VERY IMPORTANT!! CELLULITIS!
Sharond has some important information. . . . .
Many of you have been wondering where I have been lately, so I decided to tell you about a very serious infection that I contacted called facial cellulitis; it is exhausting, painful and extremely contagious.
A year ago in June, I was going to do a follow up on Meg’s columns regarding the girl’s days out at different spas and makeup counters at the South Coast Plaza, except do it where I live. My friends and I started our first day at an all natural cosmetic store and received an exfoliating facial and makeup application. That evening I noticed that I was getting a really painful pimple on my chin. By morning this pimple had multiplied and was extremely painful. I thought I would use my metal sterilized blackhead zapper and express them. Nothing but oil came out and in no time they spread even more. By lunch time my whole chin was broke out and I was starting to feel tired and achy for no reason. Still not thinking it was anything more than an allergy to the new products I tried, I ignored the breakout for another day. By the third day I knew something was wrong because I was running a low grade fever. My family doctor looked at the sores, took a sample of the oily discharge, a blood test and diagnosed it as facial cellulitis. I was given an antibiotic shot right then and scripts for oral and topical antibiotics to combat the infection. It did finally heal up in about a week; however it left scarring on my chin.
A number of weeks ago after washing my face with an exfoliating face wash, which can cause minute breaks in your skins surface, the same thing happened. I have been extremely careful about hygiene hoping this would not happen to me again. This time I went to the doctor immediately and am again going through the whole routine except for longer amount of time. One thing of note is that if you get this infection once, repeat infections will come back with a vengeance. This time the sores are taking a lot longer to heal and I have been so run down, doing anything more than reading tires me out. Because cellulitis is so contagious I decided to write about it on this site. I talked to my doctor and he gave me a link to this article that briefly describes this condition and how to spot it. In a different article, dermatologists state that mortality is approximately 5% and about 37% of the population does carry the bacteria which causes cellulitis. I suggest everyone Google this infection so you can learn more on how contagious and dangerous this can be.
Cellulitis is an infection that is caused by bacteria. When it affects your face it is called facial cellulitis. This infection can affect both children and adults. Cellulitis is caused by three types of bacteria, namely, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and Haemophilus influenzae.
A person with facial cellulitis experiences swelling, redness and pain in the skin on his or her face. Apart from the skin being infected, the person also has swelling and pain in the tongue. The other symptoms include fever, irritability, body aches and decreased appetite. Once you notice these symptoms it is mandatory that you go to the doctor to get the symptoms diagnosed. This is because this infection can present considerable risk factors to the person. Once diagnosed appropriate treatment can be provided to the person and the infection can be quelled.
There are a number of ways which the doctors employ to diagnose cellulitis. One simple way is to touch the affected are. It will be tender and warm. When this is combined with the redness that the doctor can see, he can include cellulitis in the possible infections list. To confirm this, he check if the person has any open wounds or cuts which may have facilitated the entry of the bacteria into the blood stream of the person and thus causing the infection. Even if the doctor does find an open wound or cut, he cannot be conclusive about the infection. The sure-shot way of confirming cellulitis is to conduct a blood test. If bacteria are present in the blood, the doctor can confirm Cellulitis.
Once the infection has been diagnosed as it posed considerable threats to your body. Facial cellulitis can infect your brain which results in meningitis. There are some other rare conditions that can develop when you have cellulitis. These are thrombophlebitis and Gangrene which are rare and you do not have to be too concerned about it. But you have to realize that, if you do not get cellulitis treated quickly then you are at the risk of developing the above mentioned conditions too. If you have diabetes, then your immune system is not in very good shape. In this situation if you are infected with cellulitis, this will balloon to other potentially complicated problems that can put you in a great deal of difficulty.
There are various treatments available for getting rid of cellulitis. This is a recurring infection and hence the foremost form of treatment should be preventive in nature. You should be generally hygienic and should avoid contact with food that is spoilt. If you have diabetes, you should take extra care of not cutting yourself and thus exposing and open wound or cut through with bacteria can enter. You should regularly clean the affect area if you have already contracted the infection and take the prescribed medicine regularly. As the infection is caused by bacteria, the best form of medicine is antibiotics. You can take antibiotics orally or intravenously. If you have an open wound or cut and are susceptible to bacterial infections, it is a good idea to take antibiotics to prevent the infection.
