Deep Skin Abscesses: Do You Need General Surgery?
If you suffer severe boils, inflamed hair follicles, and other deep skin abscesses throughout the year, you may use home treatments to get rid of the growths. But if everything you do fails to drain or permanently get rid of the abscesses, you may need general surgical treatment instead. Learn why you have deep skin abscesses and how a general surgeon can treat them below.
Why Do You Get Abscesses?
Abscesses, or large pockets of pus, can be extremely painful and embarrassing when they develop deep below the skin's surface. A number of things cause deep skin abscesses to develop in the skin, including bacterial infections.
Bacteria can enter the tiny pores and deep hair follicles in your skin and infect them. The infections can create large and painful abscesses inside your skin that may or may not come to a head with hot compresses and medication. Even if you manage to bring the growths to a head and drain them, they may come back at a later date.
A general surgeon can drain and remove the abscesses under your skin for you.
How Can a General Surgeon Help?
Many physicians use general surgery to treat ailments of the skin, including deep skin abscesses. A doctor may use general surgery to drain your abscesses. A surgeon will either drain the pus out with a sterile syringe, or they'll make a small slit (cut) into the growth and allow it to drain on its own. Both methods allow the wound to heal naturally on its own.
If the infections in your skin don't respond well to the treatments above, a surgeon or doctor may use the packing method to heal the abscesses. A surgeon will drain the abscess, then pack the empty cavity with a wick made of a type of gauze material. The wicking material keeps the cavity open until it's completely empty of fluid. You or a surgeon may need to remove and change the packing material regularly.
A general surgeon may also want to know why you keep getting skin infections. Some infections reoccur in people who have excessive bacteria in their blood or skin. Infections can also reoccur if you have a family history of growths. A doctor can examine your skin and blood to see if you have certain risk factors for skin infections. The results of the examination can help a surgeon find treatments made specifically for you.
For more details about your deep skin abscesses and how to treat them, contact a general surgeon today.
Contact a clinic like Associates of Surgery to learn more about general surgery.
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