How Long Do Boils Last (And Why)?

Exact Answer: Up to 2 weeks

The healing time for the boils depends on how long they take for opening up. After the boils open up, then they need to drain for healing internally. Some boils may get healed in just 1 week while others may take around 3 weeks to heal. The boils occur when many hair follicles are affected due to the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

There are many other reasons for getting boils, but this is the most common reason that many people are experiencing. The boils happen when there is a skin infection affecting the hair follicles in huge numbers. The boils mainly look like a small or big cyst that contained a huge amount of fluid.

The boils contain a huge amount of dead tissue with pus that needs to get out for the healing of the area. Sometimes, the boils will get recover in just 1 week, if the person takes the medication required for the treatment.

How Long Do Boils Last?

Sometimes, the doctor would use injection to sink the boils. The infection would be able to go into the deeper skin, as the hair follicles are damaged. There is no such specific location where the boils can come up. The boils can come at any location of the person’s body where the hair follicle is present.

Mainly, the boils come at the thighs, buttocks, and armpit. Some people see the boils once in their lifetime while others may see it more than one time in life. Boils can be a chronic problem for many people.

Sometimes, the boils can cause unbearable pain. The pain is due to the pus and dead skin tissues getting filled in the boils. Therefore, it is important for the boils to get open for allowing the dead skin tissues or pus to clean.

The boils would show symptoms such as pain, swelling, and redness. In some cases, the size of the boils would become just like the golf ball or bigger than it. It depends on the bacterial infection how severe the boils can become. People with minor bacterial infections would not see big size boils.

The people who have a severe bacterial infection and sensitive body would see big size boils. The center of the boils would be quite yellow or white in color. These boils may start spreading to the whole body if not treated at the initial stage. The boils would start growing very quickly due to the bacteria.

Why Do Boils Last This Long?

It depends on the boils how they respond to the treatment. Some medication will not work on the person to reduce the symptoms of boils. Then the doctor will have to give more powerful medication to it. Sometimes, the boils will get joined or connected with other boils in the body.

This would cause the boils more serious and it would take more time to heal. People may also feel other symptoms such as fever, skin redness, general ill-feeding, and fatigue. Some people have to do a culture test to know the intensity of the infection. Most of the time, the boils would get recovered and would heal on their own.

Sometimes, they will become very serious and would not heal within 3 weeks. Then the doctor would try to burst the boils with medical help. Hot and cold compress therapy may help in recovering faster. No person should try to cut the boils without a doctor’s help. As the pus and dead tissue inside the boils would spread.

Conclusion

The lasting of boils depends on how much time it would take to get drained. The pus and dead skin tissues inside the boils would smell extremely bad when they would come out. The hygiene of the area where the boils come should be maintained by the person to avoid the bacterial infection getting worse.

People with high blood sugar levels may take more than 3 weeks to get healed. As the wound healing process in people who have diabetes is quite slow. Everyone should try to maintain their diet and lifestyle to heal the boils faster.

References

1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2958.1998.01049.x
2. https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article-abstract/26/5/1082/671703