THANK-YOU SHARON FOR LETTING US KNOW AND PLEASE FEEL BETTER!! 
Have any of you ladies eve experienced or hear of this? I hadn't before but it is somewhat common and extremely contagious!
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Oh my, Sharon, that sounds absolutely terrible. I hope that you feel better, and get it completely under control soon! Could cause meningitis, that's so scary Sharon, I'm happy that it sounds like you have a great doctor. Thanks for letting us know about this infection, I had never heard of it before. I don't get pedicures or manicures any more, because I'm afraid of less than sanitary conditions. With that being said, my brother contracted MRSA in a hospital, it took a long time to get it under control, since a pimple, or a nick while shaving could cause the infection to become active. Scary. In the past couple of months, I've known 3 people who've gotten staph infections, which is a lot more than I've ever known before, in such a short period of time.
Sharon, aieeee!!!! Oh, what a terrible ordeal, ans it sounds as if treatments make it worse. So sorry, and please do let us know how you are getting on. As fatcat says, MRSA is the new epidemic, so my first thought was that, but this facial cellulitis sounds scary and distressing. Be well.
Oh my gosh, how absolutely horrific! I had never ever heard of this disease but I am so very glad I'm a part of this site and have been made aware of it now. I will be emailing all of my friends to warn them of this horrible affliction in the hopes that if it ever happens to them they may be able to catch it early.I'm so sorry you had to experience this. Please, take care of yourself and let us know how you are doing. ♥
Thank you Sharon for passing such important information on to us. You do us all a great service by sharing. I know you will be back to your fantastic self in no time. Until then, sending loads of love and prayers and healing thoughts. Thank God you knew what to look for the second time. Is it just me or is this kind of thing really scary? It all seems like such a gamble. I don't get tons of salon services but a few are definitely common-especially in the summer months. Every time I sit down in that beautiful pedicure station I have mixed feelings now. Excitement and dread. What if this is the time I end up catching something? I know the salon I frequent employs the appropriate sterilization methods but it still leaves me feeling uncertain. What do you ladies do? Who still gets mani's and pedi's, who doesn't, and why? It reminds me of War of the Worlds. In the end, it was the tiny, unseen germs that finished off the alien species. Are we doomed to follow? Just kidding, I have an over active imagination. Valuable post Sharon, great job!
wow that must have been terrifying. thank you so much for sharing because it will help others realize to go to the doctor if they have the same symptoms. Just another reason why i love this website!
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Ugh How horrible!I have been conbating folliculitis for years but luckily nothing this serious!... I even thought momentarily... what if this is what I have. But obviously it hasnt scaled into anything else in years. Tanning has helped a bit.Good Luck hope you're on the mend.To get it twice is worse! Ive neer ever heard of this?Also... Perhaos you know since you are probably well read up on the subject by now. I've gotten a shot of menengitis. Does this exclude me from getting this???
Tan is Love
SharonD, I am so sorry to hear about your cellulitis and hope that you get better after this next course of antibiotics, and don't have another reoccurance!I worked in an Infectious Disease lab, so I'm very familiar with the symptoms of infection, and very very familiar with Staphyloccocus aureus. (MRSA is the methicillin-resistant strain, but S. aureus is becoming increasingly resistant to many antibiotics.) Not only did my friend and I worked in the lab and research it, my friend contracted it on his face. It started out as what looked like a pimple, but didn't go away and was pretty big. A PA attempted to lance it, but my friend developed a fever and had to be hospitalized because of the fear that the infection could quickly spread to his brain. Fortunately, it did not. After a few nights in the hospital, he was discharged with some pretty strong (and really expensive) antibiotics. Once he was discharged, we were very careful about washing everything and sanitizing EVERYTHING (the car, doorknobs, etc.) to reduce the chances of recurrance. Unfortunately, as SharonD knows, it tends to come back, and his infection did, the next time it was on his leg.Megheads--some infections are bound to happen, but Staph infections are very preventable! Handwashing is the absolute best thing you can do, because Staph is everywhere (a good percentage of people carry it in their noses without any problems, and also on their skin without problems), so wash wash wash your hands, carry around hand sanitizer, and be careful.
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Sharon - so sorry to hear that you are going through all this. I've also never heard of this facial cellulitis thing, and it sounds horrible. Thank you for making us all aware of it. I just wish you didn't have to endure it! Feel better soon. We miss you!
