What causes cellulitis?

The entry point may be tiny and easy to miss. Cracked skin, eczema, a wound, an injection site, an insect bite or an infection between the toes can provide an opening. Athlete's foot can create fissures between the toes, allowing bacteria to reach deeper layers. Swelling, poor circulation, lymph drainage problems and Type 2 Diabetes can make skin easier to injure or infection harder to clear.

Cellulitis often causes a spreading area of warmth, tenderness, swelling and redness. Skin colour can make redness difficult to see, so increasing warmth, pain or swelling also matters. It is different from ordinary surface irritation and should not be diagnosed from a photograph alone.

Contact a clinician promptly if you suspect cellulitis. Treatment may require prescription antibiotics, and the choice depends on the site, severity, allergies and health conditions. Keep a wound clean and covered, elevate a swollen limb when comfortable, and avoid squeezing or puncturing the area. Marking the edge of spreading redness can help show whether it is changing, but it does not replace assessment.

Treat cracks, fungal foot infection and other sources of broken skin as advised. People with diabetes should mention it when seeking care because foot wounds and infections need careful review.

Seek same-day medical advice for spreading warmth or redness, worsening pain, swelling, pus, fever or chills. Go to urgent care immediately for confusion, faintness, rapid breathing, severe weakness, rapidly worsening skin changes, or pain that seems much greater than the visible change. Infection near the eye, on the face or over a joint also needs prompt evaluation.

Ask where the infection may have entered, whether a wound or Athlete's Foot needs treatment, how to take the prescribed medicine, and what changes should trigger urgent review.