Cellulitis - Do Treatments Work? Symptoms
Channel: ToGetGood
Date: 2013-04-10

Cellulitis - Do Treatments Work? Symptoms

What is cellulitis?

It is caused by bacteria that gets in through open skin and infects the surrounding area where it came in from. The most common bacteria that cause cellulitis are called Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus. Now, you might have heard of these in the past, and that's because they're very common causes of infection. In fact, Staph is usually found in healthy skin and lungs. Chemical changes to the bacteria or its environment, that's to say your body, would cause it to develop a disease or an infection.

Although a cut or scratch is the most common site for cellulitis infection, even unbroken skin can become infected. The area where the skin is infected can cause a great deal of discomfort because of its symptoms -- redness, swelling, and tenderness in the area or the area adjacent to the infected part, accompanied by fever and sometimes chills.

Who are at risk?

Anyone of any age can develop it. It's more commonly seen in the really young, whose immune systems are still developing, and the elderly whose immune systems are naturally less resistant to disease-causing bacteria due to age. The elderly's skin is also less intact, naturally, because of the aging process. And of course, genetics will always play a role as it does in most disease processes; anyone with a family history of chronic cellulitis may develop the condition more easily than others, and may even suffer the same repetitive condition.

What causes cellulitis?

People who have a tendency for poor skin integrity are also at risk. Diabetics, people who have psoriasis, people who are HIV positive, or those that suffer a chronic fungal infection are at risk for developing this skin condition if their chronic disease isn't managed well enough or if their body isn't coping well enough to fight off infection.

Treatment for cellulitis? 

It's very important that you do not diagnose yourself. Strep and staph are very common causative agents of a wide variety of skin diseases. You must seek medical attention if you suspect that you have it. There are other medical conditions that have the same symptoms as it does, such as Lyme disease which is commonly misdiagnosed as cellulitis. This infection might also be your body hinting that you have an underlying disease that made you susceptible to it, so it's very important to see your GP. 

The way to find out for sure is to see a doctor who will order a bunch of diagnostic tests to confirm what's really causing the swelling, the redness, and other such symptoms. In addition, taking antibiotics without the supervision of a professional could do your body more harm than good.

Depending on how bad the infection is, your doctor might strongly advise that you allow him to drain the affected area. Otherwise, managing the underlying condition, if any exist, and following an antibiotic treatment course prescribed by your doctor will make the disorder go away.

For any questions regarding cellulitis, its treatment and its causes, please leave them in the comments section below. Thanks for watching and I hope the information helps.

Note: I do not own copyrights to some images used in this video, you can read more about it at the following Wikipedia page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulitis