Understanding Cellulitis: Skin And Soft Tissue Infections

What’s the difference between a minor passing skin complaint, and a skin condition that’s indicative of something more serious? Dr. Thomas Watchman explains:

More than skin-deep

Cellulitis sounds benign enough, like having a little cellulite perhaps, but in fact it means an infection of the skin and—critically—the underlying soft tissues.

Normally, the skin acts as a barrier against infections, but this barrier can be breached by physical trauma (i.e. an injury that broke the skin), eczema, fungal nail infections, skin ulcers, and other similar things that disrupt the skin’s ability to protect us.

Things to watch out for: Dr. Watchman advises we keep an eye out for warm, reddened skin, swelling, and blisters. Specifically, a golden-yellow crust to these likely indicates a Staphylococcus aureus infection (hence the name).

There’s a scale of degrees of severity:

• Class 1: No systemic toxicity or comorbidities
• Class 2: Systemic toxicity or comorbidities present
• Class 3: Significant systemic toxicity or comorbidities with risk of significant deterioration
• Class 4: Sepsis or life-threatening infection

…with antibiotics being recommended in the latter two cases there, or in other cases for frail, young, old, or immunocompromised patients. Given the rather “scorched earth” results of antibiotics (they cause a lot of collateral iatrogenic damage), this can be taken as a sign of how seriously such infections should be taken.

For more about all this, including visual guides, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like to read:

• Of Brains & Breakouts: The Brain-Skin Doctor
• Beyond Supplements: The Real Immune-Boosters!
• Antibiotics? You Might Want To Think Thrice

Take care!