Unhygienic habits in daily life are among the commonest causes of many skin conditions. Folliculitis, is one such skin condition. The use of old blades for shaving and not taking regular showers are just some of factors that can cause microbes to invade the hair follicles and bring about folliculitis. That is either through damage to the skins surface or allowing the microbes that cause folliculitis to predominate. Although folliculitis does not have any preference to sex or age, women can become more prone. This is because there are factors apart from the common ones mentioned, which can result in folliculitis in women. An example that could result in higher risk of folliculitis in women are cosmetic procedures.
There are common factors like hot weather, using the same swimming pool and hot tubs, as an individual currently dealing with folliculitis, sharing towels at ladies gyms, even sharing common cosmetic items can make women more prone to get folliculitis.
The distribution of hair follicles is generally the same in men as it is in women. However, other than those body parts normally covered by clothing, a woman does not normally have visible hair on exposed regions. Those areas being the face, neck, legs and chest region. If this occurs, it gives the picture of female hirsutism. This condition is hormone dependent and either there is excess of or increased sensitivity to the normal amount of androgens. The result is undue thickness and faster growth rate of hair, especially at the facial area.
For a female, this situation is quite embarrassing. As such, the method adopted generally to get rid of unusual and prominent hairs are plucking, shaving and waxing. These procedures can cause damage to hair follicles pretty easily. Once that happens, it can give rise to folliculitis in women. The procedure has to be repeated quite often and that becomes an added risk for the spread and complication of any folliculitis that would have developed.
The rash present when folliculitis affects women is the same as in other groups. So too are the general protocols for treatment. Immaculate hygiene with regular baths using anti-septic soap is a good idea. Cleaning the affected area of skin with benzyl peroxide and drying it with a warm damp cloth cleans the debris too. This should be done in a localized area at first as some individuals respond negatively to benzyl peroxide.
Shaving and other methods adopted to get rid of unwanted hairs should be meticulously done. When folliculitis develops in an area, the shaving of the affected area should be stopped until measures to clear the infection have been completed. Meanwhile unwanted hair in women can be removed by electrolysis and laser techniques. Both involve using tools to remove individual hairs.
The most common bacterium to cause folliculitis is Staphylococcus aureus. When this bacterium or any other responsible for folliculitis is isolated from cultures of the infected skin lesion, the proper anti-biotics are given. The choice can be made from cephalexin, flucloxacillin and dicloxacillin in a dose range of 250-500mg three times daily for 10 days.
Women who regularly use hot tubs have a greater chance of getting folliculitis caused by the bacterium of the Pseudomonas group. A benzyl peroxide wash can clear up a mild infection caused by this organism that has caused folliculitis in women. The parts of body affected in hot tub folliculitis in women tends to be below the waist. In more exuberant cases of folliculitis, ciprofloxacin 500 mg twice daily for 5-10 days may be needed.
Other than the aforementioned conventional and non-conventional methods, specific drugs have to be used in treating folliculitis in women who have hormonal imbalance. They include use of anti-androgenic medicine as well as oral contraceptives. The effects though are slow but ultimate results are quite rewarding for dealing with thickness as well as dark unwanted hairs. These treatments for folliculitis go a long way towards minimizing the chances of folliculitis developing in women.
No comments:
Post a Comment