Carole
Sharon, im very sorry... I hope you feel better, and there will be a way to get rid of it completely- there is always new medicine in development.My skin is very sensitive and scars easily- i get really bad pimples from time to time, and they stay on a face for a long time... I never get any salon services, since i dont really like strange people touching me, or giving personal services to me. But now I am extra careful to wash or sanitizr my hands,even when i am in the comfort of my own home
Wow, that sounds horrible. :( I have never heard of this but now I know about it just in case. Thanks for sharing. I can't believe a bacteria on your face can cause all of those symptoms. No fun for sure.
Bluedevilkitty-- Thank you for the valuable information.
Personally, I do not go anywhere to get a mani or pedi. I would rather do it myself at home. Frankly, 8 out of 10 times I feel like I can do a better job. I do wish I had the big comfortable chair at home. Wouldn't that be nice? Sigh! A girl can dream.I do "treat" myself occasionally to a spa treatment. But, I go to a place I trust impeccably. I have known the esthetician for more than 10 years. I am going to TRY NOT to let stories like this change things I have always done. However, once I hear something like this it invariably is always in the back of my mind.Feel better Sharon!
I will be sure to tell my friends and family about this, I have never had any facials from a salon, after reading this I probably never will. When I was teen we used to share make-up all the time, one of my friends had pink-eye and sure enough we all got it from sharing mascara, it was awful. I hope your feeling better,
I'm so sorry this happened to you, it sounds really awful! Thank you so much for the information, I've never heard of this condition before, and it's very interesting to learn about.
Oh my God that's awful Champ3377 and Sharon, Thank you for bringing this to our attention as I have never heard of this before it sounds awful !!!
What valuable advice! I'll always remember the signs - red became purple and it was hot - thankyou lovely Gigi. ♥
Wow Champ & Sharon - thank you both so much for this information. I hadn't heard much about it before - but have recently read up on MRSA which I know can be quite fatal.Its sad that we have to sanitise and wash everything in order to not contract these horrible infections, when it was the washing and sanitising which caused them to become super-bugs and resistant to lots of treatments.A vicious cycle!!I wish you a speedy recovery, Sharon :)
nicollback, I disagree about washing and sanitizing causing resistance. I would say that it is the overuse and improper use of antibiotics (ex. not taking the antibiotics for long enough, feeding antibiotics to livestock, etc.)
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Thanks so much for clarifying! :)I have long been told that its using sanitisers etc that is partly responsible.Good to know!! :)
partly, yes. But you would be amazed at the prevalence of antibiotics in our food supply. It's a huge political issue too.
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Thank you all for the well wishes. As Bluedevilkitty says, this bacteria is very common. Like Gigi (Champ) advices, keep alcohol wipes and bactroban handy. I am a clean freak so I feel my house is clean, but the bacteria can be anywhere. My doctor said he sees this quite often, even on people who are not seeing him for that problem. What they think is an outbreak of pimples could be something else. If you Google facial and other cellulitis images, you can see what this infection looks like at different places and at different stages of the infection.I think it is fair to say that salons should be clean and not a place to catch any infections. If you are worried, ask how they clean their equipment and how they retrieve the products used on you from their containers. If my first infection was caused by a person who was sloppy and contaminated a container at the store, I imagine the clerks didn't catch it. Since then, I have not trusted products set out as testers, especially where people can put their hands or mouth on them.Talking about serious infectious diseases. Did every one hear on the news about the surgical tech who was hooked on drugs and had hepititus C, exchanging her dirty needles filled with saline for the strong pain medicine for patients going into surgery? This tech worked at Rose Medical in Denver and Audobon Surgery in Colorado Springs. As many as 6000 people were affected and everyday we are hearing of more now infected with the Hep C virus. If you haven't heard, google this and then you can be shocked.As mentioned by others above. Who do we trust and who not? I chose to think most people are basically good.
