wound healing question.. is this normal? Please help

[sweet78]

Hey everyone,

I have a question.

I have a problem with picking my skin when I break out in any sort of rash or acne breakout. But, this time I think I have gone too far. A few days ago after being in the sun for a couple of days in a row, my chest broke out in a pimple like rash that looked like acne. I have been on treatments for acne for the past few months and have just recently in the last few weeks seen improvement, until this happened. Long story short, I literally got into a crazed "ive had enough of this not going away" mode and picked at 90% of the bumps until they were open sores. This was around 1:00 yesterday afternoon. Now Im left with about 20 open sores all over my chest. Im worried because they are extremely red and swollen (it feels like I got attacked by misquito bites when I wash them) and although they are starting to crust over a bit, they burn like heck when I shower (sometimes they start to be painful even without showering). I am currently on Bactrim DS twice a day, so if I went to the hospital they would just tell me to keep taking that most likely (since that is the strongest antibiotic next to cipro). Putting neosporin has not helped with my wounds in the past, but these just seem more inflamed then ever before. Any advice? Is this reddness and swelling normal?

 

[Literary Heroin]

It depends on what caused the rash to begin with. First, of all, are you aware that some acne treatments and some antibiotics can cause increased sun sensitivity, meaning you could burn much faster than you normally would, or exposure to the sun, while using or taking the medication, could cause skin reactions you wouldn't normally get from being in the sun. I would call your pharmacist and ask if any of your meds or treatments carry a sun sensitivity warning.

If you are experiencing sun burn, sun poisoning, or a sun sensitivity issue, you don't want to be covering your skin with anything heavy or greasy that will hold in the heat and prevent your skin from cooling itself... plus, it will make you itch a lot more. You've complicated the situation by causing open sores. If you're already taking an antibiotic and things are beginning to crust over, I wouldn't be applying anything else to it for now. Use a very mild soap with no perfumes. Avoid the strong shower spray. Try wetting a washcloth in a very mild solution of white vinegar and cold water. Cover the rash with this for several minutes. It will help to cool the irritation and the vinegar is a natural disinfectant. You can also use this to cleanse the area and avoid soap altogether. Do this as often as you need to stay comfortable. And if it's not showing significant signs of healing in a day or two, or seems to be getting worse, stop everything you're doing and go seethe doctor. And stop picking! ;-)