Eolgul

This post is about my face. I have to warn you, my face is pretty disgusting. If you are at all squeamish (for example, if you don't like to see close-up images of pus), you may want to skip this particular post. You can go instead directly to the other new post of the day, here. It's about yogurt and it's not in the least bit disgusting (unless, perhaps, you are French).

I'm starting off the post with an inoffensive picture so that you won't have to see anything gross unless you deliberately scroll down to read further.

This is what carrots look like in Korea. They are shorter and fatter than the commonly seen American varieties, and they come covered in dirt, to remind you that they really did come out of the ground.


Okay, if you've made it past the carrot picture, you proceed at your own risk. March 6, I notice these weird pimple-like things with little white pus-filled bumps on them, clustered under my lower lip. A day earlier there were some above my upper lip; you can make out the remnants if you look closely.


March 10. The pimple-like things have spread out toward my cheeks, and become larger.


In addition, there is noticeable swelling in my right cheek, underneath one of the bigger bumps. I look like the mirror image of John McCain.


After consulting with a Seattle doctor by email, I begin applying a topical antibiotic. He thinks it's possible that these are not pimples but a perioral dermatitis caused by bacteria. By yesterday morning, the 11th, things are looking a bit better. Even so, the swelling on my right cheek is kind of hard and painful. There's something nasty in there.


After dinner last night, I felt a liquidy tingle, and looked in the mirror. All that chewing must have forced some of the gunk out from the swollen area.


By the way, in the above picture you can see, if you look carefully, the small bald spot in my left eyebrow, the result of an infection I had there a few weeks before coming here.

I know you want to see a closeup of all that pus oozing out. Here it is.


I took this picture a few minutes ago:


The swelling is much reduced since all that stuff came out last night. But some small, new pustules are forming. It's not clear if I'm on the mend or not. If things get noticeably worse, I'll see a doctor here. The Seattle doctor said to wait 5-7 days to see if the topical antibiotic is helping.

What's that? You couldn't really make out the bald spot in my eyebrow in the earlier picture? Okay, here's a better picture of it: