Has anyone ever had a boil lanced?
 

Sorry for the gross thread but I have an important dilema.

Skip the next paragraph if you don't want to read unnecessary details...

I had a boil that was very inflamed and growing repidly. My medical insurance sucks so my only option was to hit the emergency room. After hours and hours of waiting, I saw the doc, doc lanced the boil, packed a little piece of gauze into it to keep it open and draining, covered wound with gauze pad and told me to come back to have it removed and let them check on me in two days. I went back tonight, 7 hours before my flight to Texas which I cannot miss, and it was packed to the brim with people. I sat there for an hour, watched one person go in that whole time and realized I didn't leave myself enough time, so I left.

I decided I'm just going to remove the gauze strip myself and clean my wound best I can. My question is, does anyone know what you're supposed to do to clean it? I know you're supposed to keep it in warm water for long periods of time throughout the day, so I figure after I pull out the strip I'll take a long warm bath and then put hydrogen peroxide on it before covering it again with another gauze pad. Does anyone see any holes in that line? Also, would soap be a bad thing to come into contact with the wound?

Re: Has anyone ever had a boil lanced?
 

I had an abscess lanced and drained about five years ago. The only treatment I had to do for myself was to soak in warm bath 30-60 minutes a day and keep the wound clean. Unless a doctor chimes in here and tells you otherwise, I would not pour any peroxide on it. Definitely get the gauze strips soaked before you remove them, as I'm sure they're caked with blood.

Re: Has anyone ever had a boil lanced?
 

did they give you any antibiotics? i had an abcess from a spider bite, they popped that ish and gave me an IV, some pills, told me don't mix these with booze put some neosporin on it and you good to go homie

Re: Has anyone ever had a boil lanced?
 

No antibiotics, which I thought was strange considering that was the first treatment I got for this thing months ago.

Thank you for the tips guys.

Re: Has anyone ever had a boil lanced?
 

how long was the packing, and how deep is the crater?

Re: Has anyone ever had a boil lanced?
 

From my MD friend and occasional OOT lurker...

"Antibiotics are often of little use because the pocket of pus does not have any blood vessels going directly to it, so the medication never reaches the infection. Now your only job is to keep it clean and dry. You don't need to use anything special, just gentle soap and water. I'd clean it twice a day once the packing is out. Using something like peroxide or alcohol is only going to punish yourself more. Definitely loosen up any dried blood around the packing prior to removing it (and wash your hands well before touching anything). FYI, it's likely gonna hurt like hell when you remove the packing for the first time. If the crater underneath is relatively small you don't need to repack it. However, if you're left with a deep or gaping hole, it will need to be packed again, thus why the doctors told you to return two days later. If possible, go to an urgent care center wherever you are right now. They are quicker waits than emergency rooms but will still be able to handle this kind of situation. The idea of the packing is to do what antibiotics can't, and wick out the infection from the inside to the outside. In a pinch you could always buy some sterile gauze and try to gently repack it yourself, by making sure some of the gauze gets into the hole, and that some is on the outside. Wrap it all in a clean, dry bandage. If the skin around your leg gets very red and warm or if you get a fever/chills/nausea/vomiting, go see a doctor as the infection is spreading. Enjoy!"

Re: Has anyone ever had a boil lanced?
 

Use iodine on it.

Be careful, iodine stains.