Painful Rashes On Inner Thigh. Tested Clear For Herpes. Suspected For Folliculitis. Prognosis?

Posted on Thu, 2 May 2013

Question: I got a rash on the inside of my leg, inner thigh, small spots which then increased and were bumpy and painful. I went to the doc. and had a blood test for herpes which came back clear. A year later I did another test for herpes and it came back clear. I went to the doc. as semen had touched my leg, so that was why I was so worried that it was herpes. The doc. said it is follititus, but cd I have herpetic follititus. Wd that show up on a blood test.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ivan Romich (22 minutes later)

Hi and welcome to XXXXXXX Thank you for your querry.
This is localized infection so blood test cant show the exact cause. It can be evaluated only by clinical picture of lesion. If there are multiple small shiny blisters it can be herpes, but if there is lump filled with pus near hair follicul then it can be folliculitis. This is important to know because it is treated differently.
Hope I have answered your query. If you have any further questions I will be happy to help

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Ivan Romich (17 minutes later)

The docs. looked at them and thought it was folliculitis. I thought that if you did a blood test it would tell you if you had anti bodies that fought the infection so then you would have herpes. But both times came back clear, nothing in the blood test. Just don't know, it came back twice just itchy little spots. I didn't see any hair foliciles on my thigh.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ivan Romich (17 minutes later)

Yes. But antibodies wouldnt develop for local infection. Microbe must penetrate into blood to cause immune system activation. Best way to see is this herpes is to apply aciklovir or some other antiherpetic cream and see improvement.
For bacterial infection,swab can be taken and analysed.
There is a posibility that this isnt infection at all. It can be allergy reaction to clothes, bedclothes or cosmetics. Itching can be managed by corticosteroid creams,consult your pharmacist about this.

Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar