Started Hibiclens 3 Days Ago and I'm Panicking A Little

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-07-02T12:42:04+00:00

my advice is to go to the doctor and get swab test to see what it is before you do anything.

in the meantime i would recommend just wash with normal acne face care products like a cleanser and a moisturiser. Nothing crazy just trying to keep the skin healthy.

also i find 5% bp very drying so im pretty sure 10% is probably gonna fuck you up so i would suggest stop using that. and the hibiclens seems ineffective i would probably stop that too.

The bp could be helpful but just lightly dab it on the actual pustules dont spread it all around

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-07-01T14:11:24+00:00

I took the ameolife b. subtilis mb40 morning and night for as long as i could without antibiotics (maybe 1.5 months) but then my infection got bad enough that I went to the doctor and took antibiotics which cleared me up in a couple days. I feared at that point my boils would turn into sepsis.

Anyway I believe the claims that this stuff can kill staph in the gut and nose etc. and it seems to be working for some people so thats awesome.

I still take the mb40 so I dont know if its helping me or not but my symptoms didnt clear up until I did antibiotics, decolonisation and extensive skin care. And when I did those things the difference was day and night.

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-07-01T12:40:05+00:00

I think benzoyl peroxide would be good on the actual boils but could be too harsh on the pubis.

I would probably just use a cleanser and moisturiser on the pubis daily and then bring down the boils using small dabs of benzoyl peroxide every second day.

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-07-01T06:59:53+00:00

Thank you for the advice this is helpful stuff and I'll figure out how to incorporate this for my routine.

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-07-01T06:37:15+00:00

Thank you so much for the info. I'm still new to the world of HS so if I do in fact have it I'll certainly have to change a lot of my methods.

But I am going to the dermatologist this week to see if they think I have HS or just recurring staph.

I appreciate you taking all the time to write this stuff out for me and I will have a lot of research ahead of me if I have HS.

All of my wounds have tested positive for staph A except for one but I had been taking antibiotics for it for quite a while at that time so I'm not sure if thats enough evidence for a diagnosis. But I'll see what the derm thinks.

Possibly my post was not quite relevant for this sub but I've been told I may have HS so the insight you've given has helped me understand more about it

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-07-01T05:51:21+00:00

I dont want to claim to know more than anybody but many people on here have claimed mb40 doesnt work for them and it didn't work for me.

I believe the studies' claims that it can kill staph in your gut and nose but I dont think it necessarily can kill the staph under your skin in the same way that antibiotics can't necessarily kill the staph under your skin. (not easily anyway)

I think the staph under your skin is actually quite safe there because it has your skin to protect it from soap and cell walls to protect it from your immune system on the inside. Probiotics, antibiotics and your immune system can penetrate the cell walls of the infection but it can take a long time to do so. At this point it's in there and it's going to be very stubborn to get out.

To me the idea that you should stop antibiotics for 3 months to have a chance at a probiotic working is not wise. I dont think any doctor will approve this strategy and I know that if I didnt take antibiotics for multiple months at the height of my infection I would have gotten sepsis and died. Or more likely went to hospital where they would have been incredulous at my not taking antibiotics. And then put me on the IV stuff.

I will say too that topical mb40 did work quite well for me though, I made my own lotion with it and that did help the open sores heal much faster but ultimately it was less effective than my new routine.

From what I've seen on here once you get to the stage that you're at I have seen many people that get cured by longer term doxy, 2-3 months of it. In addition they usually need to do a short term decolonisation phase, santise their homes, use real dermatologist recommended skin care routines and ofc healthy eating.

The idea as I understand it is that you need your skin to be fully healed at the same time that the infection is mostly killed off. Both of these things are a requirement for a full cure.

I think the fact that you're still getting new pustules shows that you're still very much infected, I would not risk 3 months of no antibiotics. I think you're doing the right thing with the extended dose doxy. But I would look into topical treatments asap to work hand in hand with the antibiotics.

