Abscess, boil, or cyst?

Question

Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling on my butt a boil, but the doctor tells me it's an abscess. I had thought that word was restricted to infected areas near the teeth. I don't find enough information on the three words in my dictionaries or in Encarta to clearly differentiate them in my mind, although I doubt if I'd confuse a boil or abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.
Charles Riggs
Email address: chriggs¦at¦eircom¦dot¦net

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling on my **** a boil, but the doctor tells me ... mind, although I doubt if I'd confuse a boil or abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.[/nq]
Why not have a carbuncle? They sound so much more satisfying.

Ross Howard

Usenet · Answer

Charles Riggs filted:
[nq:1]Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling on my **** a boil, but the doctor tells me ... mind, although I doubt if I'd confuse a boil or abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.[/nq]
If I'm reading the details at m-w correctly, all are accumulations of pus, but there are specific distinguishing characteristics...a cyst has a container (the sac that was once the now-strangled sebaceous gland, for example), and a boil has a hard core..
It would seem that all boils are cysts, and all cysts abscesses, but the subsets don't work the other way..r

Usenet · Answer

In our last episode,
(Email Removed),
the lovely and talented Charles Riggs
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling on my **** a boil, but the doctor tells me ... mind, although I doubt if I'd confuse a boil or abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.[/nq]
In your case I believe it would be called a "brain tumor."

Lars Eighner ~~finger for geek code~~ (Email Removed) http://www.io.com/~eighner/ I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. Jack London

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling on my **** a boil, but the doctor tells me ... mind, although I doubt if I'd confuse a boil or abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.[/nq]
I had high hopes this was a new feature to replace the old DOS Abort, Retry, Fail?
IME, boils are pus-filled swellings and abscesses are cavities filled with pus. There being more cavities in the gums, abscesses are more common there.
John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling on my **** a boil, but the doctor tells me ... mind, although I doubt if I'd confuse a boil or abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.[/nq]
Any kind of pus-filled cavity caused by an infection is an abscess. A boil is particularly an abscess in the skin, but it is a popular term, not a technical one. So you are both right.
(A single boil is also called a furuncle, and a susceptibility to frequent boils is furunculosis; a cluster of furuncles that have undertaken a merger is also called a carbuncle. Boils on your ****, caused by overwork of the Sitzfleisch, have a particular name: pilonidal cysts. But that's probably more than you wanted to know.)

Chris Green

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling ... abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.[/nq]
[nq:1]Any kind of pus-filled cavity caused by an infection is an abscess. A boil is particularly an abscess in the ... by overwork of the Sitzfleisch, have a particular name: pilonidal cysts. But that's probably more than you wanted to know.)[/nq]
Not at all. I want to know where my pilonid is, and whether size matters.

Ross Howard

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling ... abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.[/nq]
[nq:1]I had high hopes this was a new feature to replace the old DOS Abort,Retry, Fail? IME, boils are pus-filled swellings and abscesses are cavities filled with pus. There being more cavities in the gums, abscesses are more commonthere.[/nq]
Just have a doctor explain the difference between diverticulosis and diverticulitis. There would be no further confusion about abscesses.

Usenet · Answer

Aw, that's easy. One is "diverticulum disease" (there's hernia-sacs in the gut) and the other is inflammation of the d.
Adrian

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling ... abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.[/nq]
[nq:1]I had high hopes this was a new feature to replace the old DOS Abort, Retry, Fail? IME, boils are pus-filled swellings and abscesses are cavities filled with pus. There being more cavities in the gums, abscesses are more common there.[/nq]
That sounds reasonable. Still, I don't understand why the doctor immediately popped out with 'That's an abscess' after I asked him to look at my boil. It has, to me anyway, all the characteristics of a boil. By the way, it is less swollen today, but redder and even more painful. The antibiotic I'm taking to rid myself of the bronchitis I had is also having the predicted effect on the bocess, it appears.
Charles Riggs
Email address: chriggs¦at¦eircom¦dot¦net

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Now I would have called the highly painful red swelling ... abscess with a cyst, but I lack a medical dictionary.[/nq]
[nq:1]Why not have a carbuncle? They sound so much more satisfying.[/nq]
I may try for them next time, but one boil is enough for now.
Charles Riggs
Email address: chriggs¦at¦eircom¦dot¦net

Abscess, boil, or cyst?

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