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Boils: Treatments, Causes, and Symptoms

National Health Service: “Boils.”

Boils & Carbuncles

A boil is a skin infection that is usually caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (staph). A carbuncle is a group of boils located in one area of the body. If left alone, a boil will break and drain on its own over time. In certain cases, a doctor may need to cut into your skin to drain the pus.

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Overview

What are boils and carbuncles?

A boil (or furuncle) is a pus-filled bump that develops in your skin. Carbuncles are clusters of several boils. Boils usually begin as red bumps, which quickly increase in size and fill with pus. Boils are usually caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (staph infection).

These painful skin abscesses result from bacteria infecting a hair follicle. They commonly occur on the face, neck, armpits, buttocks, and thighs, but can appear anywhere on your body.

Many boils get better with at-home treatments such as warm compresses. Larger boils may require treatment by a healthcare professional.

Symptoms and Causes

What are the symptoms of a boil?

A boil develops over a few hours or days. It usually starts out as a tender, swollen red bump. It may feel warm to the touch. As the boil develops, it:

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Becomes painful: The area is sensitive, and it may itch before the boil forms.
Fills with pus: It may feel squishy or firm.
Grows in size: It usually starts smaller than a pencil eraser. It can grow as large as a golf ball.
Has a yellow or white center (similar to a pimple): The skin around the center (“head”) is red and shiny.
May “weep” or crust over: The boil may ooze pus as your body fights the infection.
Might spread to other areas: The bacteria that caused the boil can spread to other parts of your body. You can also pass the infection to other people through close contact or by sharing towels or other personal items.

What are the symptoms of carbuncles?

Carbuncles are formed when multiple boils cluster together and form an area of infection. In addition to the symptoms seen with boils, carbuncles may also be associated with fever, chills and fatigue.

What causes boils and carbuncles?

Boils are usually caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (staph infection), but other bacteria and fungi can cause them too. Bacteria enter your skin through a cut or a hair follicle (the opening in your skin where hair grows out). Your body’s immune system responds by sending infection-fighting white blood cells to the area. The white blood cells build up, along with damaged skin, to form pus. Carbuncles develop when more than one hair follicle gets infected. The infection is deeper and more severe than one boil.

Anyone can develop a boil, but certain factors can increase your risk. These risk factors include:

Close contact with someone who has a staph infection.
You have obesity.
You have a skin disorder, such as eczema.
You have a weakened immune system, cancer or diabetes. These conditions make it harder for your body to fight infection.

Management and Treatment

Can I treat a boil at home?

A boil or carbuncle should never be squeezed or pricked with a pin or sharp object to release the pus and fluid. This can spread the infection to other parts of your skin.

Prevention

How can I prevent a boil or carbuncle?

A boil or carbuncle can happen despite the best hygiene. However, you can prevent boils if you:

Avoid close contact with someone who has a staph infection, boil or carbuncle.
Wash your hands frequently with antibacterial soaps and gels, which can help prevent the spread of bacteria.
Bathe regularly with soap.
Don’t share or reuse washcloths, towels and sheets.

Outlook / Prognosis

What is the outlook for people with boils and carbuncles?

Most boils heal and clear up in about two to three weeks. Boils don’t usually cause serious or long-term health problems. If your provider drained the pus, you may have a small scar. Severe carbuncles can leave scars after they heal.

What are the complications of boils and carbuncles?

For some people (especially people with a weakened immune system), boils and carbuncles come back in the same area or never completely go away. Recurrent boils can be a sign of a life-threatening infection called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Rarely, bacteria from a boil can:

Enter your bloodstream, causing your body to have a severe reaction (sepsis).
Get into the brain and cause life-threatening problems such as meningitis.
Infect the skin and the area just under the skin (cellulitis).
Spread to the spinal cord, bones, heart and other organs, leading to severe infection and death.

Living With

How can I keep my carbuncles from spreading to others?

