How to stop the fear of recurring cellulitis?

I know how you feel! Where was the bite? Was it on your lower leg or foot?

Yes! Lower right leg….. just looked like a normal bite then less than 24 hours later it was red and pussing, wasn’t sore very much, and a bit swollen but nothing major, but went to A and E due to my health anxiety – have you had it??

So, here’s what I think. First, certain spiders are well known to cause infection. Spiders like brown recluse. It’s very rare people get bitten by one, so it’s not likely to happen again. Just think you’ve give 40 years, and this is the first incident I’m assuming.

If however it isn’t a spider that is known to cause infection then it’s likely either bacteria on your lower leg or that was in the dirt where the spider had been.

I’ve had cellulitis from bee stings and ant bites, but only below the knee.

It’s been years since it has happened. What I do is I make sure I soap my ankles when I bathe. I don’t make a big effort about it, I just do a quick once over. If I do get bitten on my feet I immediately put alcohol.

I’ve never had cellulitis on my arms or other areas of my body. I’ve been cut and had mosquito bites a zillion times, sometimes dirty cuts, and never had a problem. I try to clean cuts right away, I push on them to bleed a little. For that matter, I’ve been bitten by mosquitoes on my feet and ankles in recent years and nothing.

When cellulitis doesn’t clear up, or happens a lot for unknown reasons then as you said diabetes should be ruled out, and it’s possibly circulation is a problem.

I see no reason for you to be paranoid that it will happen easily, but if you tend to not wash your lower legs and feet in the shower, use a little soap as a preventive measure.

Yes this is it! I have been having baths for the past week = haha it’s cold here and I didn’t want to shower so I was always bathing, when I got the bite I had a bath that night, so I think I was just dirty… which is gross when I think about it – but I think I was unlucky, I definitely don’t have diabetes as I’ve just been tested….. I“m glad to hear from someone else whose had cellulitis, have you always taken anti’s when you got it?
i’ve got one more day to go but it’s all healed now – DR told me to go off Anti’s but I“m too scared it will come back so will finish the dose!

Not fun is it!
Thank you for answering and giving me some advice!

Healing thoughts !

I think a good soak in a bath is fine. I doubt that’s the problem. Most likely it’s just a fluke, or the type of bite.

I had to take antibiotics. The redness was growing about a centimeter every 12 hours. Very painful too.

I’ve had it three times, but haven’t had it in about 15 years.

yeah frustrating isn’t it- mine grew slightly but after 4 days is gone with a little bit of a ulcer left. I“m still on the antibiotics, but my dR just told me to go off them as the infection is gone. Everything I read says stay on them! x

Please please take care of it and be alert. My husband is going through hell at the moment due to a leg ulcer that simply started off as a blister and turned into an infected crater!

I am taking care of it – trust me, I’m a hypocondriac and driving everyone crazy!

Best of luck to your husband xo

@ZEPHYRA I’ve been doing hot compress 4 times a day i think that really helped!

@tan253 thanks. It is just that what seems trivial may actually turn out to be quite an issue. Take care! Hope it is not painful!

Part of the problem is that your veins aren’t allowing the white blood cells to pass up your leg and to be eliminated through the waste process (By peeing). Your legs, because of gravity, retain the liquids and that allows the cellulitis to fester.

Wear compression socks which will assist your circulatory system in getting the liquids out of your legs. You may pee a little more, but that’s a good thing.

The best thing to do is to see a doc and have them tell you what compression strength you need. (They go 15–20, 20–30, 30–40, and 40–50). You can get compression socks mail order or in stores – the key is getting the right one for you.

The real point is not to let your legs accumulate the liquids, which means that the cellulitis wouldn’t have such a fertile breeding ground.

^^Great advice. That goes with what I said about circulation when cellulitis is recurring or not clearing up. I’m glad you expended on it for anyone who might come across the thread who is having ongoing problems.

Thank you! I just got bitten in the exact same spot on the opposite leg! What gives with that? I’ve wiped it with alcohol wipes and put antiseptic cream on it and now just freaking out for the next 24 hours! Compression socks sound good – should I be running around then, getting the blood circulating through that area?

Maybe I’ve a spider living on me!

My neighbor who needed compression sock was getting cellulitis out of nowhere. He’s in his early 80’s. I don’t think you need to worry about that. You have a direct cause for your infection.