Kenneth Kee - Cellulitis, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

I then wrote an autobiolographical account ofhis journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com . This autobiolographical account A FamilyDoctors Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide toMedical Conditions into a new Wordpress Blog A Family DoctorsTale on http://ken-med.com. From which many free articles from the blogwas taken and put together into 700 amazon kindle books and someinto Smashwords.com eBooks. Some people have complained that the simpleguides are too simple. For their information they are made simple inorder to educate the patients. The later books go into more details ofmedical conditions.

The first chapter is always from my earlierblogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spellingmistakes. Since 2013, I have tried to improve myspelling and writing. As I tried to bring you the latestinformation about a condition or illness by reading the latestjournals both online and offline, I find that I am learning moreand improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis andtreatment for my patients. Just by writing all these simple guides Ifind that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad),criticism and advice. I am sorry for the repetitions in thesesimple guides as the second chapters onwards have new informationas compared to my first chapter taken from my blog. I also find repetition definitely help me andmaybe some readers to remember the facts in the books moreeasily.

I apologize if these repetitions areirritating to some readers.

In erysipelas, borders of infection areclearly demarcated. The appearance is that of a fiery red rashthat can be painful. Erysipelas is also called St Anthony'sfire. This name is from the Egyptian healer of themiddle Ages who had been able to cure it. What are the causes of Cellulitis? Risk factors for infection They are more frequent and more severe inpatients with underlying diseases such as: 1. Cancer 3. Cancer 3.

Immunodeficiency Other risk factors for cellulitis are: 1. Cracks or peeling skin between thetoes 2. Venous insufficiency or history ofperipheral vascular disease 3. Injury or trauma with a break in the skinor skin wounds or abrasions 4. Insect bites and stings, animal bites, orhuman bites 5. Ulcers from certain diseases includingdiabetes and vascular disease 6.

Use of corticosteroid medications ormedications that suppress the immune system 7. Wound from a recent surgery 8. Previous erysipelas or cellulitis. 9. Elderly age. 10.

Alcoholism 11. Intravenous drug use. 12. Lymph edema. 13. 14. 14.

Inflammatory dermatoses. 15. Pregnancy. Causative organisms Cellulitis Majority of infections that involve intactskin are believed to caused by streptococci, although many othermicro-organisms may be responsible if the skin integrity iscompromised Infrequently, Gram-negative bacteria,anaerobes or fungi may produce cellulitis. These organisms are more frequent causes inchildren, people with immuno-compromised patients and indiabetes. Cellulitis happening around surgical woundsless than 24 hours post-operatively may result from group Abeta-hemolytic streptococci or Clostridiumperfringens .

The latter produces gas gangrene, resultingin crepitus on examination. Erysipelas Majority of infections are with group Astreptococci but Streptococcuspneumoniae,Klebsiellapneumoniae,Yersiniaenterocolitica, Hemophilus influenzae type b, and Moraxella spp. have beenfound. Rarer causative organisms Infrequently, cellulitis or erysipelas may beproduced by other organisms: 1. H.influenzae type b - in children less than 6 years ofage. 2.

Pasteurellamultocida,Streptococcusanginosus (formerly known as Streptococcus milleri ), and 3. Capnocytophagacanimorsus - following cat or dog bites. 4. Vibriovulnificus,Aeromonashydrophila - following sea or fresh-water exposure. 5. 6. 6.

Mycobacteriummarinum - in aquarium keepers. It is therefore important to find out thepatients' occupations in poorly healing infections. The most frequent causative organisms are Streptococcus or Staphylococcus species but they can be due to awide range of both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria Normal skin has many forms of bacteria livingon it. When there is a break in the skin, thesebacteria can produce a skin infection. The most frequent locations of cellulitiswere the legs and toes, followed by the feet, hands, face, torso,neck, and buttocks. Skin in the infected area will become red,hot, irritated, and painful.

Cellulitis is more frequently observed in thelower limbs and normally involves one limb. In many patients, there is an obviousprecipitating skin lesion, such as a traumatic wound or ulcer, orother area of damaged skin - e.g., athlete's foot. There is erythema, pain, swelling and warmthof affected skin. What are the symptoms of Cellulitis? Cellulitis Edema and erythema frequently slowly blendinto the surrounding skin and so the margin of the involved areamay be indistinct. Blisters and bullae may develop. Systemic symptoms (e.g., fever, malaise) mayhappen.

Red lines moving away from a cellulitic arearepresent progression of the infection into the lymphaticsystem. Localized adenopathy is frequently observedwith lymphangitis. Crepitus is a sign of infection mostfrequently observed with anaerobic organisms. Erysipelas The face or a leg is frequently involved. The arm or upper thigh is the next mostfrequent areas to be involved. On the face, the source of bacteria isfrequently the nasopharynx and a recent nasopharyngeal infectionmay have occurred.