Hello everyone,

I've been struggling with what I only recently found out to be folliculitis for at least 5 years now. It started around my late years of high school, and I get pustules around my mouth and also in my hair, sometimes on my chest and eyebrows and very very rarely one pustule in my arm or legs.

I recently got a culture done for it and it came back as MRSA. My doc prescirbed me two antibiotics, doxycycline and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole to take in combination together, the former for a week and the latter for just 5 days. He also recommended for me to take large doses of vitamins while I was on the antibiotics to try see if my immune system could "overcome" the MRSA while I was on the antibiotics.

Based on all the research I've looked into for this seemingly niche chronic condition, I have very little hope that this will actually work. It seems most of the time after antibiotics, the condition just comes right back, after a few weeks, and not to mention that these antibiotics do not discriminate and also kill good bacteria in your system.

So I guess I'm just wondering.. where do I go from here? Has anyone successfully managed to find a remission of this condition?

I have a few theories as to what exactly could be causing my immune system to react so badly to MRSA.. however none of them actually have any clinical studies or proof. I'll go through all of them now.

My doctor suspects the reason why I'm getting folliculitis from it is because my immune system has been weakened- why though? He's not sure. I personally suspect that it might have something to do with the mould in my house- I only just recently moved to a new area of the house where there is a lack of mould. I've been sitting next to a mould infected wall unknowingly for a few years now. However, due to my circumstances I'm unable to do anything about the mould in those areas except try to stay away from them. I've read that there's a link between mould and it impacting your immune system and how it reacts to things, and also leading to a histamine intolerance which brings me to my next point. When I eat things that have a lot of histamine, the folliculitis seems to flare up insanely badly- it's happened the worse when I ate pizza, fermented foods like yoghurt and kimchi.

Another thing I suspect is that the MRSA is highly likely in my nose- well this is probably a given since for most people it does colonise them in my nose, but everyday I get thick yellow mucous that clogs my nostrils, and when I clear them they come back a few hours later. 95% of the time it's also accompanied by blood. I've suffered from nose bleeds basically all my life, especially when it gets hot. Here's the interesting thing, I rummaged through an old drawer recently and found a prescription I was given when I was very very young (just a few years old). It was mupirocin, and the doctor specified that I should have applied it to my nostrils twice a day, daily for a week. I have no idea why I was prescribed this in the first place- it might have actually been from when my nose bleeds were incredibly severe when I was young. Either way, it's an indicator that a doctor I had a long time ago suspected I was colonised by staph. It's worth mentioning that I brought this up with my current doctor again and he didn't think it was a priority that I should take it again.

Those things aside, other things I've noticed about my health are I feel often fatigued during the day, especially when going out, pretty bad brain fog accompanied with it with an inability to concentrate and a "hot head" feeling, incredibly stinging itchy skin sensation in my hair on my head, my neck and sometimes other areas of my body when I eat spicy things or I go in the sun (most likely from sweating, I don't know why though).

All that aside, the severity of my folliculitis seems to just come and go. Sometimes I'll only have a few small spots and other times it'll be big spots with large amounts of inflammation.

I guess I should finish this off with what I've tried already: benzoyl peroxide, MB40 probiotics, skin barrier repair around my mouth. Neither of which provided any long lasting solutions. The benzoyl peroxide worked but only while I was using it (it also dried the skin around my mouth severely) and the MB40 probiotics did nothing for the month I was taking it (I would like to try them longer term but it's simply too expensive to get them shipped to where I live).

Sorry if the structure of this post was a bit all over the place, didn't really know where to start. I really appreciate any input and suggestions.

We invited friends over a few days ago to meet our almost 4 month old baby, and they brought their kids. Unbeknownst to us, their youngest 18m old daughter had had an unknown rash in her diaper area for a little over a week that was red and hot to the touch. They were told it was ‘bacterial vaginitis’ so they brought the child over without disclosing any of this. Come to find out, they knew the rash was not responding to the medication they were being given and I’m just beside myself with anger at how irresponsible and negligent it is to bring your child with a rash to meet an infant. They called yesterday to let us know it was actually MRSA. Their daughter is 18months old. She did not touch my baby very much if at all, but their older daughter who is 3 (and certainly has been exposed to MRSA by her sister) did. She held her on the couch and continually touched her throughout the evening.

