Cellulitis

[Jansy16]

Any tips please for this painful condition. First Dr I saw said it was water retention, next one said Cellulitis prescribed antibiotics but I still have it my foot, leg & ankle is swollen, red & itchy also has pus filled blisters. Been checked for blood clots & thankfully found none.

[Hidden]

It is a skin infection..My daughter had it when she was walking barefoot in sandals in Barcelona..awful.. for now get some salt foot and leg baths..ask a good pharmacist for a local disinfectant.

[Jfb1]

Hello Jansy

Cellulitis is a bacterial infection of the skin which is most frequently seen in the lower leg and foot. The bacteria gets into the skin itself through small cracks which you don't notice and the most common cause of the infection is athletes foot. The favoured drugs for treating cellulitis are flucloxacillin and amoxicillin and they are often used together. If you're lucky and you respond well to the antibiotics then you should be better in about two weeks. If you have athletes foot then treat it regularly to prevent further attacks and also keep you legs and feet well moisturised at all times. You mention swelling in the legs. Oedema provides the perfect breeding ground for the cellulitis bacteria giving it warmth and moisture. Therefore you should try to get to the root cause of the swelling and obtain appropriate treatment.

[Sarahem1965 in reply to Jfb1]

This poster is absolutely correct.. I developed it. God only knows how.. The doctors told me where my leg was cracking open from severe swelling in my right leg.. after several weeks of pure hell, it was gone. I’ve forever gotten scars from it. After all kinds of trying to figure out the swelling and what was causing it, the Diet Pepsi and diet cokes I was drinking was causing all the swelling in my legs.. no more diet drinks no more swelling.. best of luck to you..

[jjnanna]

OUCH that is soooo painful. Had it in my right elbow and can honestly say that I didn't know what to do with myself, spent an hour moaning and rocking myself in the A&E as it felt like a million bee stings !! very swollen too. They gave me intravenous antibiotics with a nurse coming to my home 4 times a day to do the deed. Took me a long time to get over it but now I do try and cream my elbows daily. Hope it goes quickly for you x

[Tugun]

Hi Jansy,

You wrote previously that it started approximately 12 days ago. It's almost been two weeks. I would check with A&E. They can do all the tests on site that may be needed to see how things are going and give you intravenous antibiotics if you require them. You don't want to let it go too far. I once had cellulitus around the ankle and starting to go up my leg, from a cut at a racecourse. After two weeks of antibiotics, I hadn't improved. I then tried intravenous Vitamin C. It - with the antibiotics - got me better. If you have pus filled blisters, I would check with A&E.