is there a difference between a boil and an abscess
Summary. 1  A boil is just one type of abscess which forms on skin, abscesses can occur anywhere in the body including livers, lungs, brain, etc and can be quite deadly as well. A boil occurs often as a result of an infected hair follicle while an abscess occurs as a result of insertion of foreign objects such as splinters, bullet wounds, or injecting needles.