What should you know about cellulitis before and after?

Early cellulitis can appear as a warm, painful, swollen area with redness or a darker colour. The border may spread, and the skin can feel tight. Once treatment begins, pain, heat, and swelling should gradually settle, but colour changes can remain after the infection is improving. A photo taken in similar lighting and a gentle border mark can make changes easier to compare. Do not use appearance alone to decide that an infection has cleared.

Follow the treatment instructions exactly and keep follow-up advice. Rest the affected area when practical, elevate an arm or leg if that is where the infection is located, and drink normally unless a clinician has given different advice. Keep any wound clean and covered as instructed. Contact the treating clinician if the area continues to spread, pain increases, new drainage appears, or you feel unwell after treatment starts.

Seek urgent help for rapidly spreading inflammation, severe pain, blisters, dusky or black skin, faintness, confusion, breathing difficulty, or fever with shaking chills. These symptoms can reflect a deeper infection or sepsis. Emergency review is appropriate even if you have already started antibiotics.

Ask what improvement should look like in your case, when a review is needed, whether lingering colour is expected, and how to care for the original cut or skin condition that allowed bacteria to enter.