Cellulitis and erysipelas

Patient information from the BMJ Group
Cellulitis and erysipelas
Cellulitis and erysipelas are infections that make a patch of your skin red, inflamed,
and sore. They're usually easy to cure with antibiotics.
What are cellulitis and erysipelas?
Cellulitis and erysipelas happen when germs called bacteria infect your skin. Bacteria
can infect your skin if you have a cut or scrape, an open sore (ulcer), a cut from surgery,
or an insect bite.
Cellulitis and erysipelas are so similar that doctors can't always tell them apart. The main
difference is that cellulitis affects a deep layer of your skin. Erysipelas affects your skin
nearer the surface. Both conditions are treated the same way.
What are the symptoms?
Cellulitis and erysipelas make a patch of your skin turn red and feel sore. You're most
likely to get cellulitis on your legs or arms, but it can appear anywhere. Erysipelas often
affects the skin on the face. The affected area may get bigger and the skin may blister.
You may also get swollen glands near the infection, or feel generally unwell, as if you
have the flu.
What treatments work?
Antibiotics cure almost everyone with cellulitis or erysipelas. They kill the bacteria that
are causing the skin infection. If you don't get treatment, the infection could spread to
other parts of your body. So it's best to see a doctor as soon as possible.
You may need to go to the hospital and have antibiotics as a drip (also called an
intravenous infusion or IV). You'll switch to pills when you start to get better. But if your
cellulitis is mild you'll probably just take pills. You'll probably need to take antibiotics for
one or two weeks.
Examples of antibiotics you take as a drip (and their brand names) are cefazolin (Ancef),
ceftriaxone (Rocephin), and vancomycin (Vancocin). Antibiotics you take as pills include
cefadroxil (Duricef) and cephalexin (Keflex).
Between 7 and 8 out of 10 people who take antibiotics are cured after a week or so. If
you're not cured by the first antibiotic you take, your doctor will switch you to a different
type, or give you antibiotic pills as well as a drip. Or you could have blood tests to find
out which bacteria are causing your symptoms.You can then be given an antibiotic that's
especially good at killing those bacteria.
Antibiotics can have side effects, but they're usually mild. They include diarrhea, nausea,
pain in the abdomen, headaches, dizziness, and a rash.
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Cellulitis and erysipelas
You may be given a painkiller, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol). This can make you
more comfortable while you're waiting for the antibiotics to work. If your cellulitis is on
your leg or arm you might be told to keep that limb higher than the rest of your body.
This may help the swelling go down. If your skin starts to blister you may be given a
dressing to put on it.
If you have athlete's foot (a foot condition caused by a fungus) near the infection, it will
need to be treated. This will help to stop the cellulitis from coming back.
What will happen to me?
With treatment, most people who have cellulitis or erysipelas recover completely in about
two weeks. If you're usually healthy you can probably be treated at home, or else spend
only a day or two in the hospital. Then you can go home and take antibiotics as a drip
(an IV) with support from visiting nurses. If you have a long-term illness such as diabetes,
or if you have severe cellulitis, you may need to stay in the hospital for longer.
Sometimes cellulitis can spread and cause other problems (complications). It can cause
blood poisoning, which is a severe infection that affects your whole body. This is rare,
but it may happen if the cellulitis isn't treated in time or if the antibiotics don't work.
Cellulitis can also come back. About one-third of people who have had cellulitis get it
again within three years.
Some people get swelling in the arm or leg where they have cellulitis. This is called
lymphedema. Treatment usually gets rid of the inflamed patch of skin, but in some people
the swelling doesn't go away. This happens to about 7 in 100 people who get cellulitis
in their leg.
If you get cellulitis around your eye, you need to get treatment as quickly as possible.
The infection could spread and affect your eyes or your brain.
This information is aimed at a US patient audience. This information however does not replace medical advice.
If you have a medical problem please see your doctor. Please see our full Conditions of Use for this content. These
leaflets are reviewed annually.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
Last published: Sep 16, 2015
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