A MRSA infection can start like this.
It can quickly become a pus-filled sore.
At that stage, it needs to be drained by a doctor.
MRSA pictures provided by VisualDxHealth and Peg McQueary
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What Staph Looks Like
Last Updated: July 16, 2009
Filed Under: Everyday Health
Also Tagged: health magazine march 2008, mrsa, staph
Filed Under: Everyday Health
Also Tagged: health magazine march 2008, mrsa, staph
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Comments (29)
If you have mrsa on your skin should the doctor lance it open for it to heal?
so a kid on my baseball team had the mrsa infection and i play hockey with him too and now i think i have it but it is in a bad stop i think….how should i tell my mom this and what should i do??????
My boyfriend, has little puss sores all over just his legs from the knee down worse on the right leg than the left, but it starting on the left leg, it is very painful, and red, Am i at risk of catching this? We live together, and can he lose his leg? He is also very stubnern about going to the Doctor or Hospital! If knows it is very bad I might be able to get him to go. Thank you,
yes he needs to go to the doctor asap! he could loose his leg especially if the infection reaches his bone. get him to the doctor. and yes you are at risk of getting this. skin to skin contact is the best way to get this. also using a towel after him of sleepin on the same sheets. very dangerous infection.
If you are on the internet asking about sores that you think could be staph/mrsa, let me tell you something. You need to get off of your duff and go see a doctor. A DX on the internet is a DX on the internet. NO ONE could tell you about something so serious as a major infection (where you can lose a limb or have a hunk of tissue removed) by chatting with you via your computer.
YES, it is catching. That is how you get it.
Can U get MRSA from a spider bite
MRSA and other staph infections are very serious and should be treated as soon as signs arise!!!!!! it will attack where your body is most sensitive for instance, an ingrown hair, a cut, or even a spider bite (Sherri). It is very contagious and can be carried on your clothes, towels, sheets, toilet seat, basically anything it touches. wash everything you have used or worn in HOT water. you should keep sores covered if possible and use antibacterial soap (like Dial). soak a washcloth and hold it on sores to draw out the puss and don’t try to pop them. if it looks like it will pop go to a doctor and he/she will lance it and drain it. Your doctor will most likely prescribe an antibiotic and a topical cream. When taking antibiotics remember to eat plenty of SUGAR FREE yogurt (sugar feeds bacteria) and ladies, remember that all antibiotics and other medicines will reduce the effectiveness of Birth control. Make sure you use another form of contraception during the treatment period. YOU CAN GET PREGNANT. it happens all the time. doctors usually don’t warn you when they prescribe antibiotics (don’t ask me why, doctors aren’t as smart as people think) cases can be mild, yet still painful to very severe and excruciating! the longer you wait to treat it the harder it will be to get rid of. I recommend putting tea tree oil on sores once a day (it kills bacteria) and make sure you keep your body healthy and get plenty of rest. your body needs to be strong to fight this!
Hello everyone,
Our family was viciously attacked by MRSA and we nearly lost our oldest son to it within 72 hrs.
MRSA also attacked my youngest son and myself.
The boils that my son’s had grew to the size of small grapefruits and destroy the flesh in the surrounding area.
As you can imagine we were horrified. We sought out medical intervention and our doctor threw several antibiotic at my son’s infection. The antibiotic failed to keep the infection from coming back.
After speaking to an infectious disease doctor, doing my own research and networking with others struggling with MRSA,
I came to the conclusion that MRSA is rapidly evolving and becoming resistant to all antibiotics.
At that point we decided to run from this vicious cycle of throwing antibiotics at an antibiotic resistant infection.
We prayed and researched until we found something that would save our family.
MRSA was literally eating away at us and what we found stopped MRSA from killing us. It is called Allimed, stable allicin.
This is the first time in history that allicin in garlic has been stabilized.
Since we used Allimed we did not need further medical care though we informed our doctors of our decision and continued under their observation.
We deat with MRSA ourselves and have not had it return for any of us in over 2 1/2 year.
Before using Allimed the boils were coming every few weeks.
If we are to survive this era of resistant bacteria, then we will have to think outside the box. What once saved us from infections (antibiotics), is now killing us.
We must see that the era of antibiotic success is now leaving us. If we don’t have our eyes wide open, mankind may not survive this pandemic.
I hope our story will help to save lives as our family was saved.
I welcome emails from anyone who wants our help, etc.
God bless, Cathy
Cathy@optimalhealthusa.com
Scientific Research Files:
Current news reports regarding stable allicin:
250 people recover from MRSA using stable Allicin:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/article1279834.ece
Current news reports regarding stable allicin:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7531978.stm
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj6C6aEyrYk
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KSObBa5b0Bw&feature=related
These are good files to print out to run by your doctor:
SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACT
http://www.allimed.us/pdf/article/Cutler%5B6%5D.pdf
http://www.allimed.us/pdf/article/April2005%5B9%5D.pdf
EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/eccmid15/abstract.asp?id=37436
Can MRSA be fatal? And are there always symptoms? If so, what are they? Thanks and God Bless!!
