# Big, painful pimples on my head.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703 "2008-06-04T00:21:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/1 "2008-06-04T00:21:29Z")
I rarely ever get zits on my face, yet, I get big painful zits on my head (in my hair). I’m a clean guy. Shower daily and whatnot. Yet, it seems that no matter the shampoo I use, I get these big ole zits. What are they and what can I do? ---
**Author:** ![exclamation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/858c86/32.png) [@exclamation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exclamation)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/2 "2008-06-04T01:40:28Z")
Maybe they’re [infected](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folliculitis)/blocked hair follicles? Or even ingrown hairs? I’ve never had an ingrown hair on my head but I’ve had a couple on my legs and they’ve looked exactly like pimples. Very sore as well. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/3 "2008-06-04T02:14:04Z")
I’ve been getting the same things since the summer has come on. I think I am just sweating more. I have toyed with getting the dome shaved to deal with the fool things. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/4 "2008-06-04T02:51:39Z")
I wonder if using some “Oxy scrub” type product on your scalp would bleach your hair at point of contact? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/5 "2008-06-04T02:53:57Z")
How old are you? If over 21, go ahead and see a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/6 "2008-06-04T02:59:54Z")
Go see a dermatologist. I know you didn’t intend to but what you describe is a medical issue and it is unlikely that any over-the-counter solutions will work although you can certainly try for a while if you want. Dermatologists have lots of things they can use. The most extreme is Accutane and I was on that as a teenager. It is basically a nuclear bomb for your skin and one of the most powerful drugs this side of chemotherapy. However, it cures problems like that forever rather than treating the symptoms. Go see a dermatologist. That is what they do for a living. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/7 "2008-06-04T04:37:52Z")
I third seeing a doctor, preferably a dermatologist. They could be lots of things, ranging from acne to inflamed hair follicles to cysts to a bacterial infection, and more. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/8 "2008-06-04T04:49:20Z")
The doctor’s out of the question for now. First, I’m in Taiwan. Second, I don’t have health insurance (in Taiwan or the US). I don’t have a job\*. I was just curious if there was something else I could do. I actually took Accutane as a teenager, which is why I don’t get zits on my face anymore. I do, however, get these larger ones on my head, which may mean their ingrown hair follicles. When I was in high school, I think I did ask my dermatologist about this. I think he recommended T-Gel shampoo, but I think the problem went away soon after I talked to him, so I never bothered with the T-gel. Now that I think of it, Paul in Saudi, I think it does have a lot to do with the heat. I just spent three weeks in Bangkok which is by far the most horribly humid place I’ve ever been in my life (I didn’t know there were places more humid than Taiwan), and I never stopped sweating. - I just made it back to Taiwan a couple of weeks ago. Once I get a job, the gracious Taiwanese government will provide me with a National Health Insurance Card, which I can use to see a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/9 "2008-06-04T15:24:45Z")
At first I thought it read "nipp…’ nevermind :smack: ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/10 "2008-06-04T16:31:26Z")
google “scalp folliculitis” and see if that sounds familiar. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/11 "2008-06-04T22:45:56Z")
_squeezes **Sigene** ’s noggin_ Hmmm…Nope. Not quite ripe yet. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/12 "2008-06-04T23:33:47Z")
Personal experience (YMMV): Check the ingredients and see if you can find a shampoo without Citric Acid. When I did, my scalp did not break out anymore. YMMV etc. . . ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/13 "2008-06-05T00:40:22Z")
I got those all the time when I was shaving my head, which was one of the reasons I stopped shaving my head. The went away a couple months after I stopped shaving, and haven’t come back. But it doesn’t sound like you’re a head shaver … ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/14 "2008-06-05T01:03:01Z")
I started getting humungous nasty painful ridiculously large zits on the back of my neck, just within the hairline, when I was 22. Reason? All I can figure is I’d joined the Army and I was getting funky germs from the barber’s clippers my head wasn’t used to. I stopped getting them after a couple years. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-painful-pimples-on-my-head/451703/15 "2008-06-05T03:55:59Z")
[QUOTE=Sigene] At first I thought it read "nipp…’ nevermind :smack: [/QUOTE] Well, he WAS in Bangkok.