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Boils And Carbuncles
Introduction
Boils and carbuncles are painful, pus-filled bumps that form under your skin when bacteria infect and inflame one or more of your hair follicles.
Boils usually start as red, tender lumps. The lumps quickly fill with pus, growing larger and more painful until they rupture and drain. Although some boils disappear a few days after they occur, most take about two weeks to heal.
Boils can occur anywhere on your skin, but appear mainly on your face, neck, armpits, buttocks or thighs — hair-bearing areas where you're most likely to sweat or experience friction. Sometimes boils occur in clusters called carbuncles. Although anyone can develop boils and carbuncles, people who have diabetes, a suppressed immune system, or acne or other skin problems are at increased risk.
You can usually care for a single boil at home, but don't attempt to lance or squeeze it — that may spread the infection. Call your doctor if a boil or carbuncle is extremely painful, lasts longer than two weeks or occurs with a fever. In that case, you may need antibiotics or surgical drainage to clear the infection of boils and carbuncles.
Signs and Symptoms
A boil usually appears suddenly as a painful pink or red bump that's generally not more than 1 inch in diameter. The surrounding skin also may be red and swollen.
Within a few days, the bump fills with pus. It grows larger and more painful for about five to seven days, sometimes reaching golf ball size before it develops a yellow-white tip that finally ruptures and drains. Boils generally clear completely in about two weeks. Small boils usually heal without scarring, but a large boil may leave a scar.
A carbuncle is a cluster of boils that often occurs on the back of the neck, shoulders or thighs, especially in older men. Carbuncles cause a deeper and more severe infection than single boils do. In addition, carbuncles develop and heal more slowly and are likely to leave a scar. Carbuncles sometimes occur with a fever.
Boils and carbuncles often resemble the inflamed, painful lumps caused by cystic acne. But compared with acne cysts, boils are usually redder or more inflamed around the border and more painful.
Causes
Boils usually form when one or more hair follicles — the tube-shaped shafts from which hair grows — become infected with staph bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus). These bacteria, which normally inhabit your skin and sometimes your throat and nasal passages, are responsible for a number of serious diseases, including pneumonia, meningitis, urinary tract infections and endocarditis — an infection of the lining of your heart. They're also a major cause of hospital-acquired infections and food-borne illnesses.
Staph bacteria that cause boils generally enter through a cut, scratch or other break in your skin. As soon as this occurs, specialized white blood cells called neutrophils rush to the site to fight the infection. This leads to inflammation and eventually to the formation of pus — a mixture of old white blood cells, bacteria and dead skin cells.
Treatment
Your doctor may drain a large boil or carbuncle by making a small incision in the tip. This relieves pain, speeds recovery and helps lessen scarring. Deep infections that can't be completely cleared may be covered with sterile gauze so that pus can continue to drain. Sometimes your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to help heal severe or recurrent infections.
Prevention
Although it's not always possible to prevent boils, especially if you have a compromised immune system, the following measures may help you avoid staph infections:
- Thoroughly clean even small cuts and scrapes. Wash well with soap and water and apply an over-the-counter antibiotic ointment.
- Avoid constricting clothing. Tight clothes may be stylish, but make sure they don't chafe your skin.
Information obtained from National Institute of Health