Cellulitis

Cellulitis is a bacterial infection of the deepest layer of your skin. Bacteria can enter your body through a break in the skin - from a cut, scratch, or bite. Usually if your skin gets infected, it's just the top layer and it goes away on its own with proper care. But with cellulitis, the deep skin tissues in the infected area become red, hot, irritated and painful. Cellulitis is most common on the face and lower legs.

You may have cellulitis if you notice

Area of skin redness or swelling that gets larger
Tight, glossy look to skin
Pain or tenderness
Skin rash that happens suddenly and grows quickly
Signs of infection including fever, chills and muscle aches

Cellulitis can be serious, and possibly even deadly, so prompt treatment is important. The goal of treatment is to control infection and prevent related problems. Treatment usually includes antibiotics.

Cellulitis on Wikipedia

'''Cellulitis''' is an inflammation of the connective tissue underlying the skin, that can be caused by a bacterial infection. Cellulitis can be caused by normal skin flora or by exogenous bacteria, and often occurs where the skin has previously been broken: cracks in the skin, cuts, burns, insect bites, surgical wounds, or sites of intravenous catheter insertion. Therapy is with appropriate antibiotics. It is unrelated to "cellulite", a nonpathological condition featuring dimpling of the skin.

Symptoms

Cellulitis is characterized by redness, swelling, warmth, and pain or tenderness. Cellulitis frequently occurs on exposed ares of the body such as the arms, legs, and face. Other symptoms can include fever or chills. In advanced cases of cellulitis, red streaks (sometimes described as ‘fingers’) may be seen traveling up the affected area. The swelling can spread rapidly.

Causes

Cellulitis is caused by a number of types of bacterium entering by way of a break in the skin. Group A streptococcus and staphylococcus are the most common of these bacteria, which are part of the normal flora of the skin but cause no actual infection until the skin is broken. Predisposing conditions for cellulitis include insect bite, animal bite, pruritic skin rash, recent surgery, athlete’s foot, swollen skin, dry skin, eczema, and burns.

Risk factors

The elderly and those with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable to contracting cellulitis. diabetes mellitus are more prone to cellulitis than the general population because of impairment of the immune system; they are especially prone to cellulitis in the feet because their disease impairs their circulation in their peripheries, leading to their having foot ulcers that commonly become infected. Immune-repressive drugs, HIV, and other illnesses or infections that weaken the immune system are also factors that make infection more ... [ Read More ]

External Resources

eMedicine Health - Cellulitis - Consumer health resource center providing information on the causes, symptoms, and treatment.

Juvenile Cellulitis - Owner's chronological account of a Weimaraner with puppy strangles, complete with a slide show of its progression.

Physical Hi-Tech - Cellulite Care Expert beschrijft de holistische aanpak van cellulitis. Met persmededelingen en een lijst van instituten.

Eurobagni - [Medole, MN] Produce e vende sistemi di installazione idrosanitaria e cellule bagno. Presenta l'azienda, il catalogo, vantaggi e contatti.

Pontegiulio S.p.A. - [Orvieto, TR] Progettazione e fabbricazione di cellule bagno destinate a strutture ricettive, alberghi e comunitĂ , ausili per disabili ed anziani: profilo aziendale, certificazioni di qualitĂ , marchi e tipologie di prodotti, estremi per contatti.

Portisa Friuli S.r.l. - [Cimolais, PN] Produce porte in metallo per edifici pubblici quali scuole, caserme, ospedali, centri commerciali, alberghi. Propone anche cellule bagno prefabbricate e paretine divisorie per servizi igienici. Azienda, prodotti con dati tecnici, capitolati, disegni.

Il mieloma multiplo - Guida pratica per il paziente, definizione, diagnosi sintomatologia, possibilitĂ di cura, trapianto di midollo e cellule staminali. Fornita dall'Istituto Tumori di Milano. (formato Pdf)

Guida per il paziente con mieloma multiplo - L'Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano fornisce informazioni ai pazienti affetti da questa patologia. Descrizione, sintomatologia, evoluzione, prognosi e terapia, comprendendo l'uso delle cellule staminali.

Diagnosi del carcinoma polmonare non a piccole cellule - Ruolo della tomografia ad emissione di positroni (PET) nella diagnosi e nel followup di questa neoplasia. Utilizzo della metodica nell'evidenziare precocemente le recidive, nel definire i dubbi sui nodi solitari e sulla risposta alla terapia.