Cathy,
You cannot treat MRSA with garlic. That is the kind of absurd misinformation that contributes to the spread of community acquired MRSA. You and your family are lucky you have strong immune systems. Your only “scientific” resource contains anecdotal evidence from just 3 patients, who took 3 to 4 MONTHS to recover from infection. There is no direct evidence that their recovery was caused by the garlic-derived medication because there was no control group or well-defined outcome variable in these patients.
p.s. I would avoid getting health information from youtube or The Sun, whose headline generally features a celebrity divorce.
Jenny,
Look at the thousands of years of proven results from the use of garlic in many forms. Especially the Allicin.
I can understand your concern, but contempt w/o investigation leads to impoverishment.
Be well,
Judy
i run a in home daycare i have a family of 4 that i care for one of the childern has mrsa really bad should i keep watching the three of them? or have the mother get everyone checked?
Lisa, I’m not an expert, but I have done childcare before in my home, and if someone is contagious with a fever, they don’t get to come to my house. Same for the daycare my son went to when I was taking classes on campus. It’s because the kid is contagious. MRSA is contagious, moreso than what HIV/AIDS is. If you could get HIV/AIDS from being in the same room with someone who has it, would you go in that room? I know I wouldn’t. I think this mother needs to take all of her kids in and get the blood test run to see which ones have it in their systems. You can be a carrier of this and never get sick, just pass it on to others. You can also have it and not realize it because you think it is just a spider or mosquito bite. Some people have thought they had a bad pimple. I know the economy is bad and childcare (if they pay) can be good and steady income, but this is something that can kill you. Just because you aren’t watching the one that has an active infection of MRSA doesn’t mean another one of the three won’t have an active infection themselves, or pass it on to you or someone else in your house, or even a guest who came over to visit. I also don’t know when you posted that, but for reference, I am posting this on Monday, December 8, 2008, at 3:15 EST.
I myself came here because my almost three year old has a big red toe with shiny skin that has a few linear indentations that look like cuts but aren’t, and it has been this way for a week and a half now (so I now seriously doubt it is MRSA) but this was my next choice for what it might be. If I don’t find out or it goes away completely (it is getting better, slowly) by Wednesday, he is going in on Thursday. No pain, itching, tingling, numbness, or puss, but it is freaking me out because I have never seen shiny red skin like that. I’m hoping it turns out to be althete’s foot or something equally benign. He had it as diaper rash before (strange story there, but true) and it never bothered him, just me. As for his toe, he’s like, ‘leave me alone, mom! Quit poking at my toe!!!’
Yeah Lorri!
I don’t know if you are familiar with Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) but this substance has been the ONLY thing tha kills on a regular basis,all of the worst of the offenders I have encountered while working with the public from within a Health Food Store setting.
For those of you who are not familiar with the scenario, those of us who work in this setting, are bound to the public, to help them holistically,in any manor we can.
Consequently, GSE is a great friend.
Follow the directions on the ‘peel up’ label.
Use GSE three time per day for at least 1 mo. Include Probiotics apart from the meal AND 2hrs after or 1 hr before antibiotics.
There is so much to the subject,
But you will find your way.
Be well,
Judy
Lisa, protect the other children and don’t offer daycare to a kid who’s had MRSA until you’re given an all-clear note from the pediatrician (dated, and specifically mentioning the MRSA). You run the risk on endangering the other children, losing your business, and being sued for millions of dollars.
Lorri, I’d have a doctor check that out while it’s at its worst. At least take photos now. Warm baths will help to soak the area and get the blood there to deal with any infection that needs cleaning up (the blood brings in the white blood cells, which fight infection).
A doctor’s bill is worth the life of a child, or adult!
ok hi im victoria i have little bumps on my hand but no puss i played soccer and i told my mom but she soesnt think i have it i do i know for sure if i do or dont have it??
I am 45, and a Juvenille Diabetic. If you don’t take care of your glucose readings, you will get serious infections. Mostly on the legs and feet. My life has really improved since I moved from needles to the pump 5 yrs ago. Take care of yourselves. Have a great 2009.
What does HIV have to do with MRSA? Did you mention it to be scary? MRSA is scary enough you dont need to go confusing people.
I’ve noticed that a lot of people are saying, “If you have questions, you need to see a doctor!” Sounds like a good advice, problem is that I tried to get a doctor to culture a sore (I think I may be a carrier) and he flat out refused. He said he did not want to have to be stuck treating someone with antibiotics forever. When answering questions, we need to keep in mind that not all health care providers are willing to diagnose MRSA, because it causes problems with their status with the insurance companies. This is a horrible side effect of the current insurance situation. As a mental health provider, I know for a fact that insurance companies like providers who only provide minimum care. We need to seek out and have as much information on our own as possible. The unfortunate truth is that, in this day and age, people cannot rely on doctors to look out for patients’ best interests.
there is a lot of information here, great information. I would like to add that what is most relevant is that we are taking new approaches to, not only the treatment but, more importantly the prevention of this plaque. Comments like Jenny scare em to believe that some people, lets be honest, most people trust “modern medicine” is the end all be all of heath care. The sad fact is quite the opposite. While a lot is done to save lives and help, these are all post-disease, no doctor I have ever met speaks in terms of prevention. What we need is a new approach to our lifestyle choices to “prevent” these incidents. Be healthy!
i had 7 staff infections in 1 yr…..i come to find out that the best way to pop a staff infection is to take a hott bath atleast 3 times a day untell it has opened itself up…..i had gone to the doctor 2 times to release the infection and i got so tired of it that i asked a doctor if i could release the infection at home….and to not ever get another one again …..my doctor told me to take a bath with bleach one lid full …..iv never got the infection back again….and yes the hott bath works ..