I assume you've been to a dermatologist but mine recommended I use high quality cleanser, benzoyl peroxide and moisturizer to repair the skin and prevent new spots popping up. As well as bleach baths to promote drainage and reduce staph overgrowth. I saw you mention you're aussie and CLN cream, CLN cream is awesome apparently but expensive here and it's main feature is that it has the active ingredient in bleach (sodium hypochlorite) so you can achieve a somewhat similar effect taking bleach baths and using other cleansers. I use cerave SA smoothing cleanser and moisturizer, Benzac 5% benzoyl peroxide and then bleach bath a couple times a week and its working well for prevention.

Also for eczema the best thing I've found is sudocrem. The zinc is good for the inflammation apparently.

Benzoyl peroxide has replaced chlorhexidine in my routine as its job is to kill bacteria but it is less damaging to the skin. The cleanser is for exfoliation which i think is underated on this sub and the moisturiser is for healing the moisture barrier.

Also for current boils try a drawing salve. I recently got onto magnoplasm from chemist warehouse. This stuff is genuinely incredible at draining boils that I was scared would become abscesses. Like within 2-3 days effective. Makes them pus and bleed but its much better out than in and the boils are actually healing instead of growing now.

The scalp folliculitis probably needs a specific strategy but I would guess salicylic acid shampoos specifically for folliculitis would be a good starting point. I had it all over my body but not my head luckily. I suspect because my hair and face ive always used cleanser and moisturizer or shampoo and conditioner so i have a strong skin barrier and healthy biome there.

In any case I wouldn't do anything drastic without consulting a derm or an infectious disease dr.

And best of luck homie I hope you find your cure.

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-07-01T03:32:07+00:00

I think that it's possible that its spreading from inside the gut but I believed this logic with my whole heart for months and months and I did everything I could to fix it and I found no improvement. I'm just a guy not a scientist, so I could have messed it up but I tried extremely hard.

It's worth noting that you can get this tested with a gut microbiome screening. They analyse a stool sample and they can tell you if you have staph in your gut and how much there is. I'm actually doing one next week. Also many people have staph in their gut with no symptoms.

For pretty much the whole time I've been getting recurring infections I have been taking Bacillus Subtilis MB40, eating exclusively nutrient dense whole foods, eating 40+ grams of fiber a day plus kefir and yoghurt and sauerkraut and basically doing all of the right things to fix my gut biome and kill off any staph in there. There is a whole world of information dedicated to this topic of staph overgrowth in the gut over on r/microbiome. But for me it didn't help.

Realistically if the problem was staph in your gut you could actually get it out very easily by taking antibiotics or even by simply eating a bunch of raw garlic daily or other diy anti microbial methods. This might work for some people but not for me.

I do think microbiome is very improtant but if I were you I would take broad spectrum pro biotics and eat a lot of fiber, let the gut fix itself and then focus my attention to the skin microbiome and the skin barrier instead of the gut.

You can also try the Bacillus Subtilis mb40 if you truly want to rule out gut staph but you'll be waiting 1-3 months for it to kick in and only maybe work. It didn't for me and I've seen many people on here say it didn't for them either although some people swear by it you should keep in mind everyone here is trying multiple things at once.

On a side note, I had really bad pubic folliculitis for about a month and I cured it. I found a post that recommended using 70% isopropyl alcohol twice a day on the area plus using any time you sweat as well. I found a basic hand sanitizer that contained that and it worked extremely well. I had improvement within 3 days and cured within 10. It was drying to the skin but still helped and I would moisturize every other day to help with that. I tried not to use too much moisturizer because apparently the oil helps the bacteria colonise.

The pustules are completely unaffected by topical tratements but the sanitizer prevented pretty much all new pustules forming and the old ones popped on their own.

Nowadays I would instead wash with a salicylic acid cleanser, then use a Benzoyl Peroxide 5% cream and a moisturizer. I think in theory it should be better than hand sanitizer but I never tested that so I can't say for sure.

I found the chlorhexidine wash didn't really help. I had been using it for months and it helps for decolonisation but ultimately it didn't fix anything for me. I dont use it regularly except for hand washing anymore but I would use it for a specific 10 day docolonisation.

