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Question about cellulitis

How long does it take for an infection to turn I to cellulitis? And at which point will you be hospitalized for it?
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363281 tn?1643235611
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hello~I would definitely ask your GP, since Cellulitis is a bacterial infection, which means, it in itself is an infection, so, having the current infection checked would be a wise avenue to follow. I do know that with antibiotics, the Cellulitis should clear up within 7 to 10 days, but again, this is something your GP will be able to discuss with your.
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973741 tn?1342342773
Oh gosh, my husband had cellulitis.  Nasty stuff!  It's staph that gets into a small wound (or large). Strep can also get into the wound.  Very painful.  My husband had it start on his ear.  He asked me if I saw anything and I didn't.  But he was feeling it. Then a few hours later, I kid you not, his ear was completely swollen.  And next it moved down the cheek.  We went to his doctor (I went with him) who had us leave and go straight from that office to an ENT.  The ENT went straight to hefty antibiotics and if the swelling didn't go down by that night, he was going to be admitted to the hospital.  It was traveling too fast and moving toward his eye.  Anyway, he had no wounds.  It was just a fissure in the skin most likely.  That's what the ENT said. The antibiotics did work in his case.  

My son had a staph infection from a wound.  He got a small rug burn on his knee.  Not thinking it was a big deal, after the first day, I didn't pay much attention to it. He put band aids on it.  Until one week later when he said something was wrong with it.  I  looked and holy cow, it was a pus filled crater.  We went to the doctor the next day who diagnosed strep and he got a topical antibiotic.  Unfortunately though, we'd waited a week and it had that long to do it's thing and by the next day, even with the topical antibiotic, he erupted with staph all over.  He had it all over both legs, arms and one on his face.  We went back to the doctor and were told it had gone systemic (into his bloodstream) and he needed the hefty antibiotics too. We are not lucky.  lol  But he was better very quickly.

I will tell  you from having a family of boys who are active, staph and cellulitis looks nothing like regular skin things.  The cellulitis has a hallmark of swelling or 'blowing up' if you will.  It's warm, it hurts.  Staph infections are more like craters that cover with pus.  It looked like he had a flesh eating virus.  I was very worried about scaring but other than the original wound, he didn't.  And the original wound scar got better a couple of years after.  

What is it exactly that you are concerned about/  More details would be helpful. And remember, when it doubt, get checked out by your doctor.  

Here's info on cellulitis https://www.medicinenet.com/cellulitis/article.htm  and https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cellulitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20370762

Tell us more and we'll try to help!
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1 Comments
By the way, the only reason why we saw the ent is because his ear was the place of origin.  Normally your family practice doctor can take care of this or urgent care or the ER if absolutely necessary (really, a regular office based doctor is best).  good luck
Avatar universal
I think Googling this will tell you more than we can -- there are no experts on here but sites such as Mayo Clinic are good resources for these kinds of questions.  A lot depends on your immune system strength.  If you already have an infection, though, you already have a problem that needs care.  What I think you're talking about is you have a cut or skin condition and are wondering if it might be getting infected, but I can only guess, because if it's already infected you have to treat the infection anyway.  Hospitalization depends on severity and how quickly you get to your doctor and get a correct diagnosis.  If it happened all the time, we'd all have it all the time, because we all get cuts and skin problems and we don't get it.  But enough do and the overuse of antibiotics for other things have made it harder to treat.  If you think you have it, see your doc.  
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