In this episode, Dr. Sanusi Umar discusses the case of John, a patient who came in with severe acne keloidalis nuchae (AKN) affecting the back of his scalp. Many patients with acne keloidalis first notice bumps on the back of the head or irritation along the neck hairline. Over time,
John Picone’s journey began after years of living with a painful scalp condition called acne keloidalis nuchae that affected nearly every part of his life. What started as bumps on the back of the head gradually evolved into severe inflammation, limiting what he could do physically and damaging his confidence.
By the time John Picone got to see Dr. Sanusi Umar, John had been to almost every doctor that treated skin issues that were similar to what John was experiencing. Each one gave John different creams, different pills, different ways to try to reduce the amount of swelling of the
Once the Cicatricial Folliculitis reached Robert’s sideburns and scalp, every day was now an unpleasant experience. This was due to the discomfort associated with inflammation from the sideburns to the scalp, and the large lesions growing around his head. According to Dr. Sanusi Umar, the sheer size of these growths
Since childhood, Robert has lived with scalp cysts, and therefore it has affected every aspect of his adulthood. As such, when compared to patients who developed this condition later in life and had time to form relationships and establish their careers prior to developing the condition, Robert’s AKN began to
Dr. Umar stated that most individuals that see severe cases of a scalp scarring disorder like Acne Keloidalis Nuchae (AKN) will frequently inquire regarding how this could have developed in such an extreme form. Although Robert acknowledged that his case was quite aggressive, he also had to continue to live
When Robert’s razor bumps or cicatricial folliculitis on the head began to migrate from the back of his head and to both sides of his head, hiding his skin condition with clothing and hats was impossible. Many people have experienced the same fate as Robert, in which the presence of
Robert describes the beginning of his battle with chronic folliculitis of the nape or hairline bumps as happening in his early childhood. During this time, the symptoms were somewhat easy to hide so the condition was less difficult to control than when the condition flared up in his late adolescence.
