Cellutis advice in the elderly required please

[Chippychop]

My mum (80) has rheumatoid arthritis and all it's associated ails...fell over last sept and tore skin off a 6"x4" section of her shin. She has been receiving good care by the district nurses but has recently developed cellulitis. Recent antibiotics haven't agreed with her and made her sick. She has been prescribed a month's worth last Friday and seems to ok...at the moment. The thing is she is so down and depressed and fed up with being ill and old and doddery. She doesn't feel she is getting the right treatment or attention and wants to know if it is worth getting a private doctor in? But if anyone could give me some advice on how to advise her on how long it will take to get rid of it or anything else .I just want to make her feel better physicallly and mentally.thanks

Sorry to hear your mum is ill.

Unfortunately, infections are difficult to clear up in elderly people because of their generally frail condition and things like poor diet and decreased mobility.

Sometimes wounds - particularly in the legs - can take a long time to heal due to impaired circulation. She should keep them elevated whilst sitting during the day and try to take a diet that has plenty of protein in which will help with wound healing. Vitamin C and Zinc are also good for wound healing. She should try to remain mobile as much as possible too as this will help boost circulation. A lot of people find Manuka honey taken orally helps them. It is used as a wound healing aid, but that's up to the District Nurses to decide. It has natural antibacterial properties.

Perhaps a course of antidepressants might help too. People who are depressed have slower healing than those who don't.

You need to nag the GP because, I find, they're often more ready to fob older people off than younger people. You need to make your voice heard and be assertive.

Hi Chippy

A relation of mine was also given a months worth of antibiotics not so long ago for cellulitis in her lower leg. She is now on the mend but it can take a long time for this to clear up (at least 6 weeks) and her case also involved a week's stay in hospital (she was put on an intravenous drip to fight this infection). It can recur; this lady's case recurred in her hand and she is still on antibiotics for this. Applications to the skin do not good at all as the infection is internal.

NHS website has good information on cellulitis and it is well worth reading. Cellulitis is no respector of persons; anyone of any age can contract this. As Hiddenhome says, it does no harm to speak to the GP; this person should also make visits or your mother should be encouraged to visit the surgery. She has probably been given the usual antiobiotics to counteract the cellulitis but there are others that can be used (but only for a couple of days rather than a month). She should be carefully monitored; she may well have to go into hospital if there is no vast improvement or if it spreads further.

I wish your Mother a speedy recovery; cellulitis is a nasty thing to have.

Thank you very much for your helpful replies. Have a nice day x

My two pennyworths - AFAIK it is often difficult to say why someone has developed cellulitis ,but " maintaining skin integrity " which seems to boil down to careful and frequent applications of Diprobase ( pump dispenser ) to prevent dry skin helps .

And in the interests of sharing ( don't know if much help ) I have found ( several years caring for 90+ year relatives ) that there can be a huge lack of continuity of approach from members of district nursing teams .
In my mothers case I found that care plans specifying treatment for leg ulcers were slow to appear and nurses were constantly ordering different dressings .
Silver ,tubes of honey ,honey impregnated gauze ,and a huge range of varying dressings to secure .
At the moment we are seeing only the one nurse - practice nurse from GP surgery ( partly to achieve continuity ) who has immediately prescribed a ( new )dressing and securing dressing which in only 5 days seem to be working . But has had to have changed daily ( and I had been impressed by twice weekly DN visits ) tho nurse says this frequency is just initially .
Mother has heart problems and fluid in legs so ulcers slow to heal .