“My son has a boil on his leg. Our doctor
says he needs an antibiotic. Could you come to the hotel and give the prescription?”
A boil is collection dead
tissue, full of pus and germs. It has no blood supply, so an antibiotic can’t
reach it. Antibiotics alone don’t cure boils.
Left alone, boils eventually
go away, so victims who use one of the innumerable silly home remedies from the
internet will give it credit. Allowing nature to heal is commendable but may
require few weeks of misery.
Unnatural healing works
instantly. The doctor cuts into the boil, squeezes out the pus, washes the
cavity with saline, and then stuffs a strip of sterile cloth into the hole. A
few days later, he or she pulls out the strip.
I don’t drain boils in a
hotel room, so I had to decide where to send the guest. At an emergency room,
the doctor would certainly do the surgery, but an emergency room is a tiresome
experience.
A local walk-in clinic
would be more civilized. The downside is that the doctor in a walk-in clinic
would have a background similar to mine but probably without my vast experience
and wisdom.
I sent the boy to a
walk-in clinic where the doctor punctured the boil and sent them away with an
antibiotic. The puncture might seal and the boil recur (that’s the purpose of
packing it with the cloth). Or it might ooze for weeks before resolving. I wish
the doctor had done it the right way, but the boil would eventually heal.
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