Folliculitis declavans
Folliculitis declavans is also a rather rare disease and is associated with a chronic course. As in folliculitis capitis, scars form in folliculitis declavans, which lead to so-called alopecia. Alopecia means hair loss.
The disease often occurs in adulthood and usually only affects men. The cause of folliculitis declavans has not been fully researched. It is associated with an infection with the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium.
Other possible causes are genetic inheritance or immune deficiency. Unfortunately, more detailed information about the development of folliculitis declavans is not known. At the beginning of the disease, small skin elevations form around the hair follicles, which eventually become inflamed as the disease progresses.
Folliculitis declavans also heals under a central scar and progresses in other places. The plate-like scarring is accompanied by irreversible hair loss and the disease usually takes a chronic course. The appearance of folliculitis declavans is often not easy to distinguish from folliculitis capitits.
Healing of folliculitis
The healing of folliculitis can be spontaneous in some forms. If a folliculitis has developed during shaving, it usually heals on its own. In a simple form of folliculitis in the context of an infection with Staphylococcus aureus, the skin heals completely.
Neither secondary diseases nor scars are caused. In the context of autoimmune diseases or other systemic diseases, however, recurrences are more frequent. In some forms, a therapy is also required for healing.
Both folliculitis capitis and folliculitis declavans are not completely healed. These two forms of folliculitis are not acute but chronic, so that in most cases there is no complete cure. What is special about these two forms of folliculitis is that scars form during the healing process of affected areas and a lifelong hairlessness remains there.
Therapy of folliculitis
The treatment of folliculitis differs depending on the type and cause of hair folliculitis. In most cases, a drug therapy is used, which can be administered systemically, e.g. in the form of tablets, or locally, depending on the type and extent. If a folliculitis is caused by a skin fungus infection, i.e. a so-called tinea capitis, the therapy consists of an antimycotic treatment.
This treatment is often locally limited and is usually administered in the form of an ointment. If a folliculitis does not heal by these measures, a systemic therapy in the form of tablets can also be tried. If a folliculitis develops, for example, while shaving the beard, a disinfectant solution based on an alcoholic solution is often helpful.
In very pronounced cases, short-term antibiotic administration can also be helpful. It is also possible to apply an antibiotic ointment locally to the affected regions.In the case of folliculitis capitis, the therapy looks a little different from that of simple folliculitis. In this case, a combination treatment of glucocorticoids and so-called retinoids is mainly used.
Retinoids are often used in the treatment of severe acne. Folliculitis capitis is usually associated with existing acne, so that treatment with retinoids seems to be appropriate. Tinctures with glucocorticoids or salicylic acid are also used.
In some cases, antibiotic treatment can also be used. Folliculitis declavans should also be treated. In this case, disinfectant solutions with antimicrobial effect are mainly used, which are applied externally to the affected areas.
Retinoids and antibiotics are also part of the therapy for folliculitis declavans. In cases of severe inflammation, short-term glucocorticoid administration for immunosuppression may be considered. If folliculitis occurs in the context of cornification and growth disorders, a variety of local ointments are available which can be used for this purpose.
Antiseptic ointments and ointments such as Tacrolimus, which belong to the class of immunosuppressive drugs, should be mentioned here. Finally, as an important pillar of folliculitis therapy, adequate personal hygiene must be considered. It is important to keep moist skin areas as dry as possible.
