Boils are also calledfurunclesorcarbuncles.
Skin boils look like large pimples and can sometimes be mistaken forspider bites.
Boils appear as a red to purple lump on the skin with a white head.
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The head contains a white-yellow pus.
Due to inflammation, boils can itch and hurt.
Boils are relatively common and can heal within two weeks with proper care.
Treatment is typically done at home.
This article will discuss some of the common causes and symptoms of skin boils.
What Causes Skin Boils?
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Skin boils are usually resulting from a bacterial infection.
The most common boil-causing bacteria areStaphylococcus aureus, also known as staph, and group AStreptococcus.
Both of these infections can be treated with antibiotics if they become serious.
Methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) is a bang out of staph that is resistant to common antibiotics.
MRSA infections are harder to treat, but they look similar to those due to other forms of staph.
Boils form when normal bacteria on the surface of the skin invade hair follicles.
These are stocking-shaped structures in the skin that produce hairs.
The infection often includes a group of follicles.
Usually, one or more small whiteheads, calledpustules, will form in the center.
These are filled with a white or yellow pus-like fluid.
Sometimes boils heal without forming a whitehead.
Why Do Boils Itch?
Boils often itch and hurt due to the body’s inflammatory response to infection.
In fact, your skin may itch before a boil actually appears.
Boils come in all sizes.
They may begin pea-sized and can grow to the size of a golf ball.
This can happen quickly.
A boil that develops multiple heads is called a carbuncle.
However, they can occur in the hair follicles located anywhere on the body.
Who Is At Risk for Skin Boils?
Boils occur more often in teenagers and young adults.
People in communal living situations are also at higher risk.
People with certain health conditions are also more likely to get boils.
It is possible for boils to occur only once.
Some people, though, get them repeatedly.
A MRSA infection, for example, will need to be treated by a healthcare provider.
It should break and drain naturally.
Never reuse a cloth you used on a boil unless it has been washed in hot water.
Do not share items that have been in contact with the boil.
Be sure to wash everything that touched the boil in hot water.
Carefully dispose of any used dressings or bandages.
Complications
When the follicles are damaged, the bacteria can grow into the nearby tissue.
Sometimes the infection can spread into the bloodstream.
This is rare, but when it happens it can cause a serious illness calledsepsis.
Possible complications of boils include:
Summary
Bacterial infection is usually the underlying cause of boils.
When the bacteria infect a hair follicle, it forms a red swollen bump.
These bumps may develop whiteheads.
That said, boils itch and may be tender.
Boils occur most often in teenagers and young adults, and in people in communal living situations.
People with obese, poor nutrition, or weakened immune systems are also at higher risk.
Boils should be kept clean.
Cover them with a warm, damp towel to encourage them to break and drain.
Severe boils can be drained by a healthcare provider.
Antibiotics may also help.
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