Lancing Boils
Is Lancing Boils Necessary?
If you are looking for information on lancing boils, you will find this article very helpful. A boil can be very nasty and painful and many people have no idea what to do should they get a boil. Others hate going to the doctor for something as minor as a boil and wonder if lancing boils is OK or even necessary.
A boil can actually start out as a pimple and grow larger and larger. They begin because there is bacteria on the skin. Some people have a lot of boils and others rarely ever have one. The staphylococcus aureus bacteria is most often the cause.
It is best if the process of lancing boils is done by a doctor. When a boil increases in size, the center has a space which becomes full of pus. Your immune system tries to protect you from this bacteria by enclosing it in a sac, literally building a wall around it. This is how a pimple grows into an abscess.
Because the pus in the boil continually presses against its enclosure, it starts to become more and more painful. Lancing boils is one way to relieve the pressure which decreases the pain. Lancing a boil means to deliberately puncture a hole in the covering. Once opened up and cleaned out, the boil can start the process of healing.
Often, people who are susceptible to boils will get several at a time or one after another for months. This doesn’t have anything to do with your immune system not being up to par. In fact, because your immune system is creating the boils, it means it is doing its best to protect you from disease.
The appearance of boils has to do with the amount of staphylococcus which is on your skin. Roughly one quarter of the population has this bacteria. Sometimes it forms boils and sometimes it doesn’t. Among those most at risk for boils are people with diabetes who are on insulin, drug users who inject with needles, and people on kidney dialysis.
If you have a bothersome boil, lancing it yourself is not a good option. All you will likely do is cause further infection or spread the infection to other areas of your body. When a doctor, who is experienced at lancing boils, does it correctly, he or she inserts a small piece of gauze into the space that was originally filled with pus.
One thing you don’t want to do is lace a boil too early. Make sure it has filled with pus and is ready to drain. Antibiotics are usually given to stop the infection. The problem in recent years is that some bacteria are becoming resistant to certain antibiotics. Staphylococcus is resistant to penicillin and today there is a new variety called Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
There is a focus now on preventing boils because treating them is becoming so much more difficult. A soap which has chlorhesidine is being used and sometimes combined with nasal mupirocin, instead of injections of the drug.
Take some precautions if you have a boil. These include not sharing cloths and towels, not squeezing the boil, not touching the body of someone if a boil is present, and keeping a strong immune system. This means eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and getting plenty of rest every day.
If you go to a hospital or any other place where people might have compromised immune systems, like a nursing home, make sure to tell the staff you have a boil. If you have a boil which never drains or just the opposite, one which won’t stop oozing and heal, see your doctor for immediate treatment.