Self-Care Guidelines
If you think you have cellulitis, make an appointment to see your doctor. While you are waiting for the appointment with your physician, you can elevate the involved body part in order to decrease swelling. A cool, clean, moist towel can be applied to the area to decrease pain.
When to Seek Medical Care
If you develop a tender, red, warm, enlarging area on your skin, make an appointment with your physician as soon as possible to get treatment and to avoid complications that may occur if cellulitis is left untreated. If you also have fever and chills, or if the area involves the face, you should go to the emergency room.
If you are currently being treated for a skin infection that has not improved after 2–3 days of antibiotics, return to your doctor. You may need treatment with different medications, or the infection may have spread deeper into your skin.
Community-associated methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is a strain of "staph" bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics in the penicillin family. This class of antibiotics has been the cornerstone of antibiotic therapy for staph and skin infections for decades. CA-MRSA previously infected only small segments of the population, such as health care workers and persons using injection drugs. However, CA-MRSA is now a common cause of skin infections in the general population. While CA-MRSA bacteria are resistant to penicillin and penicillin-related antibiotics, most CA-MRSA infections can be easily treated with commonly available nonpenicillin antibiotics. Rarely, CA-MRSA can cause a deeper skin infection, which usually requires intravenous (IV) antibiotics to treat the infection.
Signs and Symptoms
