Skin Care GuideThe Ultimate Guide to Skin Care

Common causes of skin boils include bacteria that can enter the skin if a foreign object such as a splinter becomes lodged in the skin, ingrown hairs, clogged hair follicles, clogged oil ducts, and clogged sweat glands.

Preventing skin boils

Skin boils can often be prevented. If you get a splinter of other foreign objected under your skin, remove it with tweezers. If you cannot grasp the object with tweezers, try gently squeezing the skin and pushing the object toward the surface of the skin. If you are unable to remove the object, see a doctor. Do not leave the foreign object under your skin, as you will likely develop an infection.

If you have ingrown hairs, try applying hot, moist compresses to the area. Then use tweezers and try to gently free the hair from the skin. Be careful not to break the skin, however. Don’t worry if you are unable to free the hair; most ingrown hairs will heal on their own.

To prevent cystic acne, wash the face twice a day with mild soap and water. If you are prone to acne, use a gentle cleanser designed to prevent acne. Wear minimal makeup, as cosmetics can clog the oil ducts and lead to acne and boils.

Boil Treatment

Skin boils can often be treated at home with hot soaks or hot packs. Boil treatment should begin as soon as the boil is formed for best results. Heat application increases circulation and brings antibodies and white blood cells (which help fight infection) to the surface of the skin.

Sometimes the appropriate boil treatment depends upon the cause of skin boils. Boils caused by an infection are often treated with antibiotics. In other cases, a doctor will have to surgically open the boil to drain the pus. If this is the case, make sure to follow the doctor’s instructions about how to care for the site afterward in order to prevent further infection. Don’t try to squeeze or poke boils to drain them on your own. That can cause the infection to spread and worsen.

There are some measures that you can take to prevent boils from forming. The regular use of antibacterial soaps can help to prevent bacteria from building up on the skin. This can reduce the chance for the hair follicles to become infected and prevent the formation of boils. In some situations, your healthcare practitioner may recommend special cleansers such as pHisoderm to even further reduce the bacteria on the skin. When the hair follicles on the back of the arms or around the thighs are continually inflamed, regular use of an abrasive brush (loufa brush) in the shower can be used break up oil plugs and build up around hair follicles.

Pilonidal cysts can be prevented by avoiding continued direct pressure or irritation of the buttock area when a local hair follicle becomes inflamed. At that point, regular soap and hot water cleaning and drying can be helpful.

For acne and hidradenitis suppurativa, antibiotics may be required on a long-term basis to prevent recurrent abscess formation. As mentioned above, surgical resection of sweat glands in the involved skin may be necessary. Other medications, such as isotretinoin (Accutane) can be used for cystic acne and has been helpful in some patients with hidradenitis suppurativa. Recurrences are common in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa.