If left untreated, cellulitis can spread to other parts of your body and develop into a life-threatening condition requiring emergency care. Cellulitis in elderly individuals can also damage the lymphatic drainage system and cause permanent swelling in the affected area.
If left untreated
It's important to seek treatment for your aging loved one as soon as you notice signs of cellulitis or another skin infection. If cellulitis is caught in the early stages of infection, it can usually be successfully treated with antibiotics.
Cellulitis is treated with antibiotics. If the infection is mild, you may be able to take antibiotic pills at home. If the infection is more severe, you may need more care and a stronger antibiotic administered by IV in the hospital.
You have signs that your infection is getting worse, such as: Increased pain, swelling, warmth, or redness. Red streaks leading from the area. Pus draining from the area.
Usually, cellulitis is presumed to be due to staphylococci or streptococci infection and may be treated with cefazolin, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, nafcillin, or oxacillin. Antimicrobial options in patients who are allergic to penicillin include clindamycin or vancomycin.
It's important to keep taking antibiotics until they're finished, even when you feel better. Most people make a full recovery after 7 to 10 days. If cellulitis is severe, you might be referred to hospital for treatment.
Phone 999 or go to A&E if:
your face or the area around your eye is affected. your symptoms are getting rapidly worse. you experience other symptoms in addition to the changes in your skin, such as a fever or vomiting.
You may need to be hospitalized and receive antibiotics through your veins (intravenously) if: Signs and symptoms don't respond to oral antibiotics. Signs and symptoms are extensive. You have a high fever.
A blood test will confirm whether the cellulitis infection has spread to your blood. Skin test. A skin test will identify the type of bacteria responsible for your cellulitis, which helps your healthcare provider prescribe the most appropriate antibiotic.
Untreated cellulitis might lead to bacteremia, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, toxic shock syndrome or sepsis. Rarely, the infection can spread to the deep layer of tissue called the fascial lining. Necrotizing fasciitis is an example of a deep-layer infection.
Outlook (Prognosis)
Cellulitis usually goes away after taking antibiotics for 7 to 10 days. Longer treatment may be needed if cellulitis is more severe. This may occur if you have a chronic disease or your immune system is not working properly.
Sometimes, hospitalization may be required. “A superficial infection can get deeper and more severe very quickly. You can become septic and even die if it's untreated,” Jake said. “When people die like that, you usually don't hear the cause was cellulitis.
Acute right heart failure can present with impressive LE edema and erythema that can mimic cellulitis.
Complications of cellulitis can be very serious. These can include extensive tissue damage and tissue death (gangrene). The infection can also spread to the blood, bones, lymph system, heart, or nervous system. These infections can lead to amputation, shock, or even death.
Cellulitis is considered an emergency when the infection begins to spread and become severe. Severe symptoms that indicate an emergency—and necessitate immediate medical care—include fever, chills, the affected area turning black, and numbness or tingling of the affected area.
Another skin condition that can occur on the leg and look like cellulitis is gout. Gout happens when crystals form in a joint, usually the big toe, which causes inflammation that leads to redness near the joint. The area is tender, swollen, and warm, like cellulitis. However, these symptoms are not caused by infection.
In some cases, cellulitis can worsen despite being on the correct antibiotic given by mouth and may require intravenous antibiotics (see below). Cellulitis treatment includes antibiotics as well as treatment of any underlying condition that led to the skin infection.
Symptoms of cellulitis usually disappear after a few days of antibiotic therapy. However, cellulitis symptoms often get worse before they get better, probably because, with the death of the bacteria, substances that cause tissue damage are released.
Cellulitis is a noncontagious inflammation of the connective tissue of the skin, resulting from a bacterial infection. Antibiotics are given to control infection, and analgesics may be needed to control pain. Within 7 to 10 days of treatment cellulitis can be cured.
Most cases of uncomplicated cellulitis are traditionally treated with 1–2 weeks of antimicrobial therapy. However, evidence now exists to suggest that such prolonged courses may be unnecessary, and that 5 days treatment may be sufficient in cases of uncomplicated cellulitis.
You may need to keep your foot elevated as much as possible for at least 48 hours. However, to aid circulation, you should go for short walks every now and then and wiggle your toes regularly when your foot is raised. If you have cellulitis in a forearm or hand, a high sling can help to raise the affected area.
Most cases of cellulitis clear up from taking oral antibiotics at home over the course of a week or 10 days. But more severe or threatening cases of cellulitis may require treatment at a hospital over the course of several days.
Severe Cellulitis
Features suggestive of necrotising fasciitis include: severe pain out of keeping with apparent severity of infection. rapid progression. marked systemic features (eg high fever with rigors, tachycardia, tachypnoea, hypotension, confusion, vomiting).