8 Symptoms of Osteomyelitis

Osteomyelitis is a bone infection, and it is a relatively rare condition. It's extremely serious, and it can lead to amputation of the affected area. The infection usually develops over a period of a week to ten days if the condition is acute. While there are many types of bacteria that can cause osteomyelitis, the staph bacterium is one of the most common causes. Salmonella and Streptococcus are also common causes of bone infections. However, it can also be caused by a fungus.

What Are The Risk Factors For Developing Osteomyelitis?

The biggest risk factors for osteomyelitis are intravenous drug use, diabetes, a history of spleen removal, and injuries. Diabetes is responsible for most cases. Males develop osteomyelitis more often than females.

What Regions Of The Body Can Be Affected By Osteomyelitis?

It can affect many different regions of the body. One particularly serious form of the disease is osteomyelitis of the spine. This form of the disease can result in death or long-term neurological problems.

How Is Osteomyelitis Treated?

Doctors will use an X-ray to find an infection of the bone. While this will alert doctors to the presence of the infection, additional tests will need to be performed to determine what infectious agent is causing it. In order to determine this, doctors will need to take samples of the affected area and examine the sample(s) using a microscope. In some cases, blood samples are also taken.It is often treated with antibiotics. If the infection is caused by a fungus, antifungal medications will be administered. In most cases, the treatment is successful. However, if the infection cannot be controlled quickly enough, it can lead to an amputation being performed. Death from the illness is relatively rare. If the condition is treated, the odds of death are approximately 2.4 out of 100,000.

What Are Some Common Signs And Symptoms Of Osteomyelitis?

1. Bone Pain:

The bone pain that the disease causes is typically extremely severe and debilitating. Tenderness is typically associated with the pain. While some people believe that the concept of bone pain is technically a misnomer since there are no nerves in the bones, this actually isn't true. There actually are a small number of nerves located inside the bone. However, there is another reason why bone pain occurs. The infection is likely to affect tissues around the bone as well. These tissues often have a higher density of nerves than the bones themselves.The pain is often sharp in nature. Walking is a common trigger for the pain. In some cases, the tenderness may be severe enough that it completely prevents an individual from walking at all. If you suffer from acute osteomyelitis, the pain is likely to continue for a period of days or weeks until the infection is completely treated. Chronic osteomyelitis can result in pain that continues for a period of years. This form of osteomyelitis is most common in adults. However, acute osteomyelitis is more common in children. While the acute form of the disease typically causes significant pain, the chronic form of the condition does not always cause bone pain.Next