Antibiotics for an infected skin wound

A clinician may prescribe tablets for a limited infection or give treatment through a vein when infection is severe. A pocket of pus often needs drainage because medicine alone may not clear a closed abscess. Cleaning, removal of damaged tissue, and suitable dressings can be equally important.

Expected tenderness just after an injury should gradually settle. Infection is more concerning when pain, heat, swelling, redness, or drainage is increasing; redness may appear as deepening brown, purple, or grey tones on darker skin. Fever or feeling generally ill suggests the problem extends beyond a minor surface change.

The wound's cause matters. A puncture, bite, surgical wound, water exposure, retained foreign object, or injury involving a joint or tendon can change the organisms and care required. A sample of pus or tissue may guide treatment when drainage is present or the first medicine is not working.

Wash your hands before touching the dressing and follow the clinician's instructions for rinsing and covering the wound. Take every dose at the scheduled time unless the prescriber changes the plan. Do not squeeze a boil, seal infection under an unsuitable adhesive, or place household remedies into an open wound.

Check the surrounding skin in good light each day. A pen mark around redness can help show whether it is spreading, provided you do not delay care while monitoring. Keep follow-up appointments for dressing changes, drainage review, or removal of a foreign body.

Get same-day medical advice when redness expands, pain escalates, pus increases, the wound opens further, or fever develops. Go to emergency care for confusion, faintness, breathing difficulty, marked drowsiness, severe pain out of proportion to the wound, or rapidly changing blistered, dusky, or black skin.

Earlier assessment is sensible for wounds on the face, hand, genitals, or near a joint, and for anyone with diabetes, poor circulation, reduced sensation, or suppressed immunity.

Find out whether the wound needs drainage, imaging, a culture, or a tetanus vaccination review. Ask how to clean and cover it, what improvement should look like, when it will be checked again, and which side effects mean the antibiotic should be reviewed promptly.