An abscess is not a disease, but a condition where a mass founds in a certain area of the body. The mass, or area, is often discolored and easy to see. They are typically caused by some sort of infection. Inside of that mass, it is full of debris, pus and bacteria.An abscess can occur anywhere in your body. The most common sites on your skin where abscesses occur are at the base of your spine, groin, and teeth. Another type of abscess includes inflammation around your hair follicle. The inflammation leads to what is called a boil.
An abscess normally starts when normal, healthy skin breaks. The break can happened because of a minor trauma, inflammation or small tears. Germs enter your body. Your body tries to fight the germs that enter through the broken skin with your inflammatory response. Your inflammatory response, or white blood cells, create the pus that forms under the mass.
