For those of you who do not want to read my whole story, a quick rundown. There is an active ingredient in neosporin (neomycin) that 1 in 4 people are allergic to. The allergic reaction often times looks like an infection, which can cause people to misdiagnose and apply more neosporin making the situaiton worse.
The story:
About two weeks ago, I got mat burn on my face during a BJJ session. After I came home, showered, and everything I put neosporin on the area where I had the burn wound. The next morning, things didn't seem any better, so I kept applying it each day. On the third or fourth day, it looked worse, and I thought I had contracted a staph infection.
Those who play BJJ know the seriousness of a staph infection, so I went to the doctor, and they agreed with my assessment of it being infected (although they did not test it to make sure), and gave me an oral antibiotic. After about a week to 9 days, sure enough the redness and swelling in the area affected went away.
Yesterday, I grappled (the second time after recovering from my "staph") and I got mat burn again on the same spot. I put neosporin on it again, and this morning again it looked like I got infected again. I immediately washed my face again very thoroughly and this time did not apply any neosporin on the area and allowed the wound to scab. Within a couple of hours, the area of redness and swelling has reduced and it looks a lot better.
With a bit of research (searching the internet
), I found out that one in four people (25%) are allergic to neosporin and produce similar symptoms that may look like an infection. The main difference is - which happens to be my case as well - is that staph usually eats away at the skin and produces boils (that look like pimples or acne), whereas the allergy is just red, swollen, and can "ooze" fluid. My symptoms are the latter, but both still look like infections and it is hard to tell which is which. It can take from a few days to weeks to recover from the allergic reaction depending on the amount and duration of neosporin applied.
I am going to see a doctor later today, to see if things will get better or worse, and whether they can administer a test to see if I am really allergic. In the end, I thought I'd pass on this information to you guys just in case you might face a similar situation when using neosporin.