Beste Hilsin
Sharon, thanks for sharing this and I am also glad you are doing better. I have had 2 staph infections in my life, and once with cellulitis, but, have never heard of facial cellulitis and now am scared. On reading this, I realize even having had staph twice (once after my c-section and the other time 3 years ago from a boil that formed near the c-section scar, (that one became cellulitis then staph) I am not as vigilent as I should be. I don't normally get professional facials anymore, beause I have all I need and I (and dear hubby) can do a better job. But, this has opened my eyes and I certainly will be far more cautious. Thanks again!
oh you poor thing. That sounds just...awful.A friend of mine got a fungal infection on her chin after a facial. That took ages to diagnose and treat, since at first she thought it was a reaction to the facial, maybe a dry patch, maybe a really bad patch of acne...etc.I hope you NEVER experience this again.
SharonD, I'm really sorry to hear that you've come down with this! It's absolutely horrifying that 1/3 of people have the bacteria that causes it - that scares me to death!Did you contact the place that you got your facial at? Since it seems like the contamination was from the spa, I think it would be good if you at least call them and let them know - so that this can be prevented for others in the future?
xoxo
Whoa Sharond - that's a scary story - on the face - yikes. Gigi, my goodness I had no idea you went through all that. I'm a walking encyclopedia on medical disasters, and in this regard, I think paranoia is very healthy. My youngest brother also had cellulitis after scraping his knee. Fortunately, we got it seen to in good time. Stylemama - to answer you about mani's and pedis - I once got a manicure, which left a tiny nick in my cuticle. By that afternoon the finger was getting hot and red. Everyone thought I was totally overreacting, but I rushed to the doctor, who put me on the strongest IV antibiotics available, and said I could have lost the finger if I had left it until the next day. If there is heat and redness, you take it VERY seriously, especially if you see a little red stripe that seems to be rising out of the injury site. Since then I haven't had either - strictly DIY, and I sterilize everything I use in full strength bleach for a couple of minutes before rinsing in hot water.I have to just say on the subject of nails - my Grandmother was always very 'grandly' dressed. You never saw her without a perfect French mani and pedi - which she did herself - I don't need your help thank-you. 2 weeks before she died of cancer at 89, she personally did her toes and fingers - how's that for inspiration?
Rie
woa!!! champ3377 and Sharond that is horrible! i never knew of this.. is it like a staph infection? Yeah funny how over the years ive had tons of cuts that ive not attended to and nothing like that has hapened, but then someone can be the same and then boom one day it gets infected. The moral is just to be on the cautious side eh and always clean your wounds. What a shame, sorry you guys had to go through this but glad you shared.
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Champ and sharond-what horrible stories-I,m so glad you caught this on time.You would think with all the new cleaners on the market that places could be kept clean.How horrible to go for a day of pampering and end up with an infection like this.The news really freaked me out today some exchange students were sent back from collage with swine flu-something which also shouldnt have been able to take a grip and travel from country to country-I swear the way things are now people will have to go around sanatising every door knob before they come in contact with it-cant wait for this epedemic to be over its really freaking me out.Like you said is it too much to ask that salons etc are kept clean.
PotionPrincess♥
I'm so glad you posted this! I do facials and makeup. I've never had anyone get an infection. I always get new brushes and new makeup whenever I do makeup because of my fear of germs, bacteria and fungus. Sometimes I think I go over board by giving my clients all the products used or through them away... now I don't feel that way at all!!!
This is horrible ! Oh my gosh.. Champ and Sharron i'm so sorry u guy had to go through that !This is the reason why i'm so scared of having facials and mani's and pedi's anywhere ! I remember going to this really upscale pedicure place and noticing that when she was putting my foot into the bath thingy that there was green stuff floating all around the water. When i asked what it was she said that the took their pedicure water out of a tank and the tank must be near empty, and then she told me not to worry because she's been doing pedicures with this type of water all day and no one else complained ! what ?!.. that so scared me. I agree with taking around neosporin and i usually have one of those mini first aid kits in my school bag just in case. This is a scary reminder though.. I don't usually use testers except for swatching eyeshadows but i'll be much more careful about that as well.
Oh I hope you feel better! That's such a scary illness! One I hadn't heard of before too. This was very informative. Thank you for posting this! Feel better soon and be sure to get lots of rest!
I've never heard of this but it sounds pretty terrible. Do you know what product/area you got it from?Does it affect the whole body or just the area it was infected in originally?... guess i'll head straight to google immediately!
