Advice on cellulitis / soft tissue infection

Cork Emergency Departments

You have been diagnosed with a skin infection or cellulitis. Cellulitis is caused when bacteria enter the body through broken skin. This can happen with any break to the skin abrasion, cut, scratch, animal bite, or an insect bite. The following information will assist you to take care of yourself at home and indicate when you should return to the Emergency Department (ED) or attend your General Practitioner (GP) for review.

The Do’s and Don’t of treatment

Do

• Complete the course of antibiotics you have been prescribed
• Keep the infected area clean
• Keep the infected area elevated as much as possible
• Take over-the-counter medicine for pain/itch (antihistamine) etc as advised
• Keep the area clean and dry ensuring dressing remains insitu as advised
• Wash your hands often to prevent spreading the infection
• Attend your follow up apt as advised:
  GP in __________ days or ED review clinic in _____ days

Don’t

• Drink alcohol while taking the prescribed antibiotics
• Pick or scratch the infected area

Call your GP or return to the ED if you have any of the following:

• Difficulty or pain when moving the joints above or below the infected area
• Discharge or pus draining from the area
• Feeling unwell including fever, shivering, vomiting or nausea
• Pain that gets worse at or around the infected area
• Increasing redness tracking outside the initial ‘marked’ area
• Increased swelling of the infected area