There are many differences between folliculitis and syphilis, with different causes, different symptoms and different treatments.
1. Different causes: folliculitis is mostly caused by bacterial infection, skin breakage or skin contact with pathogenic bacteria, may develop; syphilis is caused by syphilis spirochete infection, syphilis is mainly through sexual contact, mother-to-child transmission and blood transmission.
2. Symptoms are different: bacterial folliculitis is mainly manifested as the prominence, swelling and pain of single hair follicles, and in some cases, small pusheads and small white spots will appear; early symptoms of syphilis will appear as genital chancre, and advanced syphilis will cause damages to the whole body systems.
3. Different treatments: folliculitis is usually treated with topical antibiotic ointment (fusidic acid cream, mupirocin ointment); syphilis is mainly treated with penicillins, such as intramuscular injection of benzylpenicillin.
If you are infected with folliculitis or syphilis, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible for examination and follow the doctor’s instructions for treatment.