How to treat and prevent skin boils at home?

Commonly seen during various systemic as well as chronic illnesses, boils can be experienced in different parts of the body and can be very painful. Prevention is better than cure, and it stands true for boils too. Even though there are various home remedies for treating boils, it is advisable to keep a check when suspected.

[Hindi tips to prevent skin boils]

What are they?

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Boils are deadly pus-filled bumps that erupt on the skin and are usually red. Being infected, these boils can be very painful with purulent discharge. They can grow into large sizes and can cause severe pain and often due to infection even get infected and spread, causing an abscess. These are commonly seen in areas of the body which has hair follicles.

How to prevent the boil from forming and infecting

Preventing a boil to form can be difficult and cannot be predicted until a lump is formed in the area. Under such circumstances it is advisable to not fidget in the area, mot touch too much or even scratch. If there is the presence of a lump along with pain, it would form an abscess later. A hot compress helps in reducing the pain and pus formation. Hot or warm padded cloth or compress helps the pus to not solidify and drains much faster than otherwise. If the pus discharge stars to occur, heat compress is still indicated done for three days.

It is very necessary to keep check that sterilized materials are used as there is a possibility of cross infection. Sharing the same cloth or towel with another person is a strict prohibition. If a boil is anticipated early, avoid tight fitted clothes, cross contamination, wash the area well with antibacterial soap and keep it clean.

Treatment modalities

A boil can be treated in various ways depending on its severity.

  • Small sized boils which are not painful usually self heal. If not, a heat compress helps effectively. Boils which grow larger are usually treated with antibiotic therapy along with sterilized heat compress. Heat compress helps in increasing circulating white blood cells which increases the speed of wound healing. It is surprising how well heat compress works when it is done correctly.
  • Tea tree oil along with coconut oil has extremely good antibacterial properties and thus it helps in treating boils too.
  • Turmeric powder is also very effective and has superior antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It can either be applied topically or even be ingested with water.
  • Essential oils such as epsom oil, neem oil and castor oil, all of them have antibacterial properties which helps to combat boils. With the help of over the counter antibiotics as well as these natural remedies, boils do not last for long.
  • Often lancing of the boil and draining the pus may be required by the doctor when the boil size is large, painful and purulent. Lancing is done by making an incision on the boil and draining the pus. This therapy along with proper antibiotic therapy eases the pain and spread of the infection.

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It is very essential to identify the condition and severity and visit the doctor accordingly. A small boil may aggravate to become something way more dangerous and infective. for medically compromised patients, even the smallest boil may take weeks to heal and may become severely painful. Diabetics may require amputation or other treatment modalities. It is thus necessary to know the problem and visit a doctor on time. Areas of the skin which are more prone to boils are the areas with hair follicles, for example, under arms, scalp, buttock, pubic areas etc. With the increase in size, the boil gets more dangerous and has more chances of getting infected.

Prevent it when you can and you will notice how effective it is. Boils are not life threatening and thus can be prevented with ease and treated too. Visit a good doctor, keep your heat compressing materials in hand and do it with proper sterilized medium. People staying in tropical areas are more prone to boils so they should take extra precautions.

[Hindi tips to prevent skin boils]