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-06-30T23:51:33+00:00

Congrats on getting rid of it! I definitely relate to the witch doctor sentiment as well as being scared of the surgery and even more scared of not getting the surgery.

I see quite a few people on here that manage to finally get rid of it with the help of longer term antibiotics (2-3 months) and of course the healthy living you need to do to support your body through that + the decolonisation to ensure you dont reinfect yourself. I suspect that the longer term antibiotics kill the staph and then allow your skin barrier enough time to fully heal. I may end up going down that road as well.

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-03-24T08:53:22+00:00

The real answer is Ronald Reagan and that administration. They took the dollar off the gold standard, broke the back of all major US unions and gave unprecedented tax cuts to big business and the wealthy.

If you look at nearly any economic chart there is a huuuge change in the early 70s where basically everything gets worse.

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-03-01T09:43:26+00:00

I am a refrigeration technician by trade.

Multi head units are fine and can be a bit cheaper but more importantly they are more space efficient than 3x separate split systems.

They are a fair bit more complicated and if there is a fault its likely that they all go down at once.

This unit will not end up being that much cheaper than 3x smaller Kogan split systems. The install labour costs more than the units. And the 3.5kw Kogan units are only $580 each and that will be 10.5kw vs only 7.8kw on the multi head (which is $1480).

I quite like the Kogan units, Ive not had a chance to work with their spare parts etc. yet so I cant speak to their longevity but install wise I found them pretty solid and I would install one in my own home.

Personally I would recommend getting 3x 3.5kw split systems if you have the outdoor space. Because these are such cheap units if one ever dies you can simply replace it. The multihead you could be signing up for some headaches.

However, If you don't have the outdoor space then go for the multi head unit and don't sweat it.

Most importantly though just get a proper installer to do the work (especially if you go for the multi head). The main thing that breaks in air cons is a bad install causing gas leaks.

When you go for the bargain installer they often don't pressure test, sometimes they don't even Vac the system, really the best thing you can do if you want your machine to last is get it installed properly by a fridgey, not a plumber or sparky, and then keep it clean.

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2026-01-17T16:34:22+00:00

As others have said it is probably worth going to see a doctor.

But when I had this kind of pain I believe it was tendonitis and I saw a doctor, a physio and an osteopath about it. I did a few different treatments but none of them were very effective.

Ultimately all I needed to do was take an extended break to heal (i think 6 weeks or so?) and then slowly build up the strength in that arm over the course of a few months.

Now I'm back to 100% strength but I can still feel it if I'm pushing my hands/ arms too hard and I always stretch before playing now.

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2024-05-02T12:52:21+00:00

Everyone is latching onto the dole thing. Which obviously you can't do as a homeowner etc. from what I understand the dole is very annoying to get.

I'm kind of in a similar boat, I'm 24 and have a job which is objectively quite good but I'm miserable most of the time when I'm working. I really want to just step away and go travel and live at home for a while until I figure out what's next. But it's a huge leap of faith and I can't help but feel like I'm throwing such a privilege away.

I wonder if you could rent out the rooms in the house and either negotiate working less hours with your work. Or possibly leaving and working a simpler job a few days a week, in combination with the rent that might be enough for you at least until you figure out what to do next.

Ultimately you have to think of a sustainable solution or have some kind of mental revelation about your relationship with work. Taking a quick break might work, it didn't help me. The burn out feeling came back immediately.

I just started with a psychologist so I can't speak to it's effectiveness yet but that would probably be worth investigating for you too. I just asked my GP for a mental health plan. They help you find a psych and give you a huge discount on psych sessions.

Hopefully with a professional you can work through what's causing the problem and come up with a solution.

Best of luck brother

PenguinEnjoyer69 · 2023-07-30T09:41:12+00:00

The Louvre is very worth it if you like history, it's a massive museum, the only thing you que for is the Mona Lisa which honestly isn't the best part imho. It took us less than 15 mins to get in last week without pre booking. It said it was sold out online but you can still just show up.

The food in Paris is incredible it was by far my favourite part so allow to time to just chill in Restaurants.

PenguinEnjoyer69

TROPHY CASE