Sharing with hope...
Posted , 2 users are following.
....that my learnings might help just 1 person. And will be worth it if so! It's a long story...but I hope it's helpful, and if not, just helps reassure that you're not alone.
I experienced my first abscess as a result of a boil in my armpit in Feb 2016. I'd never experienced it before, and assumed it would "go away" naturally....if only I knew! Within a week and after failed antibiotics, awful pain and discomfort I was submitted for emergency surgery under GA - a pretty scary experience considering what you think is something so minor at the time! Surgery itself went fine, I had a lot of clotted blood which they said was down to a 'trauma'. Later I learned that trauma was from me trying to pop the abscess when it first appeared (....lesson one....DONT play, poke or attempt to pop...).
They left my wound open to heal from the inside out. The "hole" left was about 5cm long with 2cm tracking under the skin, and very deep. I was to get the wound repacked and redressed by the nurse every 2 days over the next 4-6 weeks until it healed.
5 months later, it still hadn't healed (July 2016) with bafflement from nurses and docs. The wound had reduced significantly in size but wouldn't close up, plus I had allergic reactions to most of the dressings used! I finally, by chance from my usual nurse being on holiday, saw a nurse who was looking after the homeless people. She also happened to be a wound care specialist. With one look she knew the problem immediately. My wound had been packed with ....that my learnings might help just 1 person. And will be worth it if so!
I experienced my first abscess as a result of a boil in Feb 2016. I'd never experienced it before, and assumed it would "go away" naturally....if only I knew! Within a week and after failed antibiotics, awful pain and discomfort I was submitted for emergency surgery under GA - a pretty scary experience considering what you think is something so minor at the time! Surgery itself went fine, I had a lot of clotted blood which they said was down to a 'trauma'. Later I learned that trauma was from me trying to pop the abscess when it first appeared (....lesson one....DONT play, poke or attempt to pop...).
They left my wound open to heal from the inside out. The "hole" left was about 5cm long with 2cm tracking under the skin, and very deep. I was to get the wound repacked and redressed by the nurse every 2 days over the next 4-6 weeks until it healed.
5 months later, it still hadn't healed (July 2016) with bafflement from nurses and docs. I finally, by chance from my usual nurse being on holiday, saw a nurse who was looking after the homeless people. She also happened to be a wound care specialist. With one look she knew the problem immediately. my wound had been packed with aquacel ag silver ribbon dressing for the 5 months, and is only meant for very short term use to prevent infection. It was having a negative effect on my wound. She changed the dressing and it had healed within a week. I now have a small scar. I hope if anyone is having troubles with healing after surgery, mention this to your nurse.
My final (sorry for the rambles) note. Since the. I've had a few new abscesses. The first couple were treated with antibiotics as I caught them quick enough. The last one appeared when I was on holiday 2 weeks ago....in Spain where the thought of translating this ridiculously long story do a Spanish Dr was impossible!! Luckily my very good friend with me carries her eczema steroid cream with her everywhere as she's a life long sufferer. After a day of worrying about the lump I could feel developing i gave it a try. Within 2 days it had gone completely. Granted, I'm not a medical professional, but even if you're at last resort it might be worthwhile discussing this option with your doc.
Hope this helps someone, and wishing prevention and cure of this horrible condition soon. X
0 likes, 3 replies
lucy04729
Posted
Silly copy and paste messed up my text. Correct version below.
....that my learnings might help just 1 person. And will be worth it if so! It's a long story...but I hope it's helpful, and if not, just helps reassure that you're not alone.
I experienced my first abscess as a result of a boil in my armpit in Feb 2016. I'd never experienced it before, and assumed it would "go away" naturally....if only I knew! Within a week and after failed antibiotics, awful pain and discomfort I was submitted for emergency surgery under GA - a pretty scary experience considering what you think is something so minor at the time! Surgery itself went fine, I had a lot of clotted blood which they said was down to a 'trauma'. Later I learned that trauma was from me trying to pop the abscess when it first appeared (....lesson one....DONT play, poke or attempt to pop...).
They left my wound open to heal from the inside out. The "hole" left was about 5cm long with 2cm tracking under the skin, and very deep. I was to get the wound repacked and redressed by the nurse every 2 days over the next 4-6 weeks until it healed.
5 months later, it still hadn't healed (July 2016) with bafflement from nurses and docs. The wound had reduced significantly in size but wouldn't close up, plus I had allergic reactions to most of the dressings used! I finally, by chance from my usual nurse being on holiday, saw a nurse who was looking after the homeless people. She also happened to be a wound care specialist. With one look she knew the problem immediately. my wound had been packed with aquacel ag silver ribbon dressing for the 5 months, and is only meant for very short term use to prevent infection. It was having a negative effect on my wound. She changed the dressing and it had healed within a week. I now have a small scar. I hope if anyone is having troubles with healing after surgery, mention this to your nurse.
My final (sorry for the rambles) note. Since the. I've had a few new abscesses. The first couple were treated with antibiotics as I caught them quick enough. The last one appeared when I was on holiday 2 weeks ago....in Spain where the thought of translating this ridiculously long story do a Spanish Dr was impossible!! Luckily my very good friend with me carries her eczema steroid cream with her everywhere as she's a life long sufferer. After a day of worrying about the lump I could feel developing i gave it a try. Within 2 days it had gone completely. Granted, I'm not a medical professional, but even if you're at last resort it might be worthwhile discussing this option with your doc.
Hope this helps someone, and wishing prevention and cure of this horrible condition soon. X
rose90378 lucy04729
Posted
lucy04729 rose90378
Posted
Hello! Yes it's Elocon ointment. On the tube it says 0.1% w/w mometasone furoate. It didn't come back and I haven't had another lump pop up since, but will be using it again if one does. I should say though that I haven't had the condition for a long time. Hope that helps!