Mopoyeom

The Korean word for 'folliculitis' was not one I anticipated learning during this trip, or indeed ever. But there it is, titling this blog entry.

I had my follow-up visit with the dermatologist today. The antibiotics have done wonders. I'm pleased to be able to show you a normal-looking (more or less) picture of my face.


My nose is no longer swollen and is pain-free. There are no more sores or pustules. As you can see, there is still some discoloration -- darker spots -- at the sites of the infection, but the doctor said these will fade to normal color and there will be no scarring.

This is after seven days of oral antibiotics and application of a topical antibiotic. The doctor prescribed another five days of antibiotics to be on the safe side. Apparently minor outbreaks of folliculitis are common -- a pimple-like swelling around an irritated follicle -- especially among men who shave, it's just that they don't usually spread aggressively like mine did. He suggested that if I use a fresh towel each time I bathe, and aggressively treat any new sores that might appear with topical antibiotics, I should be fine.

Like you, I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging about things other than my skin.

Oh, I took some pictures of the parking guys at St. Mary's Hospital. As you would have predicted if you'd seen this and this earlier entry, they were wearing cowboy hats.

Gamyeom

Many of you expressed concern about my face after seeing the pictures I posted earlier. Since the sores didn't seem to be responding to treatment with a topical antibiotic, I went to see a doctor. Erma's mother helped set up an appointment with a good dermatologist who has treated members of the family, at St. Mary's (성모) Hospital, and went with me there yesterday.

Although my face had mostly seemed to be healing, a day before the appointment something frightening happened: my nose became very red and painfully swollen.

The doctor diagnosed folliculitis, which is usually a kind of staph infection. This is in fact what I had been diagnosed with, and treated for, last month in America when I had a large swollen infected area under my left eyebrow. Although I'd taken a full course of antibiotics and had been without symptoms for several weeks, the doctor thought it likely that what I have now is caused by the same bacteria.

So, I've been prescribed another round of oral antibiotics and a topical antibiotic. Hopefully my symptoms will start to abate in a few days. I have a follow-up appointment with the dermatologist next Wednesday.

I've spent a lot more time in Korean hospitals than I ever imagined would be the case. I now have two Korean student ID cards and two Korean hospital ID cards.

(As it turns out, my tuition at the language school provides insurance and entitles me to use the university health clinic, but it seems better for now to see a doctor who has been personally recommended. Because I am not a Korean citizen and have no general health insurance, I had to pay about US $35 for my visit. Expensive by local standards, this seems pretty cheap from an American point of view. The cost of my prescriptions medications was about $13.)

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: