Abscess Treatment

Abscesses can be treated in several different ways. The treatment depends on both the type and size of the abscess that you have.

The most common abscess treatments are:

At the IPSA Medical clinic, abscess treatments are carried out by experienced doctors with A&E backgrounds, who see you and examine you immediately. A full abscess examination is carried out in our clean and quiet environment.

If antibiotics or analgesia is required, it will be given immediately. Your doctor will advise you of the available treatment choices depending on both the severity and size of your abscess.

During your consultation, the abscess can be drained (under local anaesthetic) and then cleaned/dressed.

To speed up tissue recovery, IPSA Medical provides the best range of dressings for your particular wound type. We also provide thorough after-care advice. We will review your abscess until it is completely healed.

Abscess Treatment Options

Antibiotics

For large and persistent abscesses, we usually prescribe antibiotics: antibiotics clear the infection and stop it from spreading into other areas.

Drainage

Antibiotics alone might not clear up your skin abscess entirely. Often, your doctor also needs to drain your abscess of pus to make sure that all of the infection has cleared. If the abscess is not drained then it might continue growing and it could then burst (which is usually painful).

If your abscess is not treated medically and you leave it to burst, the pus might not drain away properly. This means that your abscess might return or that the infection might spread into other areas.

Surgery

To drain the abscess, you might require a small operation. This type of surgery is mostly carried out whilst under a local anaesthetic so that the area surrounding the abscess is numbed. The procedure can then take place without any discomfort.

Your IPSA Medical doctor cuts the abscess to enable the pus to drain out. The pus may also be sent for testing. This tells us which bacteria is responsible for the infection and ensures that no further treatment is then required. Once the pus is drained, the wound is cleaned with a saline solution.

Your doctor may leave the abscess open. This is because any more pus that may be produced can drain away. If your abscess is deep then we may use an antiseptic dressing to keep the abscess open allowing the pus to continue to drain. This might leave you with a small scar.

Contact IPSA Medical to book your same-day appointment with one of our experienced doctors.