If the boil or carbuncle is in your groin or on your buttock you can soak in a tub of warm water for 10 to 15 minutes.

Once the boil begins to drain, you will have less pressure and pain.

This helps the boil come to a head and drain on its own-the safe way to drain. Wash your hands and then put a warm, moist cloth on the boil or carbuncle for 10 to 15 minutes at least 3 times a day.How is it treated?Ī boil can sometimes be treated at home, but a carbuncle often needs medical treatment. These tests can check for conditions that might make you more likely to have the sores, such as diabetes or kidney or liver disease. If you have boils often, you may have lab tests of your blood or urine. Tell your provider if you have had a boil or carbuncle longer than 2 weeks or if you have boils often. Your healthcare provider will examine the infected area. Symptoms of carbuncles are similar but more severe than the symptoms caused by boils. You are most likely to notice swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, or groin area. Lymph nodes near the boil may also swell. The boil may hurt only when you touch it or it may be quite painful all of the time.

Pus or other fluid may drain from the boil. Usually within 24 hours, the lump fills with pus and looks round with a yellow-white tip. What are the symptoms?Ī boil starts out as a red lump. If you have a chronic illness, such as diabetes or kidney or liver disease, you may be more likely to have boils and carbuncles. This can make the opening close up, trapping the bacteria inside and starting an infection.īoils and carbuncles often form in moist areas of the body such as the back of the neck, buttocks, thighs, groin, and armpits. Sometimes friction on the skin-from clothing, for example-will cause a hair follicle to swell up. The bacteria cause an infection only if they enter the skin through a scrape, irritation, or injury of some kind. The bacteria normally live on the skin, particularly on certain parts of the body, such as the nose, mouth, genitals, and rectum. Staphylococcus aureus ('staph') is the name of the bacteria that usually infect hair follicles. How do they occur?īoils commonly develop because bacteria have infected hair follicles, which are the small openings that hair grows from. A carbuncle is a large severe boil or group of boils that develop close together from spread of the infection.

The sore is raised, red, painful, and filled with pus. Boils and Carbuncles What are boils and carbuncles? A boil is a type of infected sore on the skin.

Red lines on butt