Hi Everyone,
This is Bonnie. I want to tell you about a recent experience and explain why I haven’t been posting as many articles lately, and won’t be for the next week or so.
When I was standing outside the library, in the city near where I live, I felt a bug crawl up my sleeve and bite me near my wrist. It was very sore, but as I was about 30 miles from home I could do nothing about it. I continued my errands and then drove home. My arm slowly got worse and more and more painful.
By the time I got home my arm was tender, hot, red, and slightly swollen for a radius of about three inches. Upon arriving home I took an antihistamine, applied an ice pack (as the area was so hot [wrong thing to do]).
The next morning, day 2, my arm was hot to the touch, red and swollen from the middle of my palm and half way up my arm. I made an appointment to see me doctor, but could not get in until the next day.
On day 3 my arm was even more swollen and an angry red. The red painful area extended into my palm and three quarters of the way up my arm. It also wrapped most of the way around my arm.
My doctor took one look and said, “Oh, my” as she knelt down beside me to get a better look. She explained that it was cellulitis and that treatment with mere oral antibiotics would not be strong enough. She phoned the emergency rooms in each of our three hospitals to see which one could take me the soonest.
Upon arriving at the emergency room all my vital signs were taken, I had a slight fever, and I was assigned a room. The ER doctor confirmed that I indeed did have cellulitis. He ordered a round of antibiotics to be administered by intravenous. I was directed to take two 500 mg tablets of Probenecid, which is used to increase the levels of certain types of antibiotics in the blood, half an hour before I was given the intravenous solution of antibiotics.
I was feeling so awful and tired that I didn’t even ask what the antibiotic was that I was getting. But, I do know that I got 1500 ml in about 15 minutes. I was glad my husband was driving because it made me nauseous and more tired.
On day 4 I had to go back into the ER for a repeat of the probenecid and the intravenous. Upon leaving the ER I was given a prescription for oral antibiotics. The red, swollen, and sore area was greatly diminished. The pharmacist informed me that there should a constant amount of antibiotic in my system at all times. Therefore, it is important that the medicine is taken on time.
This is now day 5. The affected area is down to about three inches in circumference. I am on the mend.
I have put this in because those of us with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to Cellulitis.
I truly hope that none of you ever experience cellulitis, but if you do please remember my experience and see you doctor immediately.
Bonnie
PS:
My husband also had cellulitis. He is a long-distance truck driver and during the beginning of one of his 12 day trips he was bitten by a bug and got cellulitis. He ended up in the ER in Florida. He did not receive his antibiotics by intravenous. He might have if he wasn’t so insistent that he had to make his deliveries. As the cellulitis was on his lower leg and he had to continue driving he could not keep his leg elevated. When he arrived home he saw his own doctor and received antibiotics orally. Unfortunately, his cellulitis is just beginning to heal. He is on fourth round of antibiotics and in his 8th week of having cellulitis.
Thank you for reading my long dissertation about mine and my husband’s experience. But, I really want this as a warning to everyone. The nurse in the hospital told me that they are seeing more cases of cellulitis now than in the past, and the bacteria is more resistant to our natural immune system and antibiotics than before.
Bonnie
Following is a description of cellulitis from Medbroadcast, a Canadian medical site.
Cellulitis
(Skin Infections · Erysipelas · Necrotizing Fasciitis)
The Facts
Cellulitis is a serious infection that spreads under the skin, affecting soft tissues such as the skin itself and the fat underneath it. Bacteria are the most common culprits, but very occasionally a fungus is responsible. Cellulitis is not contagious, but it can strike anyone with broken skin or damaged tissue. Cellulitis infections occur most commonly on the legs, arms, or face. Facial infections are found mostly in infants and seniors. In children, about 1 in 12 cases of facial cellulitis leads to meningitis.
Cellulitis occurs in different forms. Periorbital cellulitis occurs around the eye sockets. Erysipelas results in raised, firm, bright red patches of skin and is caused by Streptococcus bacteria. Necrotizing fasciitis is an infection that occurs below the skin.
Causes
Cellulitis usually starts with a break or tear in the skin. Many species of bacteria inhabit the skin's surface and can thrive underneath it if the barrier is broken to let them through. Bacteria can infect burns and bruises as well as cuts and scratches, puncture wounds, and dermatitis.
