Understanding Cellulitis: Symptoms, Causes, and Essential Care Tips

Today, I'm going to talk about cellulitis, a common but potentially serious and sometimes life-threatening bacterial infection that affects the skin and the tissues under the skin. In this video, we're going to cover the following topics, all of which are timestamped and split into chapters to help you navigate your way around the video.

Let's start off with the symptoms and signs of cellulitis. These can include pain, tenderness, warmth, and swelling of the skin, and it can affect any part of the body, including the legs, hands, feet, and even around your eyes. It's also common for the skin to turn red or purple, which may look like a rash, as you can see in these photos. However, it's important to note that this may be less noticeable on brown or black skin. As the infection spreads, the discoloration of the skin tends to darken, and the skin tends to swell more. Sometimes, pus-filled blisters can appear, and the surface of the skin may look lumpy or pitted, like the skin of an orange. It can also cause flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, body aches, and fatigue, due to the infection taking hold.

So, what causes cellulitis? Cellulitis is caused by different bacterial infections, but Streptococcus (which you might know as strep) and Staphylococcus (also known as staph) are the most common causes. In general, it's not contagious, meaning it doesn't spread from one person to another.

Now, in terms of who can be affected, anyone can contract cellulitis. However, certain groups of people are at higher risk of getting cellulitis. These include children, people with weakened immune systems (such as those with HIV or those on immunosuppressant drugs for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis), people with poor circulation (such as those who are overweight or obese), and people with wounds or issues affecting the skin that might be prone to infection. This includes cuts, bug or animal bites, surgical incisions, tattoos, or piercings. Additionally, people with chronic skin conditions like eczema, repeated athlete's foot, or psoriasis, and people who inject drugs or have diabetes, are also at higher risk.

What should you do if you think you have cellulitis? If you think you might have cellulitis and also have a high temperature, fast heartbeat, confusion, or have lost consciousness, or if purple or very dark patches appear on your skin, you should seek immediate medical attention. These symptoms might indicate a serious complication that could be life-threatening. Otherwise, you should call your doctor and ask to be seen. For most cases of cellulitis, your health provider will discuss your symptoms and perform a physical examination. In most cases, they won't need to conduct any tests. However, in serious cases of cellulitis, they might do a swab of the skin or any wounds to determine which bacterial strain is causing the cellulitis in order to prescribe the most appropriate antibiotic to fight the infection. They might also do a blood test to determine whether or not the infection has spread to the blood.

In most cases, your health provider will prescribe oral antibiotics to treat the cellulitis. After this, your symptoms should start to improve within a few days of starting antibiotics, and you should fully recover in about 7 to 10 days. Other things that you can do to manage your symptoms at home include taking over-the-counter medications like paracetamol or ibuprofen (if these are suitable for you), elevating the affected area to improve blood flow (for example, if it's affecting your feet, keeping them raised on a stool if you're sitting down in a chair), regularly moving the joint near the affected area, and staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water.

You can help prevent getting cellulitis by keeping your skin clean and well-moisturized, cleaning any cuts or wounds after you get them with clean water and using antiseptic cream, and trying to prevent cuts and scrapes in the first place, especially if you're diabetic and can't feel injuries to your feet. To do this, you can wear appropriate footwear, even indoors.

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