Folliculitis in armpits from deodorant?

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I've always had trouble finding a deodorant/antiperspirant that works to keep me from stinking, and about a year ago I switched to only using deodorants, with no aluminum or anything to hinder sweating, hoping that at least the smell wouldn't stay in my shirts anymore.

I recently started using a new, more naturally-derived deodorant when the store was out of my usual. It works better than any other deodorant I've ever used! There's just one catch: my armpits have been breaking out in pimples, and large, deep boils are forming under the skin.

The deodorant is Schmidt's Charcoal + Magnesium. Here are the ingredients, as listed on the container: Maranta arundinacea (arrowroot) powder, Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), Cocos Nucifera (coconut) Oil, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (fractionated coconut oil), Euphorbia Cerifera (candelilla) Wax, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Magnesium hydroxide, Natural fragrance, Carbo activatus (activated charcoal), Tocopherol (vitamin E, sunflower derived).

Another thing, I am also allergic to "trees, grass, and weeds," though I received several years of allergy shots for this and for mold. I get mild contact dermatitis from handling things like hay, but it just itches for a few minutes.

I have been taking breaks from using this deodorant, and applying witch hazel to my underarms every day and after I shower. I've been thinking perhaps my underarms would adjust after awhile (I have now been using it a little more than a month, I think), and they don't look as bad as they did at first, but it's becoming painful and I can't shave or trim my underarm hair without irritating it more. Today I discovered there's much more happening below the surface of my skin than I thought. There are evidently large (but smaller than a pea) pus-filled nodules under some unassuming surface bumps. I expressed one but another apparently busted deep underneath the skin and it is now painful and swollen.

I wonder if there is any way that my skin may adjust or if I need to just give up and try something else? And how should I treat the pimples and boils I have?

I love everything about this deodorant except for my skin's reaction to it, but I don't know if I can keep on using it like this.

Thanks for any help given.

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  • Posted

    The same thing has happen to me after using that same deodorant. I have never had any skin issues ever until i used that deodorant. That s**t needs to be taken iff the market. I have a boil the size of a golf ball and its the most painful thing i have ever experienced, and ive had 2 children. This sucks. I am going to see the doctor in 2 days.

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