How to treat a boil so as not to get blood poisoning

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The first rule is not to touch the abscess!

The desire to pick out an unaesthetic boil cost the lives of many famous people. The same Joseph Ignace Guillotin, who is credited with the invention of the guillotine. Or the great Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. But let's not talk about bad things ahead of time.

What is a boil

Boils or boils are called dense, rounded abscesses, abscesses, sometimes swelling on the surface of the skin.

It looks unpleasant. Something like this (options for other sizes and degrees of redness of the epidermis around are possible):

It feels even more unpleasant. Unlike a common pimple, which at first can be confused with a developing abscess, the boil hurts, and the skin next to it looks inflamed and often has a high temperature. And in general, this is logical if you understand where the muck came from.

Why do boils appear

The bacteria Boils - Treatments, Causes, and Symptoms, more precisely staphylococci, are to blame for everything. They live on the skin of each of us and in most cases do not cause much trouble. However, under certain conditions, a violation of the peace treaty is possible.

In case of injury, mechanical damage (for example, constant friction) or a decrease in skin immunity (it is caused by a variety of reasons: from vitamin deficiency to diabetes), staphylococci can penetrate the skin. In particular, in the hair follicle - the sac from which the hairs grow.

The inflammation develops in the hair follicle, so the hair is always in the center of the boil.

In response to aggression, the body sends leukocytes - white blood cells - into the same sac, whose task is to absorb and digest insolent microbes. Destroying the infection, leukocytes die themselves - this is how pus is formed.

When they die, the defenders release substances that cause a local inflammatory reaction. Therefore, the skin around the battlefield swells, turns red, and becomes hot.

Redness and soreness persist until the boil opens and empties. The stages of this process look something like this:

What is the danger of a boil

The hair follicle is closely related to the blood vessels. If you inadvertently damage them (for example, trying to squeeze pus out of an immature boil, where leukocytes have not yet won a victory over microbes), bacteria can enter the bloodstream. And this is fraught with blood poisoning.

Together with the blood, microbes enter the internal organs, which is why they begin to malfunction.

Boils on the face, neck or scalp are especially dangerous in this regard. The infection quickly enters the brain and can lead to meningitis, cerebral vein thrombosis and other extremely unpleasant conditions.

How to treat a boil at home

Better - nothing. If you have a boil, the most thoughtful decision would be to go to a doctor - a therapist, dermatologist or surgeon. The specialist will examine the abscess, assess its location and size, analyze your health condition and, based on the results, give recommendations on how best to treat the boil specifically for you. These are the recommendations that will have to be diligently followed at home.

If you have not yet seen a doctor, home treatment can only consist of the following Boils - Treatments, Causes, and Symptoms:

• Use warm compresses. They will help reduce pain and speed up the maturation of the boil. Gently apply gauze soaked in warm water 3-4 times a day for 15 minutes.
• Apply antiseptic ointments with a pulling effect to the boil: ichthyol, heparin, synthomycin (which one to choose, it is better to consult a doctor)

Do not under any circumstances open an abscess with a needle and do not squeeze out pus!

If the boil has opened on its own, thoroughly wash the wound with antibacterial soap, then treat it with any antiseptic - it can be alcohol-based. Apply a topical antibacterial ointment, such as levomekol or tetracycline, and apply a bandage. Rinse the wound with warm water 2-3 times a day and apply warm compresses until it heals

When to see a doctor urgently

If, in addition to a boil, you have at least one of the following symptoms, seek immediate medical attention:

• Fever (rise in body temperature above 38, 5 ° C).
• Swollen lymph nodes.
• The skin around the boil is distinctly red and hot, and the diameter of the inflammation exceeds 2–3 cm and grows.
• The pain becomes too much, you cannot forget about it.
• New boils appear.

These symptoms indicate that the infection has entered the bloodstream. To prevent the consequences from becoming dire, it is necessary to start taking antibiotics as soon as possible. Only a doctor can pick them up.

Also, special medical attention is required for people who develop a boil against the background of diabetes, problems with the cardiovascular system, iron deficiency anemia, any malfunctions in the immune system, or taking immunity-suppressing drugs. In this case, the body's defenses may not be enough to defeat the infection on its own. Therefore, you will most likely need additional therapy.