Children with milder cellulitis can be treated at home with antibiotics given by mouth. If you are treating your child for cellulitis at home, give him the prescribed antibiotics on schedule, for as many days as your doctor directs. Follow your doctor's suggestions for treating the area of cellulitis. Your doctor may suggest that you elevate the affected part of the body or apply heat or warm soaks to the affected area. After one or two days of antibiotics at home, your doctor may schedule an office visit for your child to check that the area of cellulitis has improved.
Improvement is a sign that prescribed antibiotics are working against the infection.
Your doctor can usually make the diagnosis of cellulitis by asking a few questions and examining the area of affected skin. Sometimes, especially in younger children, your doctor may also order blood cultures - samples of your child's blood that are examined in the laboratory for growth of bacteria. Children with severe cellulitis, who have fevers, or look ill, are treated in the hospital with intravenous antibiotics. Children with milder cellulitis may be treated with oral antibiotics at home, but with follow-up from the doctor to make sure that symptoms are improving. Since cellulitis can happen very quickly after an animal bite, call your doctor whenever you child is bitten by an animal, especially if the puncture wound is deep.