My Abcess Story

[nycman]

...Many hospital injection sites become abscesses too...

Actually, hospital injections almost NEVER become abscesses. Usually, abscesses form from a failure in the sterile technique. When an abscess develops, the needle was dirty, the skin was dirty, or the product injected was dirty. Unless you are a complete moron the first two (dirty needle, dirty skin) shouldn't be a problem. Non-sterile drugs are responsible for about 95-99% of the abscesses that you see.

Since hospital drugs are tightly regulated and monitored, they are hardly ever non-sterile. Thus, hospital abscesses are a rare occurrence. Obviously, drugs obtained through "other" sources do not enjoy these same safe guards on sterility and can lead to a higher incidence of abscess formation.

 

[maximized]

This is probably going to be a dumb question, but remember, im new to this. If something like this happens, or any problems, you go to the doc, he asks "what you do..." i assume you have total confidentiality with a doctor and you can tell him everything and he cant say anything to the law can he?


-max

 

[nycman]

what anti-biotics are usuall prescribed for abcess?

Actually the textbook answer is that you don't treat abscesses with antibiotics...you treat them with incision and drainage (I&D).

Nonetheless, antibiotics are often added to an I&D or used to try and avoid I&D in "early" skin infections. Once a "real" abscess has formed though you really don't have a choice...I&D is the only treatment that's going to work.

That said, the choice of antibiotic depends on several factors...

Location of infection - below the waist is "more dirty" etc.

Most likely source of infection - skin, oral, urinary, fecal etc.

Patient’s immune system status - diabetes, AIDS etc.

Severity of infection - how sick is the patient

History of recent antibiotic use - the "bug" is more likely to be resistant to any antibiotics you've been using recently

Allergies to antibiotics - should be self explanatory

OK, I still haven't answered the question...

Generally speaking, in a healthy patient with a minor/moderate infection, good choices might be….

A first generation cephalosporin....like cephalexin (Keflex)
-or-
A second or third generation penicillin...like dicloxacillin (Dynapen) or amoxicillin clavulanate (Augmentin)
-or-
(if you're allergic to penicillin)
A macrolide...like erythromycin (E-mycin) or azithromycin (Zithromax)

 

[nycman]

This is probably going to be a dumb question, but remember, im new to this. If something like this happens, or any problems, you go to the doc, he asks "what you do..." i assume you have total confidentiality with a doctor and you can tell him everything and he cant say anything to the law can he?


-max

First of all, your doctor isn't a complete moron....

15-40 year old male + unusually large muscular build + abscess = bodybuilder self injecting steroids

Next, you doctor could care less about your steroid use, except for the affect it is having on your health...and regardless of all the other arguments...if you have an abscess...it is affecting your health.

This holds true for all illegal drugs.

Medical confidentiality and the law is a tricky business, but normally the patient/physician relationship is protected. Nonetheless physicians have been forced to testify about supposedly "confidential" information in extreme cases. These extreme cases usually involve the "patient" murdering someone.

I can't stress how important it is to have a doctor you trust and one that you feel you can tell ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to. Otherwise you're making him/her fight with one hand tied behind their back...in the end you're the one who will end up loosing in that scenario.

If you don't feel that bond with the doctor you have, then get another one...they're a dime a dozen and come in many colors, shapes, temperaments, and sizes.