If you have a carbuncle:

Wash your hands often.
Do not share washcloths and towels with family members.
Don’t let others lie on your bed sheets.
Use antibacterial soap, especially if you’ve touched your carbuncle.
Do not squeeze or prick the head of your carbuncle.
Avoid close contact between another person and your carbuncle.
Carefully bag and dispose of dressings and bandages that cover your carbuncle.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Boils are painful and unsightly, but they rarely cause serious health problems. Many boils heal with home treatments like warm compresses and over-the-counter pain relievers. But it’s a good idea to call your provider if you have signs of a boil, especially if it’s painful. Your provider will monitor you to ensure the infection doesn’t spread or worsen, and will provide treatment if necessary. To reduce your risk of developing a boil, keep your hands clean, bathe regularly and maintain good overall health.

Boils: Treatments, Causes, and Symptoms

A boil is a contagious skin infection that starts in a hair follicle or oil gland. At first, the skin turns red in the area of the infection, and a tender lump develops. After 4-7 days, the lump starts turning white as pus collects under the skin.

When you know how to get rid of a boil, you can probably treat it at home.

Common Boil Locations

Boils can affect any area of your body where you have hair, or where rubbing can occur. They usually form in places where you sweat.

Most often, they’re caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus . But they can form from other types of bacteria or fungi on your skin. You may get them just once, every once in a while, or often.

Here are some common places they can appear:

Boils in the groin area. Boils can affect the skin folds of the groin, the pubic area, and the lips and folds of the vagina. This area has lots of hair follicles and can be prone to chafing, especially if you wear tight-fitting clothes. You can also develop a boil after you get a cut or ingrown hair due to shaving this area.

Boils on buttocks. Boils frequently affect the buttocks due to hair follicles, sweat, and friction in the area. Dirty underwear could make a boil here more likely.

Boils on the face. Boils on your face are different from cysts and pimples, though they can look similar. Cysts are filled with fluid, while a pimple is the result of a clogged pore. Cysts and pimples aren’t contagious like boils can be.

Boil on eyelid. If a boil occurs here, it’s called a stye, and it can be painful. You treat them similarly to the way you treat a boil anywhere else. If it doesn’t go away on its own, a dermatologist can prescribe an antibiotic cream or eye drops.

Other areas where boils often appear include:

Keep an eye out for several boils that appear in a group. That’s a more serious type of infection called a carbuncle.

Causes of Boils

Most boils are caused by staph bacteria. This germ enters your body through tiny nicks or cuts in your skin or can travel down a hair to the follicle.

These things make people more likely to get boils and other skin infections:

Diabetes, which can make it harder for your body to fight infection
A weakened immune system
Other skin conditions that break your skin’s protective barrier
Contact with others, especially if someone you live with has a boil
Poor hygiene
Poor nutrition
Exposure to harsh chemical that irritate the skin

Symptoms of Boils

A boil starts as a hard, red, painful lump about the size of a pea. Over the next few days, the lump becomes softer, larger, and more painful. Soon a pocket of pus forms on the top of the boil.

These are signs of a serious infection:

Fever
Swollen lymph nodes
Infected, red, painful, and warm skin around the boil
Additional boil or boils

Boils vs. pimples. Pimples are caused by clogged pores, but boils stem from an infection. That’s why you might notice boils around scratches or cuts, unlike pimples. Pimples aren’t contagious, but boils can be. A boil will likely grow faster than a pimple and hurt more. And it won’t get better when you use pimple treatments.

Boils vs. cysts. A cyst isn’t caused by an infection. It doesn’t hurt and is usually harmless. Cysts usually grow more slowly than boils. Fluid might come out if you squeeze a cyst, but it’s not whitish yellow pus, which is a sign of infection. Cysts aren’t contagious, but you can spread boils to others.

When to Seek Medical Care

Boils usually don’t require medical attention. But if you’re in poor health and develop high fever and chills along with the boil, go to the emergency room.

