Dealing with Boils

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Fadcode

Full Member
Feb 13, 2016
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Cornwall
Tengu, after reading all this my only advice would be to jump on a plane to Mexico and buy some anti-biotics, or you could stick a sterile needle in it, squeeze it,( which is exactly what would happen if you go to the Doctors or to an A&E), stick a plaster on it, and get on with your life.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
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Depends where it is but I'd never suggest cleaning the area then poking something sterile and sharp into the boil then squeezing it to drain it. Then cleaning the area afterwards and apllying a dressing.
No siree, not me. Thats just crazy talk.

You're probably right, especially nowadays when we fret over every wee thing and our immune systems aren't what they used to be.
On t'other hand, we're living longer........
 
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Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
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I recall now, the boil I had taken to the clinic was ruptured and actively painful. I had spent all night sat in a bath of salt solution.

And that didnt improve it.

I assume it was really infected, hence the antibiotics.

This one is ok.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
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McBride, BC
The deal is, you have a systemic infection. The boil is an emergent part of it all.
Lancing and expressing the contents will provide some pain relief.

I believe that's indicated should you find yourself in the middle of nowhere (or close to it).
But, you are depending(?) on your immune system to do the internal warfare. Up for it?
Whiskey, applied internally and externally, will help.

I have always had a wonderfully effective immune system. Hope it continues to be so.
However, I'll concede that the needs of most others isn't like my own.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
I used to be very fond of Canadian rye whiskey on ice. "Logger's Lunch."
Gotten quite far away from it over the past 20 years. Keep thinking I'll have a slurp
but some other damn thing happens like I forgot to make ice, etc.
The very best is insipid. A little more "tooth" in Forty Creek and Alberta Premium.

Canada now has our very own gin = Ungava. Seasoned with Canadian herbs.
I'm too chicken-**** to afford a 750 ml in case I don't like it.

Wednesday night might be -20C or colder. Same as inside my freezer.
 

Van-Wild

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Feb 17, 2018
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Do you think its life threatening?

Yes: go to A&E
No: Move on........

I had a boil on the side of my chest once. Just kinda suddenly appeared and stayed for about 2 years. I was always conscious about it. But it never hurt, didnt grow or weep or go hard. So I left it well alone. After about 2 years it just kinda vanished all by itself. No recurrence. The body has it's own way of dealing with things......

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demographic

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 15, 2005
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I used to be very fond of Canadian rye whiskey on ice. "Logger's Lunch."
Gotten quite far away from it over the past 20 years. Keep thinking I'll have a slurp
but some other damn thing happens like I forgot to make ice, etc.
The very best is insipid. A little more "tooth" in Forty Creek and Alberta Premium.

Canada now has our very own gin = Ungava. Seasoned with Canadian herbs.
I'm too chicken-**** to afford a 750 ml in case I don't like it.

Wednesday night might be -20C or colder. Same as inside my freezer.
I've had some of that Ungava, if I buy gin its usually Bombay Saphire but I liked Ungava.
The colour however... lets just say it looks like a body waste product.
 

Van-Wild

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Feb 17, 2018
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My brother always swears that Whisky (no 'e' it was Scotch malt) cured him of shingles - mind, it was 3/4 of a bottle in a few hours; woke up next morning and the shingles had gone :)
100% agree with all of that Broch. Whisky is only ever spelt 'Whisky' and a single malt is a 'cure all' guaranteed!

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Veracocha

Member
Sep 9, 2019
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I had a boil nightmare in December 2018 and I'm still living with the consequences now. It wasn't a particularly aggressive one but the GP saw fit to try me on a new antibiotic that has had some success on "aggressive boils"; Co-amoxiclav. Within 10 days I had liver failure and ended up on a specialist ward as sick as the proverbial parrot. I bruised to the touch, bled from my nose every day, unimaginable sickness and pee that was the colour of guinness. The itching was the worst thing, I don't think a wire brush would have satisfied me there. Over a year later my scans show the liver has repaired well but not well enough for me to drink yet. A very strange thing is the right hand shoulder pain, apparently this is where the "perceived" pain is directed to tell the body the liver is in a mess. I now have huge gall-stones that have to be removed when I am 100%.

I wish I had cut the boil out with my spyderco rather than go through what I have.
 

