbed ontop of all these wounds and to my crazzy eyes I watched as all the white things started poking up farther out if my wounds one by one and I seen one by one coming completely out on top of my skin and start to go near where my rag was at and they I would quicky pluck them off with the tweezers in my other hand and wiped then on a black cloth! One by one I grabbed them off as quickly as I could because otherwise within seconds they would jump back into a new pore in which would cause a bee sting burning pain ! After wards when no more appeared I had probably close to 60 of them whipped on my back cloth and of them look identical in such as height and size there were a few that were little wider round but all laid on the black cloth still like straight out like dead solders! My secret remedy was BAKING SODA! Be VERY SURE R UP TO THE BATTLE and sure that knowing the truth is that important to you because this sh** burns like real gas lit on fire on your skin! However apply it to any other wound normal like and it doesn't hurt a bit!
I was told by my dermatologist that I had papulopustular rosacea. I asked if that meant I had demodex. He said yes. I went on acutane and my face cleared right up and I stopped getting cystic acne. However, if I pluck a hair or it gets ingrown I get the "plugs" in those. I also sometimes get them on my legs. The second dermatologist I saw thought I was crazy for asking what the white dots in my wound was. I dismissed demodex for some reason; but after reading Cinpeaches comment I believe it's as simple as demodex. They live in our hair follicles and eat dead skin and sebum. Everyone has them it's just that some people have more than others.
Here is a link to read about demodex
https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/what-are-demodex-mit…
Both peppermint and coconut oil is known to kill demodex. I have quoted some info I found with references to check them out for yourself.
"Other essential oil for treatment of demodex
Peppermint oil is an essential oil obtained from
peppermint, a hybrid variety of spearmint and water mint.
Menthol and methane are two active ingredients in
peppermint oil. The peppermint oil killed the demodex
effectively, with a mean survival time of 11 min [15, 20].
Peppermint oil is more effective on killing D. Brevis
than D. Folliculorum. The most suitable and effective
concentration against D. Folliculorum in vitro was
12.5%, while the concentration of D. Previous was
3.125% [21]."
Referece:
https://www.ipinnovative.com/journal-article-file/11536
"Coconut oil is an excellent home remedy to eliminate Demodex mites. Regular application of coconut oil not only reduces mites count but also alleviates the symptoms of blepharitis and any issues caused by these tiny Demodex mites."
Reference:
https://www.hellolidy.com/coconut-oil-getting-rid-of-demodex-mites/
Baking Soda kills demodex too.
"The baking soda wil dry out the demodex mites, you only have to use it a few weeks or months. I use it together with tea tree oil and the itching is going away. I add the baking soda in my shampoo and wash my hair with it, it feels fine not having that itching hair."
Reference:
https://growyouthful.com/comment-ailment-remedy.php?ailmentNo=64&remedy…
This is Democidosis or Demodex Mites. I have them all over my body and recently discovered most mites are the Demodex Brevis, not Folliculorum. I am on oral Ivermectin and have also started aggressively treating topically with Baby Shampoo, Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide. Do not take Prednisone!!! This can make condition worse like it did mine.
I’ve kept a Google link with pics and comments of condition and recovery. Please Note: once you see the circular sores with white plugs there are 1000’s of parasites behind it. The white plugs are actually their tales sticking out of the surface of your skin. Act quick and aggressively before infestation occurs. I was debilitated for 5 months with them and still struggling to eradicate.
Here is link to my pics and messages with others. GOOD LUCK!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XM21unimGP2Bsj5w5
I advise people on this site to please to please have your doctor check you for Scurvy. It might save you a lot of torment
@adroit- I had considered similar when my dog had a skin infection & the vet prescribed a similar cream. It said for animal use only and that made me nervous. That wasn’t too long ago, I just ordered this off Amazon bc I’m going to try it. What’s your progress with it? Thanks
Hey y’all. I wanted to talk about something I read on another forum on acne.org that’s similar to this thread.
2 people are trying Valtrex and have had success. Long term success. They are just updating their progress. I called my dr this am and got an appointment and gave him a brief overview and told him I wanted to try it. He said sure!
I suspect upon my many years of research and trial and error that what’s happening with these sores is related to HPV. It has come up several times in forums I’ve read. I was diagnosed in my early 20’s for it. I also have this weird wart that’s not a wart allegedly on the bottom of my foot that is terribly painful. I’ve had it almost 8 years and I’ve saw as many doctors about it begging for treatment bc it has at this point changed the structure of my foot bc I compensate for the pain to other areas. I believe my foot, face & HPV are all connected.
I wanted to share because the other people taking it with success seems so promising. There’s also a website called whisp.com that you can order certain medications thru without seeing a actual doctor. I’ve gotten yeast infection cream from the site before and it was awesome, you pick your script up from the pharmacy you choose.
I hope this helps all of you but even one of you would be great too. Good luck