Chronic impetigo- WTF do I do

[MayfairMonopoly]

I had impetigo nearly 2 years ago and have never got over it. Most of the sores healed but a couple didn’t and are now left as open wounds.

It hasn’t spread again to other areas of skin anymore so I don’t believe it is still infected like it was when I had the impetigo

But the areas where I was infected were crusty and weepy at the time of the infection. Now they are raw and open sores and won’t heal. 2 years later and 8 different antibiotic prescriptions and we still have no answer as to why my skin won’t heal. My blood test showed I am healthy.

The skin tries to heal over the sores but can’t seem to. It just opens up into big raw graze-like wounds again. I still live at home with my parents and they haven’t caught it which makes me think it’s no longer infectious impetigo.

But for 2 years the same area of skin has been raw and weepy. It’s like a deep graze and it is agony to shower and put clothes over it. It’s also embarrassing and horrible to look at.

Please tell me someone else has had this and knows what to do. At the moment I’ve been told to moisturise it and stop the skin from drying but it’s not helping. I feel so alone and upset and want to have normal skin again

Have you had a referral to a dermatologist? If not, go back to your gp and insist.

Have you had autoimmune tests?

What treatment have you used? Fucidin I guess?

Sounds awful op, much sympathy

At the moment I’ve been told to moisturise it and stop the skin from drying but it’s not helping

^

Do the opposite

Yeah I’ve recently been referred but waiting time for dermatology is 18 months + here and will get pushed back as they get more serious referrals too. Can’t afford to go private unfortunately x

I’ve had 8 prescriptions with different antibiotics / different quantities of antibiotics, but it hasn’t made a difference. Apart from that it’s just steroid creams and moisturiser emollients.

It’s really painful and feels like the skin is raw and open. It’s like a big weepy graze. The biggest patch is roughly 4cmx4cm and it’s just not healing up.

I’ve never had impetigo before and never appreciated how horrible it actually is

I remember an outbreak when working abroad being cleared up by iodine. Not sure if it's worth trying?

I suspect it's not actually impetigo. Has your gp taken any swabs for the labs to find out what, if any infection is present?

It sounds like you need dressings to help it heal but I agree you need a specialist if the GP is not getting anywhere.

I’m so sorry this sounds so distressing.

I would be calling the consultant secretary regularly, stress how close you live to the hospital and that you will take any cancellation offered.

A private deem consult is about £200 max. They can offer you private prescriptions which you can then show to your your GP who can do you an NHS prescription. That’s how I afforded the treatment I needed.

Try colloidal silver spray, can get it on amazon. Amazing stuff.

I’d speak to your GP before doing this. But-

I had a patch on my arm like this. Wouldn’t go. They said it was eczema, then infected eczema- had loads of steroid creams and loads of antibiotics and nothing helped. Eventually saw another GP who said it was a fungal infection and prescribed Daktarin (athletes foot cream- you can buy it in the pharmacy). Cleared it up within days! Apparently steroid creams make fungal infections worse so I was adding to the problem by using them.

I think it’s definitely worth asking your GP, if they haven’t already tried this.

Yeah swabs were taken at the start of the infection and they were used to diagnose impetigo (I can’t remember which bacteria was found though)

I’m not sure if it’s still the same as that was 2 years ago, but it’s definitely infected with something. The antibiotics have helped it when it started to spread, but nothing actually takes it away. It’s starting to spread again so I’ll probably need to phone back and get a new prescription- it almost looks like the skin is ulcered because it’s so open, raw and weepy. I’ve used topical anitfungals but never in tablet form (if that’s even a thing that exists). Everything so far has helped but not actually healed it completely

A non healing lesion that is persisting shd really have an urgent referral. Ask for the referral it to be expedited.

You can get something called Ecthyma, which is caused by the same bacteria as impetigo but involves deeper layers of skin and can be much harder to treat. It often needs oral antibiotics (long course) and a topical disinfectant. It would be worth asking your GP about it (I’m not a skin doctor, or a GP)

Thanks I’ll ask about ecythyma in case it’s that. Hopefully not as it sounds unpleasant but at least then we would have an answer and a way to treat it!

I asked for it to be brought forward but I’ve been told it’s not possible unfortunately. I’m not sure of the criteria but it doesn’t meet it, which is a relief in a way that it’s not serious enough to need it, although very uncomfortable to live with.

Definitely get back to the doctors for further advice but you could also try the hydrocolloid patches which are really good for healing open sores, Amazon have quite a lot of options.

Ask for a referral to the community wound care nurse?
I’d go back to basins, total clean of bathroom and bedding. Multivits and extra Vit C.

I know you said you can't afford private
.... but its possible that if you saw a private dermatologist for just one appointment and your condition is really severe that you could be referred back to the NHS for treatment. Not sure exactly how it works but someone I know went for a private appointment after the GP was useless (for a different issue) and ended up having surgery on the NHS as the private doctor thought it was necessary.

Good luck initially I clicked on this thread because my son had impetigo that kept coming back and it was stressful but this sounds different.

Hibiscrub

Your treatment sounds all over the place. Particularly the steroid use and healing. I agree you may need to try at least one private appt, just to get into the loop if finding out what this is.
Also, it does sound urgent. Print out the criteria for urgent referrals and take it to your GP, not healing leisions.
I can’t imagine the impact on mental health.

Hi OP. Did you ever get to the bottom of this? Thank you.

OP

my son had chronic impetigo once we insisted on being swabbed, it was staph pvl which we keep at bay through a weekly dettol bath and daily antibacterial soap

Insist on a swab.