what causes an abscess?

Question

why are they ,or could be, life threating? cuz i have had three so far. one on my ankle, one on my forearm, and one in my tooth. and nobody gave me any information on how they got there, or what it was/could do to my body. so could some one help me with these.

Answer 1

An abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process (usually caused by bacteria or parasites) or other foreign materials (e.g. splinters or bullet wounds). It is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body.

The organisms or foreign materials that have gained access to a part of tissue kill the local cells, resulting in the release of toxins. The toxins trigger an inflammatory response, which 1) draws huge amounts of white blood cells to the area and 2) increases the regional blood flow.

The final structure of the abscess is an abscess wall that is formed by the adjacent healthy cells in an attempt to build a barrier around the pus that limits the infected material from neighboring structures and also limits immune cells from attacking the bacteria.

Abscesses must be differentiated from empyemas, which are accumulations of pus in a preexisting rather than a newly formed anatomical cavity.

Answer 2

Infection. The abscess is the pocket of puss that forms. I've seen some people with huge ones on their arms, usually from shooting up drugs. A Staph infection is a common cause and it's very easy to get a Staph infection if you have a small open wound. You need to see a doctor RIGHT NOW, especially if it's a Staph infection. You can lose limbs or die from that. It's much more common for people to get 'regular' abscesses in infected gums/teeth than on your arms or legs. They'll give you antibiotics and possibly drain the abscesses if they don't burst first. Abscesses can be very dangerous if not treated. A friend of mine almost lost an arm from an abscess that grew to the size of a golf ball. Her skin around the area became necrotic (because she tried to 'treat' it herself by draining it in her tub and just made it worse and more infected) and necrotic tissue can spread and needs to be cut out right away. She now has a hole in her arm. They can be life threatening!!!

I've had abscesses in my gums from infected teeth. I was able to push on it and drain it myself but I really should NOT have done that since it could have made it worse. I should have gotten antibiotics. I ended up being fine though. Rinsing with salt water helps with the ones you get in your mouth.

Just get to a doctor now or go to an emergency room. If you don't have insurance, use a fake name at the emergency room so you can at least receive treatment and get a prescription for antibiotics. It's better to give a fake name than to die from something treatable.

Answer 3

Placing your fingers in your mouth is an excellent way to give yourself an abscess in your teeth, a bacterial infection that eats away at the nerve in your tooth, producing puss as a by product of it's activity.

Rinsing (swishing) your mouth with warm salt water helps to stop the infection.