Other traumas that can lead to infection include:
surgery
dental work
animal bites
bug bites
human bites
There are several bacteria that can cause cellulitis. Streptococcus and Staphylococcus are the two most common species. The actual type of bacteria causing the infection depends on the nature of the exposure. Did the infection result from a cut, a cat or dog bite, or swimming in salt or fresh water with broken skin?
Cellulitis can sometimes start even on skin that hasn't been broken. This normally only occurs in people with weakened immune systems. People with diabetes, people with alcoholism, people taking corticosteroids, and others with compromised immune systems are at greatly increased risk of cellulitis and tend to get worse infections.
Necrotizing cellulitis (or necrotizing fasciitis), a rare but severe form of cellulitis, is the dreaded "flesh-eating disease" that occasionally grabs media headlines. There are two types. The first is due to a very aggressive strain of Group A streptococcus and can start anywhere on the skin. The second is due to a polymicrobial infection of different bacteria that often starts just forward of the anus following surgery or rectal abscesses. Necrotizing cellulitis starts as an extremely painful, red swelling that soon turns purple and then black as the skin and flesh die. However, the risk of getting necrotizing cellulitis is extremely small. The risk is a bit higher for people who are already sick or have a compromised immune system.
Symptoms and Complications
Uncomplicated cellulitis begins with a small area of skin that's red, glossy, painful, and warm to the touch, typically around a cut. It most often strikes the lower leg, but the arms, hands, feet, and groin are other likely sites.
Some types of bacteria can get into the lymphatic system, a network of tubes and nodes that carry disease-fighting cells and waste matter around the body. If this happens, the infection can travel under the skin and spread to other parts of the body.
Another type of cellulitis is erysipelas. The inflamed skin in erysipelas is not smooth but raised, often completely separated from the layer beneath by a pocket of gas created by the bacteria. There's often a fever a day or two before the rash.
The most severe complications of cellulitis are meningitis and blood poisoning (if the bacteria get into the bloodstream). Meningitis can occur if the bacteria get underneath the skull. The most likely route is through the eye socket. Cellulitis around an eyelid is called preseptal cellulitis. It causes a rash that might be painful or itchy. If the bacteria get behind the seal where the eye meets its socket, the condition is called orbital cellulitis. This is a medical emergency that causes symptoms of fever and impaired vision. It requires immediate treatment to prevent meningitis or eye damage.
If the infection gets into the lymphatic system or the bloodstream, red lines may be seen under the skin before the main rash. This may cause symptoms like fever, sweats, and nausea. A red line that seems to be making straight for the heart is a danger sign of possible blood poisoning (also called septicemia) and should prompt an immediate visit to the doctor.
Making the Diagnosis
A doctor can usually recognize cellulitis from the skin's appearance. Unless there's pus or an open wound, the responsible organism can be hard to identify. The exact strain of the bacteria isn't usually important, as typical "broad-spectrum" antibiotics will deal with most bacteria that cause cellulitis infections.
Treatment and Prevention
Several types of antibiotics are used to treat cellulitis. The type of antibiotic prescribed will depend on the cause and severity of the infection and on other medical conditions. Uncomplicated cellulitis should start to clear up in just a few days. It's important to finish the prescribed medication even if the symptoms go away.
When antibiotic treatment begins, your doctor may tell you to restrict movement of the affected area and rest in bed until the infection begins to subside and any fever goes down. Once the infection starts to improve, normal activities can be resumed.
Elevating the affected area so that it's higher than the heart will reduce swelling and pain.
Warm compresses increase the blood flow to help fight infection.
Antibiotics alone don't work fast enough to stop necrotizing cellulitis, so the infected flesh has to be cut away. Sometimes, amputation is the only way to prevent the disease from invading the rest of the body.
To avoid cellulitis:
Wear protective equipment when playing outdoor sports - soil forced into cuts and scratches is a common cause of cellulitis.
Wear long sleeves and long pants when hiking in the forest; this helps to avoid scratches and other injuries.
Don't go outdoors in bare feet.
Avoid swimming in salt or fresh water with broken skin.
Keep skin clean with a mild soap.
Clean cuts carefully with soap and antibiotic ointment and change bandages at least daily or whenever the bandage becomes wet or dirty.
See a doctor for large or infected cuts or wounds inflicted by animals.