Van-Wild

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Feb 17, 2018
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I had a boil nightmare in December 2018 and I'm still living with the consequences now. It wasn't a particularly aggressive one but the GP saw fit to try me on a new antibiotic that has had some success on "aggressive boils"; Co-amoxiclav. Within 10 days I had liver failure and ended up on a specialist ward as sick as the proverbial parrot. I bruised to the touch, bled from my nose every day, unimaginable sickness and pee that was the colour of guinness. The itching was the worst thing, I don't think a wire brush would have satisfied me there. Over a year later my scans show the liver has repaired well but not well enough for me to drink yet. A very strange thing is the right hand shoulder pain, apparently this is where the "perceived" pain is directed to tell the body the liver is in a mess. I now have huge gall-stones that have to be removed when I am 100%.

I wish I had cut the boil out with my spyderco rather than go through what I have.
Oh dear, a 1 in a million rare reaction! I hope you're recovered well enough now though?

I have experience of coamoxiclav as well and a very good experience it was to. Amoxicillin is a general antibiotic that can be found in many an 'expedition med kit'. I carried a 30 day supply of coamoxiclav during a trip to Malaysia a few years ago. I got an infection from something that laid a larve in my calf. I only saw it when it swelled up like a black/purple jelly like bubble. When I touched it, it wriggled bu itself. Something told me it shouldn't be there, so like a total legend I spent an hour in my hammock trying to pop it like a zit. When it did pop it was disgusting. A yellow blood covered thing that I flicked out onto the jungle floor. I cleaned and dressed the wound and took coamoxiclav for a week. No ill effects, wound healed. Sorted.

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gra_farmer

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Mar 29, 2016
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Oh dear, a 1 in a million rare reaction! I hope you're recovered well enough now though?

I have experience of coamoxiclav as well and a very good experience it was to. Amoxicillin is a general antibiotic that can be found in many an 'expedition med kit'. I carried a 30 day supply of coamoxiclav during a trip to Malaysia a few years ago. I got an infection from something that laid a larve in my calf. I only saw it when it swelled up like a black/purple jelly like bubble. When I touched it, it wriggled bu itself. Something told me it shouldn't be there, so like a total legend I spent an hour in my hammock trying to pop it like a zit. When it did pop it was disgusting. A yellow blood covered thing that I flicked out onto the jungle floor. I cleaned and dressed the wound and took coamoxiclav for a week. No ill effects, wound healed. Sorted.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
I had a brief stint of training at the Royal college of surgeons, and have experience of human dissection, and experience of a lot of parasites in livestock when I was a farmer, but that account made me weak in the legs....

...anyway some interesting advice in the thread, I have alway lanced boils, in either man or beast, but agree have to be clear on any secondary infection, by understanding if there is something else causing the boil, like a sist or keloid scar, etc.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
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100% agree with all of that Broch. Whisky is only ever spelt 'Whisky' and a single malt is a 'cure all' guaranteed!

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“Whiskey” is properly ”spelt” as s-c-o-t-h. On the other hand, proper “whiskey” is properly “spelled” b-o-u-r-b-o-n. But only rum can be considered a cure all. (Tequila is a cure “most”)
 

Van-Wild

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Feb 17, 2018
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“Whiskey” is properly ”spelt” as s-c-o-t-h. On the other hand, proper “whiskey” is properly “spelled” b-o-u-r-b-o-n. But only rum can be considered a care all.
Ahhh you crazy yanks! you say potato, I'll say go-learn-the-queens-English!

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santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
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Ahhh you crazy yanks! you say potato, I'll say go-learn-the-queens-English!

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That’s the real trouble though iddenit? Even within the U.K. proper, there‘s waaaay more than one English language. Then aside for us Americans (no, I’m not even close to being a yankee——they live up north and REALLY talk funny!) there are 2 more major variations and at least a dozen minor ones around the world.

Almost as many variations of English as there are of Spanish. Not quite; but almost.
 

WULF

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 19, 2012
2,983
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South Yorkshire
Tengu, after reading all this my only advice would be to jump on a plane to Mexico and buy some anti-biotics, or you could stick a sterile needle in it, squeeze it,( which is exactly what would happen if you go to the Doctors or to an A&E), stick a plaster on it, and get on with your life.
Best advice....get on with life!!
 

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