Boil on the thigh: causes, stages, home treatment and prevention

A boil on the head in the hair occurs due to infection with staphylococci, streptococci or fungi. It appears as a cone-shaped lump filled with pus.

Despite the fact that the problem is usually invisible to others, it usually causes significant discomfort: the patient feels throbbing pain, which intensifies when touching the affected area; in addition, severe headaches, dizziness, fever, weakness, and general deterioration of health often occur.

Causes

Boils or boils appear during a purulent-necrotic inflammatory process of hair follicles together with the tissues covering them. Sometimes inflammation affects deep-lying cells of the dermis. This is how abscesses differ from simple acne. But even visually the difference is clearly noticeable.

Boils appear for the following reasons:

• penetration of infectious agents (usually Staphylococcus aureus) into the body through microtraumas of the skin;
• excessive sebum secretion, hyperhidrosis;
• stress;
• weakened immune defense;
• hyperthermia or hypothermia;
• lack of vitamins and minerals;
• long-term use of cytostatics;
• wearing synthetic clothing of the wrong size;
• metabolic disorder;
• hormonal imbalances.

The appearance of boils is possible with chronic diseases, for example, with diabetes or infectious lesions - bronchitis, hepatitis, tuberculosis.

The first reason is the main one, the rest are considered contributing factors.

Causes of boils on the head

The main risk factors for the appearance of boils on the scalp are:

• failure to comply with personal hygiene rules (rarely washing your hair, using someone else’s contaminated comb or towel);
• use of low-quality shampoos or other hair care products;
• violation of skin integrity;
• infection through dirty hands;
• hypothermia;
• deficiency of vitamins or microelements;
• decreased immunity.

Stages and symptoms

Boils can be external or internal. The difference is easy to notice by looking at photos on medical websites. In the first case, the site of the future abscess and accumulation of pus can be noticed immediately. In the second, the pus exit channel appears after maturation, which takes about a week and a half, and may not appear externally at all. This situation is the most dangerous - then the pus will break inside, which can cause blood poisoning.

Any type of boil has four stages of development:

If abscesses occur regularly and in large numbers, furunculosis is diagnosed. Metabolic and immune disorders contribute to the development of the disease. You need to contact an immunologist and donate blood for sugar.

Furuncle: what is it and how to deal with it?

In autumn and spring, during transition periods, a large number of people's immunity decreases, very often this occurs against the background of colds. And with reduced immunity, diseases such as furunculosis often appear.

A furuncle (popularly “boil”) is an acute purulent inflammation of the hair follicle (follicle) and the associated sebaceous gland with surrounding tissue, caused by staphylococcus. The cause of the unexpected occurrence of a “boil” can be sudden hypothermia or overheating, prolonged physical or nervous fatigue.

Further development of the boil is facilitated by constant skin contamination and friction with clothing, skin irritation with chemicals, abrasions, scratching and other microtraumas, as well as increased activity of the sweat and sebaceous glands of the skin, vitamin deficiency, and metabolic disorders.

Most often, the boil is localized on the neck (in the back of the head), face, back of the hands, lower back, buttocks.

The first prerequisites for a “boil” are itching, painful redness, and the appearance of a small red bump on the skin. Approximately 4 days after the onset of inflammation, a white dot appears in the center of the tubercle - an abscess. After a few days, the abscess opens, as the pus is released, the pain subsides, swelling and redness in the area of ​​the boil decreases. After about 7-10 days, the skin is completely restored.

The danger of a boil lies, first of all, in the likelihood of inflammation spreading to other parts of the body and blood poisoning. This is why boils in the head and neck area are especially dangerous.

With a severely weakened immune system, furunculosis may develop, i.e. the appearance of not a single, but multiple boils, in this situation there is a deterioration in the general condition of the patient: fever may appear, the patient will complain of general weakness, headaches.

In any situation, at the beginning of the development of the disease, you must consult a doctor. It is especially important when a boil appears and develops not to miss the moment when surgical intervention is necessary, because untimely treatment can also lead to blood poisoning. Surgical treatment of a boil is performed under local anesthesia. During the procedure, the surgeon opens the boil, removes the pus, and administers antibiotics locally. If you did not delay treatment and applied for all the necessary procedures and manipulations on time, then in a couple of days you will already forget about the unpleasant illness that ruined your life so much!

When the first signs of a boil appear, you can contact the Medical Center!

