Boils are painful abscesses on the skin that are usually about the size of a pea, though they can grow to be up to an inch in diameter. They can be found anywhere on the body, but tend to develop on the thighs, buttocks, neck and face. Boils are...
An infection of a hair follicle is called a furuncle or a boil. When a hair follicle becomes infected, the surrounding skin is infected as well, forming a pus-filled bump or lesion that can be tender or painful. In some cases, many hair follicles...
A boil, according to the National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus website, is a localized bacterial infection that originates in a hair follicle, causing an abscess. They are fairly common. Although they can be found in any hair follicle, the...
A skin boil, also known as a furuncle, is an infection that starts around a hair follicle and spreads to the surrounding skin, according to MedlinePlus. Boils are usually caused by the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, but other bacteria or fungi on...
A boil, or furuncle, is a painful, pus-filled bump that develops beneath your skin when one or more of your hair follicles becomes infected, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These bumps grow until they ultimately rupture and...
A number of bacterial infections can affect the human skin. Individuals with bacterial skin infections may develop red, painful lesions or may exhibit no symptoms at all. Common bacterial skin infections include carbuncles, furuncles, cellulitis,...
A staph infection of the hair can be caused by many things, but a true definition of staph is needed to understand this type of infection. Staph is the shortened version of staphylococcus, which is a type of bacteria. Staph can live in the nose,...
A boil is an infection of a hair follicle and the immediately adjacent skin, usually caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Furuncle describes an infection of a single hair follicle. Carbuncle refers to a larger area of infection,...
Small bumps can occur on your hands for a number of reasons. Depending upon the cause of the bumps on your hands, you may be able to treat them with items in your kitchen or may require a prescription medication. Before treating your hands at...
Boils -- infected hair follicles that form painful, swollen pustules -- are the most common variety of staph infection. Staph infections pose a serious public health threat in hospitals, where antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause difficult-to-treat...
A boil, also known as a furuncle, is a skin infection that involves a hair follicle and the surrounding skin tissue. They form under the skin and usually present as red, tender bumps at first. Boils then fill with pus, increase in size and become...
A carbuncle is a collection of badly infected hair follicles, called boils or furuncles, which form a badly infected patch of skin, according to MedlinePlus. Carbuncles will form a large infected lump full of pus, fluid and dead tissue, or they...
Boils, or furuncles, are pus-filled, painful bumps that form under the skin when bacteria infect and inflame hair follicles. Boils are caused by the bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, reports Medline Plus, and begin as tender red lumps. These lumps...
Skin is a barrier between the internal organs and the environment. However, because of frequent breaks in the skin, infections can occur. Approximately 15 percent of all patients who seek medical attention have either some skin disease or lesion,...
Skin infections fall into three general categories: fungal, viral and bacterial. According to the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Continuing Education website, some of the most common bacterial skin infections include cellulitis, impetigo,...
The ear canal is dark and hard to see into without special tools like an otoscope. Any indication that something unusual is in there, such as unidentified spots, can set off alarm bells. Some causes of spots are not unusual, but others can lead to...
The Staphylococcus aureus bacterium is the leading cause of all Staph infections in humans, according to the Mayo Clinic. Although these bacteria are usually harmless and are commonly found on the surface of the skin, the Mayo Clinic reports they...
Boils, also called furuncles, can be painful and debilitating --- especially if they develop on areas such as your buttocks and thighs. They can appear as a single bump or cluster together to form carbuncles.To properly treat and prevent boils, it...
A boil is a painful swelling that grows from beneath your skin. In many cases, you can employ home treatments or even alternative remedies to treat boils, but they're sometimes so painful or severe that you have to undergo certain convention...
Staph in the nose is caused by a bacterium named Staphylococcus aureus, commonly called Staph. Staph is quite ubiquitous in normal life, and according to medical textbooks, "most newborns are colonized within the first week of life, 70 to 90...
The skin, also known as the integumentary system, is the largest organ of the body, and since it covers the body, it is the only organ that's always visible. If anything goes wrong with the skin, it is immediately seen and felt. For this reason,...
Each year, millions of bacterial infections of varying severity occur in Americans of all ages. While most bacterial infections are minor, some may be life threatening or pose a risk of permanent tissue damage. Judicious use of antibiotics is the...
A boil, formally known as a furuncle, is a pus-filled bump that develops when a hair follicle becomes infected. When fully developed, boils can be extremely painful. They generally begin as a red, tender bump but quickly fill with pus. In a matter...
A boil, or furuncle as it is more properly called, is an infection of a hair follicle and the surrounding skin, according to Medline Plus of the National Institutes of Health. Boils can be quite painful, especially when the pressure of the...
Methicilin-resistant staphylococcus aureus is a penicillin-resistant strain of staphylococcus aureus, an organism that normally lives on the skin of healthy people, and sometimes in their nasal passages. MRSA can enter the body through openings in...
Staph is the common term referring to several species of staphylococcus bacteria. The prevalence of staph in the environment makes these germs a frequent cause of human infections. Although staph can invade any body tissue, minor skin infections...
A bump in your armpit may cause discomfort, especially if the bump is large enough to cause friction. A bump can develop in your underarm for a number of reasons. In order to determine the exact cause, your doctor may order or perform special...
A pustule is a collection of pus, a combination of liquid and inflammatory cells that form just under the epidermis, the top layer of skin or under the dermis. Many times pustules start in the hair follicles or sweat glands. When you have a...
According to Brian Schwartz, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, approximately 25 percent of the population has Staphylococcus aureus in their nasal passages, but do not have any symptoms. If you have Staphylococcus...
