What Does Staph Infection Look Like For Me?: Staph On Spotlight
Getting a staph infection stinks: the itchiness, the pain, the swelling, not to mention all those ugly marks on your skin – definitely not a good sight. What's even worse is it seems to appear along with an equally-annoying blemish – as if having acne is not enough. What does staph infection look like? I'll tell you.
Staph infections are opportunistic bacteria that appear on your skin. “Opportunistic” because while you're all pretty and healthy, they just hang out on your skin like harmless little creatures. But the moment you have even the teeniest cut – like a paper cut – they get into your skin like blood-hungry vampires. Before you know it, symptoms of staph skin infection start appearing on your body. First, as a staph infection rash that can turn your skin red as a berry in no time. Then, the rash can develop into something worser – something that can cost you an arm, a leg or – God forbid – your life.
What does staph infection look like when you get it and how can a simple staph infection rash develop into something life threatening? I can say, it happens in stages. First, as soon as the staph bacteria settle on an open wound, some symptoms of staph skin infection may immediately show themselves. You may notice the appearance of little bumps on your skin, like an insect bite of some sorts. And since they're itchy, you scratch them. After a while, you notice that the “bites” get bigger and develop some kind of a white-head which turns out to be pus. Totally gross!
If you're still not careful, these bumps can swell, as if going to burst. Well, draining the pus out is exactly what you should do – if you know better. But since you don't, you'll probably leave them as they are without knowing that these bacteria are already burrowing deeper into your skin tissues. They can get into your bloodstream and make an instant transportation and toxic cocktail out of it. They use this as a means to get to the vital organs. While they're on a ride, they spurt out toxins that mix into the blood and poison it. When the blood is poisoned, the vital organs shut down. What does staph infection look like at this point? I guess you'll never know, because you dear, will be resting in eternal slumber.
Now aren't topical creams and antibiotics just heaven-sent? Yes and no. These medications definitely work wonders in treating minor staph infections. But when these bacteria are exposed to the same antibiotics all over again, they get used to it and these antibiotics will be ineffective on them. Not to mention, they give way to another breed of antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria strains which will be more immune to other treatments. If this practice continues, staph bacteria may end up invincible – how terrible!
This is actually what concerns most people right now and I can't help but feel their panic. I mean, who would've thought that ignoring a “pimple” could leave you dead after just weeks? Yikes! So what does staph infection look like for me? I can say, it's one of those nasty-looking infections that you could've avoided if you just paid attention. It definitely pays to keep everything clean – they taught us this in kindergarten, remember? Washing your hands may be more than just a ritual, it can actually help you keep these nasty bacteria at bay. And please, keep your personal stuff to yourself or else you could get more than just your stuff back.