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Abscess Care & Treatment for People Who Use Drugs
An abscess is a bacterial infection that forms a swollen pocket of pus. They can be caused by bacteria in your drugs, on your works, or on your skin building up beneath your skin if you miss a shot.
How can you care for an abscess on your own, and when should you see a doctor? Self-care: Warm compress.
Use a warm washcloth, or heating pad on your abscess at least 4x/day. You can also submerge the abscess in warm water.
Self-care: Keep it covered.
When not using a warm compress, keep your abscess covered with the driest, most sterile materials you can access.
Self-care: Elevate the abscess.
Elevating the area where you have an abscess above your heart, it’ll help decrease swelling.
Self-care: Inject above the abscess.
When you have an abscess, inject above it (closer to your heart) so that it can heal without substances and bacteria passing through the infection.
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Seek care: Fever & Redness
If you develop a fever, your abscess starts to feel very hot to the touch, and/or it turns a bright red, this could be cellulitis and you may need antibiotics.
Seek care: Red streak
If you notice a red streak or line on your skin coming from the abscess, seek medical attention immediately. This could be sepsis (aka blood poisoning), which can be lifethreatening if untreated. Treatment for sepsis includes antibiotics and sometimes therapy for organ dysfunction.
Seek care: Don’t drain the abscess yourself.
Draining an abscess can cause the infection to spread, and, in some instances, an abscess may not be ready to drain. A medical professional will know how and when to drain an abscess. They will pack it and should prescribe antibiotics to prevent the infection from spreading afterward.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.org) Fink, D. S., Lindsay, S. P., Slymen, D. J., Kral, A. H., & Bluthenthal, R. N. (2013). Abscess and self-treatment among injection drug users at four California syringe exchanges and their surrounding communities. Substance use & misuse, 48(7), JAMA Network (jamanetwork.com) National Harm Reduction Coalition (harmreduction.org) University of California, Berkeley, University Health Services (uhs.berkely.edu)
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