Hi
I hope someone in this group will be able to help me with
this problem. I am writing about my partner who has
persistent dermatitis and folliculitis. She has been
suffering with this for over a year now, and thus far no one
can offer any suggesting of a cause or cure!
We have been to see both our GP and a dermatologist who have
been unable to diagnose the cause of this problem, and can
only suggest the use of hydrocortisone to control the
symptoms. We do not view this as a cure, but rather as
symptom control.
She recently had skin-allergy tests performed as was found
to be allergic to dust-mites and mildly to grass (she does
suffer bad hayfever), but I am not sure that this is
directly relevant to the folliculitis. I have also read that
the Herpes simplex virus can be a cause of folliculitis, and
this may be of relevance in this case. The folliculitis does
seem occur during periods of high-stress, but again this is
difficult to diagnose (as there is no clear measure for
stress). She does not however, exhibit any of the typical
Herpes symptoms while under stress (eg. the development of
cold sores).
In terms of symptom relief - she finds that hot water can
relieve the symptoms (she refers to it as "boiling her
legs"😉, and also hydrocortisone when used in large
quantities (we both worry about the effects this could be
having). She also finds that shaving helps (which does seem
counterintuitive to me, and I suspect this may psychosomatic
as the itching does return a short time later).
Now, while I realize that it is difficult to provide a
diagnosis over the internet, we would both settle if someone
could simply recommend some tests that could be performed to
determine the cause of this problem. We are sure they must
exist, but as was mentioned earlier the dermatologist and GP
were not particularly helpful in this regard.
I hope someone here can help!
Thanks in advance
Rob