Double, double BOIL and trouble . . .
I am kind of embarrassed to ask this, but here goes …
I am a big guy and sometimes I develop boils. I’m wondering if there is anything I can do to stop them or at the very least help clear them up.
Sufferin’ in Suffolk
We turned to Pattie Thomas, Ph.D., the author of Taking Up Space for advice. And while she is not a doctor, she offered the following –
My brother (who is a BHM) gets boils quite a bit – he has been advised several courses of actions to help reduce them:
1. Wash every time with anti-bacterial soap – kind of harsh, but boils are essentially caused by bacteria so the less you have on you, the less likely you’ll develop boils.
2. The bacteria that causes boils apparently love blood sugar (which is why people with diabetes often get boils), though you don’t need to have diabetes to have a level of blood sugar that appeals to them. He has found that he gets more if he has been drinking high sugar drinks of late. So when he has an outbreak, he cuts down on sweet drinks including pop and juices. So drink more water and less juice/pop. Diet drinks might also contribute because there is some indication that even though you aren’t consuming sugar when you drink diet drinks you are still stimulated blood sugar. So water or unsweetened teas would probably be your safest choice.
3. Never reuse a towel even if you have hung it up and dried it out thoroughly. My little cheapskate, anti-laundry-doing heart hates this one, but my brother swears that when he takes shortcuts on this one, it costs him.
4. Also, change clothes if you’ve sweat at all. Again, even if you’ve dried out a bit after doing so, it is best to get out of the clothes as soon as you can even if you don’t shower in between.
5. Treat them with anti-biotic cream as soon as they come up even if they look like a pimple. Drawing salve can be used on more severe ones, but such salves usually leave scars and are very tough on the skin, so try to catch them early and treat them well.
6. If you can’t get rid of one or have a severe outbreak, go to a doctor and get oral antibiotics. Again, you don’t want to overdo the drugs, but you also might continue to get severe breakouts if you don’t kill off the bacteria in your system. I also believe that my brother was given some sort of pill that reduced his blood sugar (he is NOT diabetic, BTW, but his blood sugar does run a little on the high side).
7. Finally, remember that if you get boils often, you probably are prone to them. Some people get them no matter how “good” they are. My father, who was not diabetic, nor was all that fat, got them constantly and the doctor told my brother that he inherited that tendency from my dad. So having them is not an indictment of your hygiene habits, it is an indication of your genetic make-up.
Cheers,
Pattie
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