Cellulitis and erysipelas - What will happen?

Most people who have cellulitis or erysipelas recover completely with treatment.

Cellulitis and erysipelas are easy to treat with antibiotics. But they need to be treated quickly.

Sometimes cellulitis can spread and cause complications (other problems that are difficult to treat). These can be serious. For example, cellulitis can cause blood poisoning, which is a severe infection that affects your whole body.[2] This is rare, but may happen if the cellulitis isn't treated in time or if the antibiotics don't work.

If you're usually healthy, you may be treated at home.[2] But lots of people need hospital treatment. You may be able to go home after a day or two if you're feeling better, but on average people stay in hospital for about 10 days.[2] [1]

One study looked at people who were treated for cellulitis in hospital.[3] Nearly everyone was cured after taking antibiotics for 14 days. Other studies show that antibiotics cure cellulitis in most people in less than two weeks.[4]

But cellulitis can cause long-term problems. About a third of people have cellulitis again within three years.[5]

Some people get swelling in the arm or leg where they get cellulitis. This is called lymphoedema. Treatment usually gets rid of the inflamed patch of skin, but in some people the swelling doesn't go away. This happens to 7 in 100 people who get cellulitis in their leg.[6]

If you get cellulitis around your eye, you need to get treatment as quickly as possible. This is because this kind of cellulitis can spread to your eye or into your brain.[4]

References

Hospital Episode Statistics. Main operations. March 2007. Available at http://www.hesonline.nhs.uk (accessed on 8 January 2008).
Clinical Resource Efficiency Support Team (CREST). Guidelines on the management of cellulitis in adults. June 2005. Available at http://www.crestni.org.uk (accessed on 8 January 2008).
Hepburn MJ, Dooley DP, Skidmore PJ, et al. Comparison of short-course (5 days) and standard (10 days) treatment for uncomplicated cellulitis. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2004; 164: 1669-1674.
Swartz MN. Cellulitis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2004; 350: 904-912.
Jorup-Ronstrom C, Britton S Recurrent erysipelas: predisposing factors and costs, of prophylaxis.
DTB. Dilemmas when managing cellulitis. Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin. Vol 41, No 6, June 2003.

Glossary

blood poisoning: A severe infection in your blood is called blood poisoning or septicaemia. Bacteria get into your blood and multiply quickly. Blood poisoning requires emergency treatment with antibiotics. The symptoms are fever, shivering, low blood pressure, confusion and a rash. If it isn't treated quickly, it can cause serious damage to parts of your body. And it may cause death.
antibiotics: These medicines are used to help your immune system fight infection. There are a number of different types of antibiotics that work in different ways to get rid of bacteria, parasites and other infectious agents. Antibiotics do not work against viruses.

This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.