I have an abscess on my leg - antibiotics not working - what to do?

i hope you are ok.

a very small purple spot started last week on my leg and by Friday I was in A&E with a swollen leg, an infection in my blood and an Incision and Drainage on Saturday under general anaesthetic with IV antibiotics.

I had no idea the impact and now the weeks of dressing appointments so wish I had gone to A&E earlier in the week.

please don’t leave it or wait and see. Five days on antibiotics sounds like time to get a doctor’s opinion.

I was also tested for diabetes 2 but the first results were inconclusive so waiting for the three months results.

Hi @skinissue,
I had this practically identical problem 11 years ago! Leg abscess got worse, despite amoxicillin. Went to an out of hours doctor, who sent me straight to A&E. Had an incision and drainage under general that evening. Drastic, but it made such a difference having it drained! Was such a relief. Hope something was figured out for you.

Hope you are doing ok @skinissue

I’ e had one of these, I waited longer than I should have and when I went to the doctor she immediately referred me to the short stay surgical unit of the local hospital and it was drained that evening (though cannot say it was pleasant), and was given very strong antibiotics. You do need to see your GP again, ask for an urgent appointment.

I wasn’t asked for a photo. I had to go to ooh Gp

@bridgetreilly pharmacists can only give antibiotics in limited conditions and wouldn't be able to give second line antibiotics for an abscess. Here's a list of the conditions/ age ranges they're able to treat at the moment www.england.nhs.uk/primary-care/pharmacy/pharmacy-services/pharmacy-first/

It took two weeks of antibiotics to get an abscess on my back to the point where it burst, and that was a smaller one than yours. The GP did say it could be drained if the second course didn't do the trick. However, I had a glorious hour or so wiping up rivers of pus - very satisfying.

I had an abscess that didn’t respond to ABs years ago. I left it and had to get rushed to hospital to have it drained when I started to run a high fever. Don’t leave it… call 111 and see what they say.

The last time I had antibiotics, not for what you describe, they didn't seem to work at all until the last day. It was very odd. I literally felt no better until I took the last one, then boom, felt completely well.

You need to go to minor injuries they will swab it and dress it. Under no circumstances must you let it rub or it will never heal. Buy some dressings from your local pharmacy.

GP will probably be able to make a direct referral to the surgeons (but as per PP there may be a bit of debate about which surgeons given where it is). If you can't get through to GP/get an appointment then ED would be reasonable too. This sounds like very bread-and-butter surgical on-call stuff and no emergency theatre list is complete without at least one abscess to drain (often under GA as others have said because local often doesn't work very well where there's a lot of tissue inflammation).

My dp had something similar in his groin, but slightly smaller. They had him straight in for surgery to completely remove it. Draining can make it more comfortable for the short term, but abscesses have a tendency to refill unless you remove the capsule. I'd go back to the GP for a referral, but if you can't do that, try minor injuries. If you get a temperature or start feeling ill, do not hesitate to go straight to A&E.

I think we need a photo.

If you ring 111 they will call back and ask for photos. We did this 8 days ago as DH has one. He was sent by 111 straight to A and E. He was treated and partially drained and put on the same dose antibiotic as you, then underwent drainage under local 36hrs later allowing the tablets to start to work so the local anaesthetic would work. The antibiotics have not worked after 5 days and the incision and drainage has not worked either. It did not go deep enough for the infection. Today he is having a further incision and drainage under general. So either phone 111 or go to A and E/urgent care. I hope you get it sorted and resolved quickly.

See a GP today, either at your surgery or ring 111 for urgent care

DH has one on his bottom. It was drained and then packed. Had to see nurse for daily dressings for literally weeks and weeks until it healed. It has to regrow flesh from inside out. No showers, etc as open wound.

You need more antibiotics. Don't mess with it.

Completely disagree . If it is an abscess it needs incision and drainage not just antibiotics. OP needs to see a surgeon and can access this via ED or her GP.

Swabs of the overlying skin are pointless as all you are testing is the mixed skin Flora. Complete waste of microbiology resources.

I think it’s reasonable to go to ED. ( Cons Surgeon) .

I am wondering though if this could be hydradenitis suppuritiva though??

Go to A&E, the abscess site doesn't sound suitable for a minor injury to manage. A&E will refer you to the surgeons to perform/arrange I&D

Wouldn’t recommend castor oil or anything like that, you need to see a professional. I would call NHS 111 - they can book you in to your nearest minor injuries. I had an infection on my foot once, and my GP was pretty useless, but seeing another doctor in minor injuries did the trick as another antibiotic was prescribed. Also with the risk of sepsis, I wouldn’t hesitate. Good luck OP.

Unless you’re a medical professional or have experienced this before your opinion is invalid.

the site is 2.5cm, this is without knowing how deep it is too. Again as some who has experienced this, it needs draining it’s too far gone and the dose of antibiotics is extremely high that they have had. By day 5 it should have done something and it hasn’t. This person needs surgical intervention before it turns into something else.

Pharmacists can prescribe antibiotics these days, so you could try that, it really you need to go to your GP. If there’s a particular doctor you’re avoiding, you can say so. But I think the best course is another round of antibiotics, before resorting to surgical intervention.

I don't want to scare you, but whe I had this it was because I had undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. By the time that was discovered, I was in a state of HHS. I had necrotizing fasciitis in the wounds, which needed to be debrided and I was in hospital for twelve days.

Go to A & E. It's better to know.

As someone who has had similar at this stage them antibiotics tend to do nothing. I had the no head thing and have a I&D twice. It’s ok, it’ll go away with support just need to get to A&E x

@CatEyeGlasses

I’ll third that. It’s what I have, didn’t know it had a name until this recent issue I’ve had with them.

This was cleanser was recommended to me by a nurse. I’m not sure if it was this that put an end to crop of them I was getting or if it was the topical antibiotic that got ahead of them. I don’t know if it’s available in the UK but in the US it’s called Hibaclense photo of ingredients in case this helps anyone.

It is quite a low dose. I’m a nurse and in hospital with patients with cellulitis it’s not uncommon for us to give 2g flucloxacillin a few times a day if infection is moderate