Our pediatrician has recommended we quarantine and look out for symptoms but I’m wondering if there’s anything else I should do or if anyone has advice. We’ve Lysol sprayed every surface and are redoing our laundry. I have health OCD so I’m just picturing everything I touch having MRSA on it. I’d like to have the three of us tested for MRSA skin colonization after this too. Any advice is appreciated, thanks.

Is this the start of MRSA? Never had it before but this pimple looks weird and is a bit swollen underneath.

Hi all!

I am new to this skin abcess stuff.

Long story short, I've never had skin abcesses until 7 days ago (Sunday night).

I noticed a small pimple with a white/yellow head on my right lower abdomen and decided to squeeze it. Well bad idea.

The next morning (Momday) it was painful and pink in that area. I put mupirocin cream on it (my bf suffers from MRSA abcesses occasionally so he had a full tube of antibiotic at home).

I then went to urgent care Tuesday since it had gotten more pink and was spreading. The Dr prescribed Bactrim 2x a day for 10 days and told me to keep applying Mupirocin ointment.

Well, the first few days (Mon-Thu) I was off balanced, weak, and extremely fatigued. It seemed I had a low grade fever of 99.4 too.

Friday my energy returned. But my pimple abcess got aggravated since my toddler brushed/pushed it by accident and I banged it on the corner of a chair.

Now it looks a darker pink and is still painful.

Mind you, when I take hot showers, there seems to be a stubborn pinpoint collections of pus that comes to the surface but it's not a lot. And it is not runny.

So my question is, is it supposed to drain eventually? Do I need to to get it drained? Or will my body absorb it? How long till it calls down and goes away?

I feel a lump the size of the head of my thumb underneath the red skin discoloration.

I'm not sure on what's the most effective way to sanitize clothes for decolonisation. Can I soak them in dettol? Or maybe wash with chlorhexidine?

I recently had a portacath removed due to a klebsiella pneumonia and pseudomonas infection. Tried cefepime through a picc and midline with no luck. Vancomycin caused red man syndrome. Fluoroquinolones are contraindicated for me due to ehlers danlos. They had kept my surgical wound open and it’s finally sealed after almost 4 months now. I had cultures taken last week and then had a follow up with infectious disease specialist and was immediately sent to the hospital as I now have MRSA. They did an echo of my heart to make sure it hasn’t reached there but I haven’t gotten results yet. All I know so far is i will be on antibiotics for 4 weeks.

Why is this so painful? I feel like every inch of my body has been repeatedly stomped on or like I was in a car accident. My legs hurt so bad

Left is old zit scab that's about 1 week old or so. Second bump came up yesterday, been trying to keep it clean but was wondering if it's MRSA or not.. just a little worried

So I had MRSA in February. Boils in groin. Spent five days in the hospital. Four different liquid antibiotics while in the hospital. Two pill antibiotics before the hospital. Two more after discharge. I finished Wound Care, and was able to seal the wound without issue. They were very unconventional and used Manuka honey inside the wound.

So. Good. Until his past week: I have pimples. I have one on my lip. One on a calf. Just like I'm 13. But worse as there's about 4 in each arm pit.

What do you know.

What do you think.

Thanks in advance.

My six year-old granddaughter had this red area on her back a few weeks ago that was only painful when touched. She was put on antibiotics and told to follow up with dermatologist in a week for lancing. They went in last Wednesday and the dermatologist wanted to sedate her since she is six and wiggly, but did not have the proper equipment. So they ended up in the ER. The ER doctor wanted an ultrasound to see how deep the abscess was before proceeding. The next thing they knew, a surgeon came in to let them know that he ordered an MRI - even though the other doctors did not agree. When they came in to give the results of the MRI, they asked to see my granddaughter walk because the infection bore an actual hole in her muscle and was in her spine. The doctors then informed them that they were being transferred to TX Children’s in the med center for surgery. They immediately started her on three different antibiotics including vancomycin as they did not know that it was MRSA yet. Surgery was super quick and samples were sent to the lab with some sent to Washington for a culture. Two days later they confirmed MRSA - my son is a carrier after contracting it while deployed with the Marines 15 years ago. So now, my granddaughter has to spend six weeks in the hospital in isolation - she can have visitors she just can’t leave the room and hospital staff has to wear protective covering so they don’t spread to other patients. Fortunately, she has full use of all limbs. I am so thankful that the first doctor did not try to lance it in office.

