Definition
Furunculosis is the “disease of boils“. A boil is a deep, painful inflammation of a hair follicle and surrounding tissue. Only when the entire hair follicle is inflamed is it called a boil.
A hard, red inflamed knot develops, which fills with pus as the disease progresses. This pus can empty spontaneously, whereupon the boil usually heals and leaves a scar. Boils can appear anywhere on the hairy skin. If the boils are permanent or recur (recurrent), they are called furunculosis.
Causes of furunculosis
The cause for the development of a furuncle is usually a bacterial infection, especially by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. The bacteria often come from the patient’s body, for example from the nasopharynx, but also from other people or infected objects. They enter the hair follicle from the outside through tiny, barely visible injuries to the skin and cause an inflammatory reaction there.
The skin is better supplied with blood and looks reddened. In addition, the vessels around the inflammation become more permeable so that the body’s immune cells can more easily reach the bacteria to fight them. Along with the cells, water also leaks into the surrounding tissue and the skin around the inflamed hairline swells.
Certain messenger substances (cytokines), which are released by the immune cells, lead to a painful reaction. When the induced inflammatory cells (white blood cells, granulocytes) die, pus finally develops. Patients with a weakened immune system are particularly at risk of developing boils. These include, for example, patients with diabetes mellitus (diabetes) or an immune deficiency (for example a lack of white blood cells). Poor hygiene after shaving can also lead to the formation of boils.
Diagnosis of furuncolosis
For the diagnosis of a furuncle, the typical appearance of this disease is usually sufficient. In certain cases, the doctor will take a smear to find out the exact pathogen. To do this, he cultivates the bacterium in the laboratory and at the same time tests which antibiotic is effective. However, this special diagnosis is only necessary in certain cases, for example if the boil is localized in the face, the patient has an immune deficiency or the boil does not heal despite therapy.
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