And the word is... Impetigo

...well, at least it is according to the doctors at UVA Student Health.

So about 10 days ago, I got a small blemish on my cheek. Eh, no big deal, I thought to myself. Well, then it got a little bigger and nastier, then turned really red and dry looking. I wasn't sure what was going on, but decided it was probably a break out of eczema. I used to have terrible bouts of eczema when I was a kid, and even though I never had it on my face, and haven't anywhere in years, figured it could happen and decided just to let it resolve itself.

Then, over the next couple of days, another spot came up and they started to grow. Here's a picture of what my face looked like a week ago (5-4-11):

As you may have guessed, I utilized a wonderful thing called make up to try to cover what I thought was just an irritated patch of dry skin. I also began using a daily moisturizer to help. Little did I know that was an awful thing to do.

It appears that as I spread the cream on my face, I was also spreading bacteria. So, you guessed it, more spots began to come up. It kept getting worse and worse. Today, I looked in the mirror and saw my face looking like this:

Pretty nasty, huh? I decided to go to Student Health and see if I could get an appointment to figure out why my face was melting off. The first med student to come in had no clue, so he grabbed the head RN. After her exam and a line of questions fit for a grand jury, she was also clueless. Off to get the head doctor. In just a few minutes I had two doctors standing there just looking at my face and shoulder, where another sore had developed. Now, I know, I know. I am so easy to look at, but it was still a bit weird to just sit there and be looked at so intensly.

They finally decided that I have Impetigo, a skin infection that is caused by either a staph or strep virus. Basically, somehow, somewhere, at sometime about 10-12 days ago, some viral critters found their way into a break in my skin and started to grow. Once the infection grew and spread, I looked like a leper, a zombie, a creature of death and melting faces, a nasty person. You get the picture (quite literally if you look above! BADUM PSSHHHH!!!!)

I've started an oral antibiotic to combat the staph virus and an ointment to knock out the strep cells. Hopefully in 2-3 days, I will see an improvement in the symptoms and appearance. However, it will take 2-3 weeks to heal fully. Until then, I can't shave, can't go to Myrtle Beach as planned, can't really touch too many people, can't do nothin! However, I do have to wash all my linens, toss my razors, get rid of the make-up I used... it just isn't good.

As I have two Finals tomorrow, I don't really have the time to go into details about Impetigo. So, if you want to read up on it, click here or here.

All you really need to know is that before long, my beautiful face will be back to being just that, no blisters, no sores, no scars. Until then, don't touch my face or you too will suffer the fate of Impetigo.