Only 1 CAPFUL??? I saw another person say 1 CUP bleach for 90 gallons of bathwater. I haven’t a clue how much either of my tubs hold! How often did you have to bathe? I think the person who wrote the above said he had to take 3 baths a day – I don’t recall for how long. The other thing I’ve heard is DON’T bathe as the germs are now in your bath-water & then it will spread to everywhere. There’s so much info & I don’t know what to do. I have one ’spot’ now.
this is a good article with useful basic tips. I hope new technology will help combat the spread of MRSA. I battled MRSA for over a year and it was almost impossible to get rid of but finally it went away after receiving the right treatment. MRSA Infections and Staph Infections are very hard to cure. I actually posted a lot of free MRSA resources and mrsa pictures which includes my own personal MRSA story and how I got rid of it at http://www.infectioncures.com
I had mrsa one time and it was bad. I told my mom and it looked like it was nothing . Then one day i got up and my leg were it was, so sowlen that i could barely walk. When i showed my mom she told me we needed to go to the emergency room. When i went they said it was from a spider bite then it just got worse. I relized how bad that could actually affect you. I thought it was nothing and people die from this if it gets to in your system.I missed 2 weeks of school because of this. But hopefully we can all stay clean so no one else will get it. IT SUCKS!!!!!!
I have had 4 MRSA infections in the past year all starting with a surgery that I had. Each time the doctors took me off the IV meds because they thought the infection was gone, the infection came back within a week. I thought I was MRSA free till two days ago when i went in to the doctor to have him look at what I thought was a spider bite. It started out as a ring of red dots with one dot in the center, the circle was about the size of a dime. Over the next 2 weeks it began to turn red and purple and became a hard bump that hurt. As soon as I got to the doctor he said it looked like MRSA so he stuck a syrenge in it to drain all the puss and blood out and do a culture. while I am waiting on those results he has prescribed doing warm wet compresses 4 times a day and applying an anitbiotic ointment called Mupirocin. Tonight i noticed that it looked odd so i touched it and it was like a huge blister, full of clear liquid and hurts like mad! All the other times i had MRSA i was prescribed Vancomycin, Zosyn, and Tetrocyclene… so i am wondering if this antibiotic ointment is even going to help. After all i thought MRSA was basically non responsive to most antibiotics. I just hope that i caught this infection early enough to keep from having another major surgery to remove necrotic tissue. As far as using a soap that will kill the germs / bacteria on your skin in was told to use Hibiclens soap. It is similar to what doctors use to scrub in for surgery and it kills just about everything. the down side is that it also dries out your skin, but thats what lotion is for right?!
I went to the doc about staph infection like symptoms on my finger and they finally cultured it after going in several times with the same symptoms on my legs and was told there was no bacteiral infection. My soars became holes in my skin and stringy like pus had to be pulled out of my soars. My oars are very painful and occur often mostly on my legs and once in a while on my finger tips. An antibiotic and pain killers get rid of the “infection” and pain but it comes back. Is this staph infection or is it something else?
will someone please get back to me about this, this really hurts and i got another infection on my leg and i need to know how to treat it
My doctor told me that I had MRSA when i was pregnant, that was the first time i ever had any symptoms of it. But, ever since then i still get them every now & then… Off & on… Why is that? & do I have it in my bloodstream or what? What am i suppose to tell people i have when i go to the doctor? Every time i tell them i have mrsa, tehy look at me like im crazy & act like i have a boil on me right then, when i dont at all. They just come & go, i never know when one is goin to come up. And i do wash my hands frequently and have very good hygene. So, I dont know want to do & to tell the doctor`s & nurses when i go somewhere.? For example, today i went to go get a flu shot, the nurse told me they were limited to giving out the shot vaccine, so she said i had to take the nasal vaccine. I tried to tell her i had a weak immune system & that i have mrsa & she said well, u have to get that approved from your doctor to get the shot vaccine then.. & i read up on the shot & nasal vaccine & it says on the nasal one that if you have a weak immune system or any blood disorders you should not take the nasal one, the shot one only.
I realize this is very contagious but, with all the cleaning that you need to do, what about your own sheets if you sleep alone? What about the mattress underneath? I have a Tempur-Pedic ‘topper’ on mine, how do I clean it? It’s NOT washable only spot clean. If I spray it with Lysol will that be ENOUGH, especially if I use it each day? What about your pillows? You can’t wash them every day! Just wondering as I have a spot on my bottom that I think is staph at least. MRSA? Not sure. ThanX 4 any help guys!!!