Cellulitis. The first time I heard that word, my first thought was of cottage cheese thighs, not a serious skin infection. But a skin infection is exactly what cellulitis is. Not to be confused with cellulite, that much maligned condition that strikes fear in the hearts of image conscious people, cellulitis is a potentially dangerous skin infection usually caused by Staphylococcus bacteria but sometimes caused by other germs. Cellulitis can affect any area of the body. It usually gets started from an innocuous cut or scratch, where bacteria can invade and spread, though it can also pop up spontaneously, especially in people who have diabetes or weakened immune systems. Before too long, that innocent looking cut or tender patch of skin becomes hot, red, painful, and swollen. Left untreated, the nasty infection gets into the blood and spreads, making the unfortunate soul who has it feel very sick and knocking them out of commission for at least a few days.
In the spring of 1998, I was 25 years old and had never heard of cellulitis. Little did I know, I would suffer from it three times in three different locations on my body over the course of a year. By the end of that year, I knew a whole lot more about cellulitis, how much it hurts when it strikes, and how dangerous it can be if left untreated. Cellulitis is not a medical condition that gets a lot of press, but suffering from it three times ended up costing me a lot of money and some of my pride. I still have a scar on my face from my second round with cellulitis. If, by writing this article, I can help someone avoid dealing with cellulitis, I’ll be a happy lady.
Cellulitis, take one!
I got very sick the first time I had cellulitis. At the time, I was newly returned from a two year stint with the Peace Corps and working as a waitress at an upscale restaurant. The job was stressful and exhausting. I remember working the lunch shift one Saturday afternoon and noticing that a quarter sized patch of skin a couple of inches above my belly button was red, painful, and hot. The pain was minimal and I was new on the job, so I chose to ignore it. I worked my shift and went home. Over the course of the evening, the patch got bigger and more swollen. I started to think I should see a doctor about it, but I had no health insurance and the next day was Sunday. There weren’t any “doc in the boxes” open in the area where I was living at the time.
By the next morning, the patch was half as big as my hand. I was supposed to go to work that day, but there was no way I could. The patch was so swollen and painful that I couldn’t comfortably wear pants. I was in a lot of pain, so I called in sick. My bosses at the restaurant were not too pleased about my inability to work and they laid on a heaping helping of guilt, which made me feel even worse! I camped out on the couch and watched helplessly as, over the course of the day, the patch got bigger. I took over the counter painkillers and hoped I could make it until the next day, when the walk in clinics would be open.
By early evening, the patch of cellulitis was the size of my hand. I had a fever of 102 degrees and was still arguing with my employers about whether or not I could come to work the next day. It was at that point that I decided to go to the emergency room at the local hospital. A nurse took one look at the angry red patch above my belly and hustled me back to a treatment room. The emergency room doctor examined the inflamed patch of skin and started talking about cutting it open so that it could drain. Then he changed his mind about cutting me, to my great relief. He told me I needed IV antibiotics and would have to stay home from work for a few days. I had never had an IV before and the prospect of getting one was scary, but the doctor insisted that I needed the medication more quickly that I would get it if I took pills.
I was feeling too rotten to argue too much about the IV. Luckily, the technician who inserted it was a pro and I never felt a thing. The IV antibiotics helped a lot and I felt much better after a few hours. While I was hooked up to the drip, I was visited by a crisis worker because I was alone and very upset. To this day, I don’t know if the crisis worker was a man or a woman. He or she had both an androgynous look and first name. I left the ER with a prescription for Cephadroxil, which is an expensive, heavy-duty antibiotic, and was back at work after three days at home. That incident cost me several hundred dollars and prompted me to shop for a health insurance policy which, luckily, was in place the next time I got sick!
Cellulitis, round two!
I thought I’d seen the last of cellulitis after the first bout, but I was mistaken. One Wednesday in early January 1999, I was stricken by the dreaded infection again, this time on my face! The first time I had cellulitis, it seemed to start spontaneously, since I didn’t have a visible cut. The second time, the cellulitis got started from a pimple on my left cheek that got infected. You know how doctors tell you not to pick at your skin when you have cuts or pimples? Well, I’m here to echo that sentiment and let my readers know that it’s especially dangerous to let wounds near your eyes get dirty from your fingers. I played too much with a pimple and it very quickly turned into a particularly scary and costly bout of cellulitis.
This time, I could feel the infection as it spread toward my left eye. The skin on my left cheek gradually became hot, red, and inflamed; then, the area around my eye got so swollen that the left side of my face started to look misshapen. Since I had already dealt with cellulitis once before, I knew exactly what to do. I went directly to my doctor’s office. He gave me a shot of cephtriaxone, another expensive antibiotic, in my hip and told me to call him if the infection got worse. Unfortunately, it did. By the next morning, the area around my left cheek and eye was so swollen that I looked deformed. I called the doctor and was asked to come right in for a examination. My doctor gave me another shot of cephtriaxone and sent me straight to the emergency room, where he expected I would be admitted at least overnight for IV antibiotics. My doctor had asked a general surgeon to meet me at the ER, but I ended up seeing a head and neck surgeon. The head and neck surgeon didn’t feel that the infection was bad enough to justify a hospital stay, but he did tell me that I had to see him first thing Monday morning. I went home, relieved that I didn’t have to stay in the hospital.
