Symptoms
The patient first notices a painful redness and swelling as well as a feeling of tension in the area of the inflammation on the nose. The area is much more sensitive to pain than a conventional pimple. Later, the patient may also experience fever and a general feeling of illness.
Diagnosis
The nasal furuncle represents a visual diagnosis for the treating dermatologist. This means that the inflammation can be detected by a physician without any further methods. Nevertheless, a detailed doctor-patient conversation is important to clarify certain risk factors.
Patients who have an increased risk profile due to an immune deficiency should be identified by the doctor so that the therapy can be adjusted. Also certain factors, which can explain a repeated occurrence of furuncles, should be clarified in this discussion. Should a reason for the inflammation be found, the attending physician could possibly start a causal therapy in addition to the therapy of the boils.
In some cases, it is advisable to take a smear of the nasal furuncle in addition to the gaze diagnosis, so that the pathogen causing the inflammation can be exposed. With the help of the smear, so-called cultures can be created in which the pathogen is multiplied and identified. This information has a great impact on the individual therapy. For example, a bacterial inflammation can be treated with antibiotics, whereas a fungal infection requires the use of other drugs.
Complications of a nasal furuncle
Complications of a nasal furuncle are rare. If the furuncle already exists for more than a week and hurts, it is recommended to consult a doctor for safety reasons to avoid the development of complications. A boil on the nose is a small local inflammation.
If the inflammation does not subside by itself, it can spread and spread to the rest of the body. Especially by squeezing the furuncle, a spread of the pathogens can be promoted. The furuncle itself can also be an entry point for other pathogens and germs, which in turn cause inflammation.
The germs are spread to other parts of the body via the nearest blood vessels. If this happens, further symptoms of infection such as fever can occur. In the face, there is also the additional risk that the bacteria enter the head and enter the brain via small blood vessels and so-called “venous plexuses”.
Particularly at the lower edge of the eye and at the corner of the mouth, venous plexuses are found which are in direct contact with blood from the brain. In the worst case, a nasal furuncle can cause irreparable damage to the brain via this complication. The formation of blood clots is also promoted by the inflammation. In turn, this can lead to small vascular occlusions in the head, for example a severe visual impairment of the eye (due to thrombophlebitis of the ophthalmic vein).