How to Help Cellulitis Heal Faster

Take care of the affected area. Be sure to gently cleanse the area affected with warm water. After making sure the area is dry, apply an antibiotic cream such as Neosporin or A&D Ointment and bandage the area.

Start oral antibiotics at the first sign of infection. Oral antibiotics are most commonly used to treat cellulitis. The treatment plan chosen by your doctor will depend on several things. Your physician will take into consideration the location of your cellulitis, your overall health, the severity of your infection, and the kind of bacteria causing your infection.^[1]

• Taking antibiotics as soon as you notice any sign of infection will lead to quicker healing because the infection won’t have time to fester and worsen.
• A 10 to 21 day antibiotic regimen is generally what your doctor will prescribe to treat your infection.
• Be sure to finish your entire prescription even if your infection appears to have healed. After beginning antibiotics your symptoms are most likely to get better or disappear altogether in just a few days, so be sure to finish your entire prescription to reduce the likelihood of developing a resistance to the drug.^[2]
• Your doctor will most likely prescribe antibiotics to treat both staphylococcus and streptococcus bacteria.
• Most of the time you can administer antibiotics to yourself in the comfort of your own home, but if your infection is severe enough to require intravenous antibiotics in order to deeply penetrate the infected area, administration must be done in a hospital.

Try acupuncture therapy to reduce your pain. Acupuncture, in conjunction with antibiotics, is an alternative method of healing cellulitis by using needles to open intricate energy pathways within your body and improve your flow of energy.^[3]

• Physical pain can be caused by an imbalance of energy and acupuncture can help to balance that energy so the pain subsides.
• Acupuncture can help to kick off your body’s natural instincts to manage pain and discomfort.^[4]