Call your doctor if your boil doesn’t go away after 2 weeks or or you have:

Fever
Swollen lymph nodes
Red or red streaks around the boil
Serious pain
Multiple boils
Vision issues
Recurring boils
Other conditions such as a heart murmur, diabetes, a problem with your immune system, or if you use immune-suppressing drugs like corticosteroids or chemotherapy

Exams and Tests for Boils

Your doctor can do a physical exam to see if you have a boil. This skin infection can affect many parts of the body, so they may ask about other parts of your body.

Boils Treatment: Home Remedies

You may be able to treat boils at home. But whatever you do, don’t pick at the boil or try to pop it yourself. The boil may drain on its own, which is important in the healing process.

Some ways to treat a boil include:

Apply warm compresses. Soak a washcloth in warm water and then press it gently against the boil for about 10 minutes. You can repeat this a few times throughout the day. Once you see the pus at the center (that’s called “bringing a boil to a head,” it’ll probably burst and drain soon. This usually occurs within 10 days after you see the head.

Use a heating pad. A heating pad can help the boil start to drain, too. Put the heating pad over a damp towel and lay it on the affected area. It may take up to a week for the boil to start opening and draining the pus. Keep applying heat, either with a heating pad or compress, for up to 3 days after the boil opens.

Keep it clean. As with any infection, you should keep the area clean. Use soap and warm water to wash the boil twice daily, and then gently pat the area dry. Keep towels and washcloths that come into contact with the boil separate from other towels.

Use a cover or bandage. To help the boil heal faster, keep it covered. After you wash the boil and the area around it, apply a clean dressing to keep it protected. You can use a bandage or gauze.

Practice good hygiene. After touching the boil or surrounding area, thoroughly wash your hands to prevent spreading the infection to other parts of your body — or passing it to another person. Take a bath or a shower daily to keep your skin clean and prevent the spread of infection to others. Avoid public swimming pools and gyms until your boil has cleared up.

Wash your linens. To lower the risk of further infection, wash your bedding, clothing, and towels at least once a week at a high temperature to kill off bacteria. Don’t share your towels with anyone else while you have a boil.

Take a pain reducer. If your boil is painful, take a pain reliever like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. These can also lower your fever if your boil is causing one.

Medical Treatment for Boils

If you’re concerned about the infection, your doctor may run additional blood tests. They might prescribe antibiotics if the infection is serious.

If they drain the boil, they may take a sample (called a culture) to determine what type of bacteria caused the infection and assess whether you got the right antibiotic.

Next Steps: Follow-Up

Whether your boil drains at home or is drained by a doctor, you’ll need to clean the infected area 2-3 times a day until the wound heals. Apply an antibiotic ointment after washing, then cover with a bandage.

If the area turns red or looks as if it is getting infected again, call your doctor.

Preventing Boils

To avoid getting boils:

Carefully wash clothes, bedding, and towels.
Don’t share personal items, like towels, that touch your skin.
Clean and treat minor skin wounds.
Practice good personal hygiene including regular hand-washing.
Stay as healthy as possible.

Outlook

Most boils will disappear on their own or with simple home treatment. In rare cases, the bacteria can enter your bloodstream and affect other parts of your body. That could lead to more serious infections.

Show Sources

Mount Sinai: “Boils.”

Johns Hopkins Medicine: “Folliculitis, Boils and Carbuncles.”

Cleveland Clinic: “Sebaceous Cysts,” “Stye (Sty),” “Vaginal Boils,” “Pimples.”

Mayo Clinic: “Boils and Carbuncles.”

American Academy of Dermatology Association: “How to Treat Boils and Styes.”

Health Direct: “Boils.”

Michigan Medicine: “Boils.”

National Health Service: “Boils.”

NCH Healthcare System: “Boils and Carbuncles.”

Boils: Treatments, Causes, and Symptoms

Boils & Carbuncles