Many patients get a Cellulitis diagnosis from their doctor and after a brief explanation from their Doctor still wonder what it means. This article will help you further understand that Cellulitis is and risk factors, treatment, and steps you can take to prevent yourself from getting it. Cellulitis is a common bacterial skin infection that causes redness, swelling, and pain in the infected area of the skin. It can be caused by various types of bacteria. Cellulitis affects the deepest layer of the skin and if left untreated, it can spread quickly and cause other serious health problems.
CLINICAL FEATURES
Celulitis can be commonly mistaken to be a simple skin rash which normal would clear up on its own. But as stated before Cellulitis can cause serious health risks if you leave it untreated. Cellulitis can be identified with when the discoloration has a pink to red color hue and not well defined borders. Signs of inflammation could be: rubor (skin redness), pain, warmth, inflammation, blisters with yellow fluid, etc. Some systematic symptoms could be: fever, chills, nausea/vomiting, swollen lymph nodes, low blood pressure, elevated white blood cell count, or in extreme cases the shut down of some of your organs (sepsis). Which, can occur anywhere in the body.
RISK FACTORS
Some of the things that can increase your chances for cellulitis are;
- Open wounds or ulcers
- Previous history of cellulitis
- Venous insufficiency (damaged veins that struggle to send blood back to the heart)
- Chronic edema (swelling that has been present for more than 3 months)
- Lymphedema
- Obesity
- Intra-venus drug use
- Scrapes
- Weak immune system
- Burns
- Trauma patches of dry skin
- Poor wound care
Tinea pedis (athlete’s foot) has also been identified as high risk cause for cellulitis of the lower extremities. If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these symptoms, you should seek treatment immediately.
TREATMENT
The treatment can be different based on test findings, such as blood tests, clinical observation, inspection, and palpation. For example, a mild bout of Cellulitis can be treated with oral antibiotics. Whereas, severe cases of Cellulitis may require prolonged hospitalization for the delivery of intravenous antibiotics.
PREVENTION
Cellulitis can be prevented with good skin and nail hygiene, early identification and treatment of minor trauma/bite wounds, infections, and/or skin ulcers.
IN CONCLUSION
Cellulitis is a common infection of the skin. If untreated can cause serious health problems and unwanted hospital stays. It is imperative to perform skin/nail hygiene and wound care to decrease the risk of occurrance and/or reoccurrance.