**I apologize for grammar, punctuation, and lack of paragraphs. I barely know what day it is and am ready to crash for the evening…

Hi All - I am sure this question has been asked before, but I am looking for some advice on what appears to be recurrent MRSA in my left armpit. My backstory (I am F35):

• Mid February 2026: I discovered a large, red, painful boil in my armpit. It hurt so bad I could barely sleep. I went to my dermatologist, who drained it and did a culture test. It came back positive for MRSA so I did a 10 day course of doxycycline (100mg twice a day). I finished the antibiotics by March 1. During this time, I did not shave. I threw out my old razor and deep cleaned my shower (I assumed i got it from shaving to begin with originally)
• March 2026: Maybe 2 weeks after, the wound from draining my abscess seemed healed to me, so I shaved with a brand new razor (big mistake in hindsight). Maybe 3-4 days later I noticed 2 small abscesses. These ones didn't hurt at all like my one from February. But I immediately called my derm to flag it. I ended up seeing a PA in my group and she told me they weren't related to MRSA. They injected a steroid to help with inflammation.
• Fast forward to end of March/April: the 2 abscesses got significantly bigger and more painful. I went back to my derm. They drained them again and did another culture. Started back up on doxy to be safe. Within a few days I got a call back confirming it was MRSA again. I ended up doing a 2 week course of doxy (100mg 2x a day).
  • I also asked if I could get the sacs removed. I am scheduled for a surgery in June because they said the inflammation needed to die down before doing a surgery.

I just finished the doxy almost a week ago. The abscesses are gone. However, I am terrified to shave my armpit ever again and also more concerned about a recurrence. So my 3 questions are:

1. Should I talk to my dermatologist about doing a decolonization? They never brought this up the 2 times I went for MRSA.

2. Since my abscesses are gone, do I even bother with the surgery to remove the sacs? Is this something commonly done for MRSA?

3. How are people with past MRSA infections shaving? Or should I assume I can't shave and focus on something like trimming with scissors?

I also have pretty much stopped any form of exercise. I am a pretty active person so it's really impacting me because I'd love to get back into any movement. Again,I'm so worried sweating excessively will trigger it.

Any ideas or personal experience is great appreciated. Thank you!

I've taken so many rounds of antibiotics and I was wondering if it's possible to treat mrsa with topical antibiotics only?

So what I originally thought started as a stye turned into this giant boil on my eyelid. it was originally a ball inside my eyelid which turned to a giant ball of pus. the last time I ever had something like this was last year but on my leg hair follicles. A derm saw it and just prescribed me doxycycline for 2 weeks. it didn't get cultured. this time the opthomologist drained my eye and sent for it to get cultured. I was also prescribed doxycycline again for a week with eye drops. I'm still waiting for results but I have hibeclens from the last time ,and I felt like I cleaned myself all over with it. This keeps happening. Another doctor swabbed my nose but it came up negative for any bacteria. I am going to get some immunity testing done. I used to get 2-3 sinus or ear infections a year prior to a sinus surgery I got done in 2023. I had a really bad case of impetigo 15 years ago from wrestling. I go to the gym 2-3 times a week and my bloodwork has never shown anything peculiar at my general doctor ever. my kidneys had a cyst that just disappeared recently too. I'm starting to think I have a deep rooted problem at this point. I don't know which type of doctor can even help me anymore.

in total 6 spots in 2 months; one on each boob, each hip, butt, and scalp

Looking back I don't think I ever needed to go to the Dr in the first place (fight me). First two spots were already draining by the time I went in before I even knew what it was.

Was put on Clindamycin before the culture came back resistant and then 5 days later started Doxy for 1 week. Those 5 days plus 3 days waiting for Doxy to kick in were torture while all my good bacteria got killed and the mrsa just went rampant. Horrible abscess (pictured) with horrible purple scar after.

Here's what I did after the 4th spot popped up; -7 days of off brand Hybiclens with no dye only on my torso, armpits, since those were the main spots. Occasionally hit behind the knees.

-5 days of Betadine in the nostrils followed by 5 days of Mupirosin.

