Description of the disease
Painful knots form under the skin in the armpits, they are called in medicine purulent hydradenitis, and among the people a bough udder. They are single or multiple, break through on their own, as a rule, within a week, but in acute cases, their elimination takes quite a long time. The purulent formation has a sharp top with a white head, indicating that there is a purulent substance inside the abscess.
Human sweat glands are tubular glands, which are divided into merocrine glands – emitting sweat without destroying the cytoplasm of secretory cells and apocrine glands – when there is a partial destruction of the cytoplasm of secretory cells. Apocrine glands are located in the armpits, their secret contains many protein substances and has a sharp, specific odor.
Causes
The sweat of the apocrine glands contains 98% water, the remaining 2% are organic and inorganic substances. From the body in the process of sweating, uric acid, ammonia, urea, some salts and other products of protein metabolism are released. An abscess or bough udder under the arm is the result of disturbances in the immune system of the human body, in fact, it is inflammation of the sweat glands in the armpits, causing a purulent process.
Among the main causes are a bacterial infection such as staphylococcus aureus, streptococcus, as well as changes in the functions of the endocrine system. An abscess under the arm has no gender and age limits. It occurs in adult men and women and in children, but much less frequently. Among the possible causes of the appearance of hidradenitis are hypothermia of the body, post-infection periods. Often, a bough udder is the result of careless mechanical damage to the skin during shaving or rubbing the skin against clothing.
Symptoms
At the beginning of the process of formation of an abscess, a small induration similar to an enlarged lymph node, painful to the touch, first appears in the subcutaneous tissue of the armpit. Development is usually fast. The swelling increases, the tissues swell, the pointed top of the abscess hangs down like the nipples of a dog feeding puppies. The abscess can form a deep cavity.
The manifestations of the disease are so typical that a specialist does not need additional laboratory tests to establish a diagnosis. Symptoms of the dangerous development of the infection are manifested by fever, chills, ever-increasing pain in the armpit and an increase in swelling and inflammation.
How to get rid of an abscess under the arm?
Traditionally, this pathology is treated by standard methods. The infiltration of the infiltrate with an antibiotic solution is prescribed, sulfonamides, nitrofurans, and autohemotherapy help. Positive results are obtained by UHF therapy at the very beginning of the development of an abscess. This measure involves exposure to the affected area with a continuous or pulsed current of ultrahigh frequency. If the doctor considers these measures ineffective due to the neglect of the disease, then a surgical opening of the abscess is performed.
Usually, the treatment is successful, excluding the appearance of new foci of inflammation, but for many, after treatment, the disease can recur more than once, dragging on for years. For patients with chronic generalized infection, recurrent hydradenitis, these measures are ineffective. Therefore, specific immunization against Staphylococcus aureus is used – this is a radical treatment that completely eliminates hydradenitis.
As for the operation to remove the bough udder, it does not fully guarantee the elimination of this disease. Surgical treatment of hidradenitis is the last measure prescribed in the acute stage of suppuration, when there is a danger of blood poisoning. The procedure is performed under local anesthesia, and the affected tissues and fistulous tracts are opened and excised. At the time of opening of hidradenitis and in the subsequent postoperative period, the treatment of a fresh wound and dressing is required, the introduction of a tampon with therapeutic agents into a fresh wound.
For wound healing, ordinary medical alcohol is used, the skin is treated with 2% boric or 10% camphor alcohol and other substances that have a disinfectant effect. To prevent the spread of infection to healthy tissues, skin irradiation with ultraviolet rays is recommended.
In order to prevent the disease or its exacerbation, it is necessary to exclude alcoholic beverages, spicy and salty foods from the diet, and limit the use of sweets.
It is useful to include foods with a significant content of vitamins A, C, E and iron. There are many such useful substances in carrots, cabbage, apples, berries, and rose hips. The main conditions for the prevention of hidradenitis are also cleanliness, there are many ways to get rid of excessive sweating with the help of special means.