More details about the service on this problem can be found here

How to get rid of a small external boil

You can cope with a small boil at home:

1. Treat the abscess with an antiseptic composition.
2. Lubricate with Levomekol, Vishnevsky liniment or ichthyol ointment.
3. If the pain is severe, take a No-shpy or Analgin tablet.
4. Until the boil matures, keep it covered with a sterile bandage.
5. After opening, re-treat the affected area with an antiseptic and cover with a sterile bandage.

Protection is necessary to prevent infection and the wound from being injured by friction against the other thigh or clothing.

Treatment under medical supervision

If a subcutaneous boil has formed on the inside of the thigh, immediately go to the clinic to identify the stage of development of the disease and get medical help. A doctor should treat such a boil on the thigh. But even with the external option, medical consultation is necessary if:

• reddish stripes appeared, running away from the boil (a sign of the development of lymphangitis);
• temperature rises;
• a lot of pus has formed;
• the pain prevents active movement.

The doctor will prescribe applying bandages with ointments that draw out pus, warming the boil with dry heat, and UHF. If the disease is severe, you will need to take antibiotics (Tetracycline, Amoxiclava).

During the entire period of treatment of the boil, the skin surface around the source of inflammation must be treated with antiseptic medications - hydrogen peroxide, Miramistin, salicylic alcohol. To strengthen the defense system, vitamins and immunostimulants are prescribed.

Treatment of scalp boils

To fix the problem, prescribe:

• antibacterial therapy;
• external use of antiseptics, salicylic acid, Vishnevsky ointment or ichthyol.

As a result, as a rule, the abscess breaks out on its own quite quickly, after which the skin in its place must be carefully treated with an antiseptic, and healing ointments must also be applied.

It is strictly forbidden to squeeze out a boil yourself, as this significantly increases the risk of developing serious complications such as blood poisoning or encephalitis. Lack of treatment is also dangerous: in this case, the disease can take a chronic form, which often leads to the formation of an abscess.

Quite rarely, surgical opening of the abscess is required, which may leave a small scar on the skin.

Prevention of further appearance of boils on the head involves taking vitamin supplements at the frequency recommended by a specialist, a balanced diet, careful and regular hygienic hair care using high-quality shampoos and other cosmetic products that are suitable for your skin type.

Surgery

If the boil is large and the patient feels unwell, he is hospitalized and undergoes surgery:

1. The body of the boil is cut or punctured, the purulent crater is cleaned of inflammatory fluid and remnants of necrotic tissue.
2. Wash the surface of the wound with antiseptic compounds and apply a bandage with an antibacterial drug.
3. Drainage is installed in the wound for five days to facilitate the release of purulent contents.
4. The drainage is removed, after which the wound heals on its own.

The operation is performed under the influence of painkillers.

Additionally, the patient is prescribed antibiotics and immunostimulants, and vitamin therapy.

For faster relief, laser therapy is used. The operation is performed in one session with absolute cleansing of the wound from pus and necrotic core.

Possible complications

Lack of proper treatment, a late visit to the doctor and weakened immune defense are the main causes of complications. These include:

• lymphangitis;
• thrombophlebitis;
• phlegmon;
• sepsis;
• infectious-toxic shock;
• abscess;
• lymphadenitis.

To avoid them, squeezing out the boil or simply ignoring it is prohibited. During treatment, you should not visit the sauna, swimming pool, or allow clothing to rub the abscess.

Complications of the disease

Internal stye (like external stye) can often be accompanied by inflammation of nearby lymph nodes, swelling and hyperthermia, headache and general malaise. There are cases when the inflammatory process of the meibomin glands causes purulent inflammation of the orbit, thrombophlebitis of the orbital veins, thrombosis of the cavernous sinus, inflammation of the meninges and septicemia - dangerous conditions that can lead to death. Usually, this happens when trying to squeeze pus out of an abscess, because... the blood of the eyelids flows to the veins of the orbit, and then to the sinuses of the brain.

Sometimes several styes form at once, which merge into a single abscess. In this case, the likelihood of serious complications becomes much higher.

Preventive measures

To prevent the occurrence of boils or the disease becoming chronic, it is recommended:

• do water procedures at least once a day;
• change bed and underwear regularly;
• wear loose clothing made from natural fibers;
• treat hyperhidrosis, skin ailments;
• get rid of bad habits;
• drink vitamins;
• use personal hygiene products - razors, towels, washcloths;
• eat a balanced diet;
• control body weight;
• train stress resistance.

Preventive measures prevent the infection from spreading, normalize metabolic processes, and prevent the occurrence of severe complications.

Boils on the thigh and near the groin are especially dangerous: in these areas there are large blood vessels, lymph nodes, and nerve fibers. That is why getting rid of an abscess should be under medical supervision.