When you get a boil, the most important thing is to get the infection out of your body and prevent the boil from getting bigger. Here are 3 treatment options that you can use alone or together in order to combat the boil.
Antibiotics
First, antibiotics are almost always necessary because boils often come because of a Staph infection. This infection needs to be treated with antibiotics to kill the infection so that you do not start to get more boils over time.
In general, you can take things like penicillin or a sulpha drug to do the trick. You will need to visit your primary care doctor first to get a prescription, and then you need to take all of the medication that is recommended. If you only take part of the bottle of pills, then your body can build a tolerance and the medicine will not work the next time you need it.
Castor Oil
Second, you need a topical treatment that will actually dissolve the boil and help the puss to come out. For this, castor oil is best, and it can be found in an aisle containing laxatives at your local pharmacy.
Castor oil is traditionally used to clear out your digestive system, but it works just as well on infections from the surface of the skin. Get a few cotton balls and bandages as well so that you can apply the oil adequately.
Once you have the supplies, rub oil all over the boil, soak a cotton ball in the oil and place it on the boil, and then place a bandage over the skin and cotton ball so that the oil is pressed against the skin.
The bandage will also protect the oil from leaking onto your clothes, so make sure that you get a bandage that is large enough to cover the boil and surrounding skin.
Leave this on for a few hours, and then try to squeeze some of the puss out. You will need to repeat the process over and over as you squeeze the puss out until the boil is almost completely clear.
Topical Healing Ointment
Lastly, you need to heal the skin and close up the boil so that it does not get infected. To do this, you will need another prescription from your doctor for specialized ointment designed to treat boils and infections.
Do not apply the ointment until the boil is rid of the puss and is only producing blood because you will trap the infection inside otherwise. The ointment will heal the skin from the outside, and whatever is left inside will get trapped if it has not been cleaned out thoroughly.
By doing these 3 things, you can treat your boil and get rid of it much faster than if you just let the infection run its course. For more information and supplies, visit a pharmacy like Potter's House Apothecary, Inc.
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