About this topic
Cellulitis is an infection of your skin and the layers of tissue below your skin. It can affect any part of the body. It most often affects the face, arms, or legs. Germs can enter your body from a cut, scratch, or bite. The infected part gets red, warm, painful, swollen, and irritated. Cellulitis can be treated with drugs, like antibiotics. Some people need surgery to drain the infection. ‚
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What care is needed at home?
- Ask your doctor what you need to do when you go home. Make sure you ask questions if you do not understand what the doctor says. This way you will know what you need to do.
- If you have drugs to take at home, get the prescription filled right away, and take them exactly as ordered. Do not use extra antibiotic creams or ointments on the area.
- Use pillows to raise the infected arm or leg above the level of your heart. This will lower pain and swelling.
- Keep the area clean and dry. Do not squeeze, scratch, or rub it.
- Use clean, warm compresses to help ease pain and swelling. Wet a clean wash cloth or small towel with hot water. Put it on the area for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Wash your hands before and after touching the area.
- Wash the area with soap and water. Pat dry. Do not rub.
- Put clean dressings or bandages on the area as ordered by the doctor.
- Ask your doctor when it is safe to take a bath or shower.
- You can draw a line with a waterproof marker around the red area to see if it is getting bigger or smaller. Call the doctor if the area is getting much bigger. Also call if you have more pain or it feels more tender.
- If you have diabetes, carefully check your blood sugars and adjust your drugs or insulin as directed by your doctor.
What follow-up care is needed?
- Your doctor may ask you to make visits to the office to check on your progress. Be sure to keep these visits.
- If surgery was needed to drain the infection, your doctor may leave the area open. Keep this area clean. Protect it from dirt and dust in the air.
- If you have stitches or staples, you will need to have them taken out. Your doctor will often want to do this in 1 to 2 weeks.
What drugs may be needed?
The doctor may order drugs to: ‚
- Treat the infection. Finish all of the antibiotics, even if the infection appears to have gone away.
- Help with pain and swelling
Will physical activity be limited?
Your activity may be decreased if a leg or arm is infected. It may be painful to move that part of the body. You may not feel well for a few days until the drug to treat the infection starts working. ‚
What problems could happen?
- Infection in the blood. This is sepsis.
- Bone infection
- Inflammation of the lymph vessels
- Inflammation of the heart
- Meningitis
- Shock
- Tissue death or gangrene
What can be done to prevent this health problem?
- Wear proper clothing and shoes to cover your body and prevent cuts and bruises.
- Keep your nails trimmed. This will help you avoid harming the skin around them.
- Keep skin moisturized. Use lotion that does not have fragrance added to avoid dry, cracked skin.
- Treat athletes foot as directed by your doctor.
- If you have a chronic skin condition, talk with your doctor about how to keep it under the best control.
- If you have chronic swelling (edema) of an arm or leg, talk with your doctor about how to lower the swelling. Your doctor may want you to wear support stockings.
- Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands often with soap and water.
- If you often have fungal infections, ask your doctor if you should be using an antifungal drug to prevent the cellulitis from occurring again.
- If you scratch or cut your skin, wash the area carefully with soap and water.
- Lose weight since being overweight is linked to cellulitis.
When do I need to call the doctor?
- Signs of infection. These include a fever of 100.4 ‚ °F (38 ‚ °C) or higher, chills, or wound that will not heal.
- Signs of wound infection. These include swelling, redness, warmth around the wound; too much pain when touched; yellowish, greenish, or bloody discharge; foul smell coming from the cut or wound site; wound site opens up; blisters form at the site.
- When cellulitis is on the face, any signs of spreading to the sinus or eye must be evaluated and treated right away to avoid a serious problem, called orbital cellulitis. This can lead to severe sinus infection, blindness, brain abscess, or death.
- Inflamed area is getting bigger
- You see red streaks going up your arm or leg
- Feeling weak or dizzy
- You are not feeling better in 2 to 3 days or you are feeling worse
Teach Back: Helping You Understand
The Teach Back Method helps you understand the information we are giving you. The idea is simple. After talking with the staff, tell them in your own words what you were just told. This helps to make sure the staff has covered each thing clearly. It also helps to explain things that may have been a bit confusing. Before going home, make sure you are able to do these: ‚
- I can tell you about my condition.
- I can tell you about to care for my wound.
- I can tell you what I will do if I have swelling, redness, or warmth around my wound.
Where can I learn more?
NHS Choices ‚
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Cellulitis/Pages/Causes.aspx ‚
Consumer Information Use and Disclaimer
This information is not specific medical advice and does not replace information you receive from your health care provider. This is only a brief summary of general information. It does NOT include all information about conditions, illnesses, injuries, tests, procedures, treatments, therapies, discharge instructions or life-style choices that may apply to you. You must talk with your health care provider for complete information about your health and treatment options. This information should not be used to decide whether or not to accept your health care providers advice, instructions or recommendations. Only your health care provider has the knowledge and training to provide advice that is right for you. ‚
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Copyright ‚ © 2015 Clinical Drug Information, LLC and Lexi-Comp, Inc. ‚