All Services
Skin infections occur when a bacteria, fungus, parasite or virus enters your skin.
What is it?
Skin infections can range from mild to severe, depending on the type and cause of the infection. Most of the time, skin infections occur when germs enter your body through a cut or wound on your skin. This can also happen from moisture, friction, or poor blood supply to a specific area of your body. The good news is that most skin infections are highly treatable.
People with weakened immune systems have a higher risk of skin infections, and this is due to health conditions, side effects of medications, being older or very young, or skin folds due to obesity. There are several types of skin infections, such as bacterial (impetigo, boils), viral (shingles, warts), fungal (athlete's foot, ringworm) and parasitic (lice, bedbugs) and symptoms vary depending on the type of infection. Common symptoms include rashes, swelling, itching, and pain.
How is it treated?
To get an accurate diagnosis of a skin infection, visit one of our expert dermatologists in Clarkston or Oxford, Michigan. Our team will conduct a physical exam, ask about your symptoms, and, if needed, take a skin culture to identify the type of infection. If the infection doesn’t clear up on its own, goes deeper into the skin or spreads across the body, it’s important to come in for a consultation with one of our board-certified dermatologists so we may evaluate its severity. Most of these infections will go away on their own, but if severe, we can provide antibiotics, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic medications.