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I thought cellulitus was really bad water retention (often in ankles):-/ sounds horrible-thanks for sharing this with us, i have never heard of this type of thing before.GET WELL SOON! x
Wow. Thank you for sharing this information. I haven't had it, but my sister in law's hubby had it. It started the same way, he had some huge pimple on his lip and he went to get it checked out at a Patient First. For God knows what reason, the nurse there decided to pop it! So his lip got crazy swollen and he had to take meds for it and I think he had to take off from work. I just can't believe that the nurse would pop it!
thanks for sharing this with us!!! i've never heard anything of the like before!...contagious and painful! :( that sounds terrible, i really hope you'll get well soon!
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This is bad, i feel sorry for you.
oh my goodness - i'm so very sorry. thanks for the heads up - i had heard of the condition but not on the face and with the possible ramifications - nor that it was so highly contagious. you and your family are in my prayers.
Sharond thank you so much for sharing your story with us. It really was a subject I had no knowledge of whatsoever! I am so sorry to hear you had to learn about this as your own life experience! For every personal story I read here at Megs; my heart goes out to all of you and to you Sharond. To everyone who has insane things happen to them... because you share your very personal stories with us; we are able tell all of our friends and family what to be aware of and look out for! I wish you continual healing and days of radiant health ahead!
Jeanasina!
Thanks so much for bringing this scary illness to our attention. I am very sorry that you had to suffer the ordeal of contracting it, but it was very selfless of you to share your story and educate us.
Indi
Oh my gosh. I hope you feel better soon! I'm really sorry that this happened to you, but it's very considerate of you to give us a heads up and a warning. I've never actually heard of this condition, but it sounds fairly common and definitely like something that you wouldn't want to contract.
OMG I had never heard of this before, I had seen a man with cellulitus in his calf/ankle area and now I wonder if that is contagious too? Could that be transferred to the face? Yuck, I do always carry around hand sanitizer and soon my start carrying alcohol wipes too. I sincerley hope you never get this again and that you feel better soon.Going off to google more.Thank you.
Thanks for posting this. I know two people who have been very sick from this infection; both my grandmother and a friend became critcially ill when they had the infections are were in hospital for weeks. However they both became infected after cutting themselves - it hadn't occurred to me that exfoliating could cause little breaks in the skin and therefore leave you vulnerable to infection, but I won't forget now. I hope you are recovering well.
Awful! I knew someone who had this in her ankle and she could barely walk. It was really scary and painful.
Wow, Sharon and Gigi! I am so sorry to hear about your stories. My heart goes out to you both. Thanks for sharing this invaluable information with us all. As they say -- an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We all need to be educated on these dangers and within our means do what we can to prevent them. Also, always trust your gut instincts -- when something feels wrong, speak up and act upon it!
I've never heard of this condition but thank you so much for letting us know! Sounds scary, I'll definitely be more careful with those scrubs.
I'd never ever heard of this before, it sounds so scary and painful! Thanks for giving a heads up, I'll definitely be more careful now.
Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! That sounds like a horiffic experience and you had to suffer through it more than once! Thanks for informing me of this condition and I will definitely be more careful when it comes to my skin care regiment and blackhead extractions. It's amazing to think how vulernable our bodies can be from something that is so commonplace. My coworker's husband has been receiving treatment for the past 1 1/2 years for Guillian-Barre's syndrome. After Christmas in 2007 her husband became sick after eating uncooked meat (didn't realize until he bit into it). Several days after his recovery he had to be taken to the emergency room because he became totally paralyzed and experienced other symptoms. This is an auto-immune disorder where the nervous system is attacked by the body. After undergoing extensive physical therapy and blood transfusions, they are in massive medical debt and he still has not completely recovered total control of his body. He has been living in an assisted living facility in the meantime. But who would have thought that getting sick from uncooked meat could have led to Guillian-Barre's syndrome.
i have never heard of this before! but iam so sorry! i dont know what else to say! But i send lots of kisses!!! *MUAH*
Oh my, I had never even heard of this. I can't believe you got it...I am so sorry. I hope things get better for you.
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I heard it first from you, but then yesterday I was having lunch with a friend a he told me he had this on his leg! He showed it to me and it looked really painful! This is his second infection. He said the first one was on his neck and he thought it was a pimple and he tried to pop it and almost died of pain! Get better soon!
OMG, how terrifying! A friend of mine actually got cellulitis from a cut that she got shaving her legs. It's so scary! I had no idea it was also contagious and that you could get repeat infections. Yikes!
omg thank you for sharing this. I will be much more careful when I take tare of my skin