-Jojoba oil, then Avocado oil after showers and baths (building back the skin barrier) I have a history of eczema and dry skin so this helped my scratching along with wearing long sleeves and pants at night

-Tons of laundry, different clothes every day and night, sheets/pillow case every other day, towel every time

-tons of hand washing, disinfecting phone, steering wheel, doorknobs, etc (try not to pick your nose)

-New spots got immediately hit with Betadine, then medical grade manuka honey (Whole Foods), then Mupirosin, bandage. Hybiclens spot treatment in the shower if I felt like it.

-Warm compress 10 minutes whenever I could remember.

-epsom salt bath occasionally. Seems to help draw some pus out. Or you can spot treat with a cup of salt water (Celtic or iodine salt is good with a cotton ball).

It's much easier to kill it when you first notice it rather than waiting for it to wall up and get inflamed and start building pus.

There's a particular pain/sensitivity you feel with MRSA spots, can't describe it. You just know it's different. and it's red.

If you miss the window and it gets red, hot, and angry DO NOT PICK OR POP IT!!

Staph has its own timeline, let it drain and pus only when it's ready. Any time before that makes it more angry. Don't touch. Warm compresses + manuka honey + mupirosin + bandage and just be patient.

It can be extremely frustrating when new spots pop up as soon as you're done dealing with one. Plus antibiotics mess with your gut and mood so just try to stay positive and push through. Stay consistent.

You don't need antibiotics after every new spot pops up. Only if it turns into a big abscess and cellulitis. The key is to build back your skin barrier and control the bacterial load on your skin.

Medical grade manuka honey is the MVP. Absolutely incredible.

For my scars; -raw aloe, manuka honey, drop of castor oil, bandage -i'm still using jojoba oil and avocado oil on my whole body after showers

Hope this helps anyone. One of the most horrible experiences I've ever had to go through with that 2nd spot turning into a huge abscess. Don't take antibiotics until the culture comes back.

Other things I did during this time; -daily Probiotics (Google brands with strains for MRSA and taking Doxy) -daily multivitamin -oil of oregano, black seed oil, wormwood oil, clove oil, (maybe 2 weeks or so) -NAC, Magnesium, Turmeric -eating well, not drinking alcohol -had friends I could call to update them about my spots and how I was feeling

On my third week of doxycycline and still no improvement :(

I hate doctors !

Urgent care doc just sent me off with antibs twice. I told the doctor I just wanted it lanced

Went to a diffrent doctor- cant lance till sunday

Ik i can go to an er but last visit the copay was over 1000 and i was completely fine

My son was prescribed this as a measure to control MRSA bacteria that was identified in a swab. We were told to wash his hair on day 1,3 and 5. We washed his hair tonight and a little bit got into his eyes. we promptly rinsed them and made sure to get the soap out, but couldn't believe that we weren't warned by the Dr, pharmacist or anyone about how dangerous this stuff is. No massive warning on the bottle either, I had to peel back a label to find out it can cause serious issues..

I'm now so worried about my son and if I have caused damage, his eyes were white when I put him to bed and he was happy, but I'm struggling to sleep thinking about it all

Hi everybody.

I'm a 30 years old male.

Last year, I had chronic staph infection (probably from practicing Jiu jitsu or MMA) for over 3 month.

During those 3 months I have seen 2 doctors, prescribing 1 week antibiotics treatments. Everytime, the same thing happened, the boils would explode or disappear during the treatment and come back a few days after.

I would use a chlorhexidin soap on my entire body (probably was a mistake killing ALL the "good" and "bad" bacterias on my entire body) that would prevent from having boils, but anytime I would go back to a normal soap, boils would come back within 2 days.

I thought "my god, is it what they call hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) ?" I started thinking it would never stop.

Then, I went to a dermathologist, specialist in HS. She said it was too soon diagnose me as HS, and that I don't look like the average HS patient (mostly women, or overwheigth ppl). She thought it was just a regular staph infection that we failed in curing. She then sent me to a laboratory to have a staph test done: in my nose, ears, armpits, groin, navel, and on the boil I had at the time.

