Boils (aka I am John Merrick)
Discussion
I have a boil on my face. I never usually get them and it's really f
king annoying because everyone tries to pretend that they haven't noticed it when they talk to me.
I can't imagine a trip to the doctors is going to yield anything useful, and I'm sure as hell not going to stab, squeeze or do anything drastic to try and deal with it.
Other than using a hot soaked flannel to try and "draw" the thing out a bit, is there anything I can do?
king annoying because everyone tries to pretend that they haven't noticed it when they talk to me.I can't imagine a trip to the doctors is going to yield anything useful, and I'm sure as hell not going to stab, squeeze or do anything drastic to try and deal with it.
Other than using a hot soaked flannel to try and "draw" the thing out a bit, is there anything I can do?
Edited by paddyhasneeds on Thursday 18th March 18:18
It may well need lancing and it may be that a doctor (or practice nurse) is who you need to do it. Hot flannel is fine to try and spped up the process.
I would lance it once it was ready but I'd alcohol swab it first and my hands and use a sterilised needle but as a vet nurse I wouldn't find this much of an issue.
I would lance it once it was ready but I'd alcohol swab it first and my hands and use a sterilised needle but as a vet nurse I wouldn't find this much of an issue.
becksW said:
It may well need lancing and it may be that a doctor (or practice nurse) is who you need to do it. Hot flannel is fine to try and spped up the process.
Seems to be working already actually. It's got worse for around the last week and didn't look far off starting to, well burst, pop, drain whatever the word is, either way a very small amount of crap is seeping out.Presumably I really don't want to be doing anything to encourage it i.e. squeezing?
Sorry to sound dumb but I'll take internet humiliation vs. looking like something Buffalo Bill stitched together.
(not bad for one handed typing either!).
paddyhasneeds said:
becksW said:
It may well need lancing and it may be that a doctor (or practice nurse) is who you need to do it. Hot flannel is fine to try and spped up the process.
Seems to be working already actually. It's got worse for around the last week and didn't look far off starting to, well burst, pop, drain whatever the word is, either way a very small amount of crap is seeping out.Presumably I really don't want to be doing anything to encourage it i.e. squeezing?
Sorry to sound dumb but I'll take internet humiliation vs. looking like something Buffalo Bill stitched together.
(not bad for one handed typing either!).
but I am with cat abscesses and I did have to lance a boil type lump on hubby once (sure he'll be chuffed at me sharing that info!)It definitely needs to be ready to be opened. Sterility/ cleanliness is important, initially it should burst easy enough, it's making sure you get the deeper inf out. pressing either side is better than squeezing to reduce trauma to skin and use fingers not nails. Hubby still went to docs the next day as a precaution (it was v. painful on the night which is why I did it!) but I did a good job and it healed fine. Sometimes boils have a core which may need removing, that's not something I know much about though. When you start getting blood rather than pus you've done enough for tonight, don't over do it.
Mojocvh said:
That's not the worst I've seen. There's one where someone has a lump on the top of their back, their missus squeezes it and it creates enough pus to fill coal scuttle.Terzo123 said:
I really enjoyed that one, I would definitely of liked to squeeze it as there is something really relieving about it, but I wouldn't like to smell it though, and I would wear gloves.The other one on the face is gross though.
cslgirl said:
Terzo123 said:
I really enjoyed that one, I would definitely of liked to squeeze it as there is something really relieving about it, but I wouldn't like to smell it though, and I would wear gloves.The other one on the face is gross though.
The face one reminds me of rabbit abscess, they are usually thick like that!!
Edited by becksW on Thursday 18th March 19:42
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