My doctor watches my back
I struggled through the next day. That Friday afternoon I tried to take a nap, only to be awakened later by my doctor calling to inform me that he’d arranged for me to see a different head and neck surgeon in the next town. I argued with my doctor about seeing yet another doctor about the infection on my face. Unlike the first time I got cellulitis, I didn’t feel sick, since I had gotten on antibiotics at the very beginning of the ordeal. I just looked like hell. The left side of my face was extremely swollen and red and I looked like I’d been in some kind of serious accident. My doctor insisted that I go see the other head and neck surgeon, all the while ranting about the head and neck doctor in the ER who had sent me home the previous day. He told me he’d found out that the doctor at the hospital wouldn’t be in town over the weekend and he thought that was why he’d sent me home, adding that he didn’t like to send his patients to that particular doctor because he felt he was careless.
Naturally, I was surprised that my doctor would talk so openly about his negative feelings toward the head and neck surgeon, but I finally agreed to see his colleague in the next town. It was very embarrassing, being out in public with such a swollen, deformed looking face, but I did it. As it turned out, I wasn’t sorry. The other head and neck doctor I saw was, quite possibly, some kind of a saint. By the time I saw him, It was late on a Friday afternoon and the doctor was shutting down for the day. After examining me, the saintly doc advised me to let him admit me to the hospital. I reiterated that I didn’t want to be in the hospital. I didn’t feel sick and felt that being in the hospital would be an expensive and unnecessary ordeal. The saintly doc then listed the long list of things that could go wrong if I didn’t let him admit me, including meningitis or blindness, but of course I wasn’t moved. Finally, he thought about it for a minute, then agreed to meet me at the emergency room. I met him there and got another shot of cephtriaxone in my hip. The saintly doctor then insisted that I call him over the weekend as he bid me farewell.
On Saturday, I drove back to the emergency room in the next town, met the saintly doctor, and got another shot of cephtriaxone in my hip. By Sunday, my face pretty much deflated as all of the foul smelling, brown pus drained from the cellulitis on my face and my hip felt like a pin cushion from all the shots. But I looked almost normal by the end of the day, and that was a big relief. When I saw the doctor on Monday, he was very pleased to see me looking almost as good as new, except for the small red scar that still remains on my face to this day. The saintly doc never even charged me for those two visits to the ER.
The third time is the charm!
I honestly don’t know why I dealt with cellulitis so often 8 years ago, but when I got it a third time, this time on my left waist, I knew exactly what it was. I saw the doctor, got a half course of high powered antibiotics, and that was that. I haven’t had to deal with cellulitis since then. I’m wondering if I got a germ while I was living overseas.
Be careful with cellulitis
Cellulitis is nothing to fool with. The signs of cellulitis are like those of any inflammation. Redness, warmth, swelling, and pain are its most common hallmarks; any wound or ulcer that exhibits these signs may be developing cellulitis. Cellulitis is not contagious, but it does require prompt medical treatment. Left untreated, cellulitis can become a life threatening condition. It’s especially important to seek medical attention quickly if cellulitis develops on your face because the infection can spread to your brain and cause meningitis or other severe complications.
If you get cellulitis and let it progress, you will likely become physically ill and will need pain relief as well as antibiotics. The best thing to do, though, is to see a doctor before the cellulitis starts to spread. You will probably be prescribed some potent antibiotics that will be very effective, but might cause you to suffer a yeast infection. That’s because strong antibiotics don’t just kill germs; they also kill the “good bacteria” that keeps the yeast that naturally grows in your body from growing out of control. I had yeast infections the first two times I took antibiotics for cellulitis; the third time, I was able to take a half course and didn’t end getting with a yeast infection. Both times I suffered yeast infections, I used over the counter remedies to clear them up. If you like yogurt, you might want to eat more of it while you take the antibiotics. It might help you avoid getting a yeast infection and having to use the over the counter rememdies.
As the cellulitis heals, the pus will drain from the area. It will smell bad and look really gross. You’ll start to feel better, but the healing process is messy, foul smelling, and disgusting. The sooner you seek treatment, the less time you’ll need to spend recovering, the less money you’ll spend, and the less likely your stomach will turn during the healing the process. Be sure to take the entire course of antibiotics so that the germ that caused the infection is eradicated.
It’s true…
Cellulitis is one medical condition that doesn’t get a lot of press but, believe me if you get it, you won’t likely forget the experience. I sure could have done without having it, especially on my face. The best way to prevent cellulitis is to keep wounds scrupulously clean, try to prevent cuts or scratches, and don’t pick at your wounds when they’re healing. And if your cuts or scratches start to get hot, red, and painful, be sure to seek medical care immediately.
Reference:
- The Mayo Clinic- www.mayoclinic.com EMedicine.com– www.emedicine.com/ Wikipedia- en.wikipedia.org/