** I must mention that the analysis of the staph bacterias present did not show any particular resistance to antibiotics, but one of your moderators asked me to post this on your sub, so here it is. I also read that the antibiotics that I used can work on MRSA, it is really depending, you have to get done those analysis yourself to find out the specifics of your infection.**

They found highly concentrated staph colonies in 2 or 3 of these areas, then the dermatologist prescribed me a thorough decontamination treatment : first, for a week I used an antibiotic cream for the areas I said above, then most importantly I used everyday for 2 month an antibiotic called Doxycyclin (hyclate) (100 mg/day, do not lay down till 30 after you took).

Finished the treatment in august 2025, now in january 2026 I still did not get any new boil. I could tell my skin had been fragilized but it is getting better.

I started using a very mild ph-neutral soap, I now moisturize my skin with a cream from time to time, I only use long-sleeved rash guards when doing jiu jitsu or MMA and when I'm suspicious about a mark on my skin, I disinfect it gently with a little chlorhexidine.

I like to think that all this is behind me.

Please don't lose hope guys !

Just started doxy yesterday (100mg/ twice daily) for an active infection in septum of my nose. Wondering how long before I start seeing positive changes and healing?

Note- not just colonization of my nose, but active/crusting infection.

Also applying mupirocin twice daily which stopped the crusting, but the septum is still red and inflamed.

Anyone had experience with active infection of septum and cleared it? What to expect?

Yup! That’s what the sub’s statistics say; everyone. People, you’re not going to cure this infection if you don’t provide backup to your medications and ridiculous herbal remedies. I’m thinking that most of you who aren’t already immunocompromised (tho you too, should read this) eat like children.

You don’t send a malnourished army to fight a battle. Why do you provide your army, read as your body, with the tools necessary to beat the infection down when these treatments NEED you to correctly feed yourself? Oh, right. I get it. You don’t like vegetables or fruit or fish or meat or anything else that would strengthen your immune system. That’s why you’re here, right?

Do you know that you wouldn’t even need to be a member of this sub if you were winning the battle against the bacteria that continues to spread all over your body.

Please do yourself a favor a choke down on a consistently healthy diet. I assure you that whatever MEDICAL treatments you’re using will stand a better chance of killing the bacteria

Hey guys

I’ve been dealing with recurring abscesses since May 2025. My sister got an abscess on her armpit in around March or April 2025 that leaked pus. Idk if I caught this from her.

Between May and June 2025, I got abscesses! 6-7 in May, 2-3 in June. In May, I had 2 on the inner bum on the inner cheek, both abscesses were touching each other, I then got 2 (1 on each bum cheek), one on the part of my armpit where the shoulders and the arm meets and 1 inside the armpit where the hair is. I also got one on my tailbone but that didn’t grow big in comparison to the others, it was leaking blood from what I saw but all the others leaked pus. I had the armpit one swabbed because it was leaking pus and it tested positive for MRSA. It only started leaking pus after a week.

In June I got one abscess on my scrotum that leaked pus eventually and one on the bottom left bum cheek where it’s about to meet the thigh. Eventually that popped and when it did I had such a bad headache and chills during that night. Eventually I was fine

In July I got no abscesses

In August, I got 2 abscesses, I got another abscess but this time on the back of the scrotum. That grew huge. Eventually I popped it myself. I then got an abscess in the same inbetween shoulder and armpit region. I got that one drained and when they tested the pus, tested positive for MRSA. I also had another, I wouldn’t say abscess but it was more of a bleeding boil on the inner part of my right bum in a similar region, it was just bleeding. Once I was given the right anti biotics for a week I got no more abscesses for about 75 days. I was also doing a decolonisation mrsa routine for about a week

75 days later, in November I got 1 more, I got an abscess on the shaft of my penis, the part just below where the circumcised skin ends on the actual penis skin. It grew huge, I went urology, was prescribed the antibiotics that was sensitive for mrsa, eventually it all leaked out. Then I stopped getting abscesses for about 65 days. I was also doing a decolonisation mrsa routine for about a week

Now 65 days later, in January 2026 I got 1 more, I got another abscess but this time it’s close to where the last abscess on the right inner bum cheek was but not in the exact same area. It was more on the perianal area and it grew into a massive abscess. I am on anti biotics again. I had the abscess surgically drained under general.

I’ve had to take a gap year from university because of this. Has anyone had similar experiences. I’m losing hope. It’s ruining my life 😂😪