# STEROIDS FORUM > ANABOLIC STEROIDS - QUESTIONS & ANSWERS > EDUCATIONAL THREADS >  How to tell if its an infection or not.

## MuscleScience

Welcome to the series of injection threads by one8nine and MuscleScience


In this thread I will try to help everyone know the difference between injection site pain or a possible infection. I will speak specifically on bacterial infections in this thread, please refer to the thread at the bottom of the page for injection site pain. 

The classic signs and symptoms of a bacterial infection are based on four Roman words; Rubor, Calor, Turgor, and Dolor. Which means Redness around the site of infection, Heat, Swelling, and Pain. These are generic inflammatory processes that also mimic the signs and symptoms of injection site reactions. 

The difference in signs is usually specific to the species of bacteria but there are a few commonalities. 

One is that the symptoms are localized. Most bacteria do not have the ability to move on their own through the body until they reach the blood stream. This is known as sepsis and is very severe. 

The next sign is low-grade fever; this again can be caused by the overall inflammatory process going on in the body.

Other than fever a patient may experience malaise and chills.

Pus formation is another sign that an infection may be occurring. However not all infections that form pus are due to bacteria. Some viral infections may also lead to pus formation. 

*Possible infectious organisms:*

It is important to understand that human skin is colonized by bacteria. These bacteria usually do not cause much of a problem outside of odor or acne. However given the right set of conditions these same bacteria can cause infection and disease. This is called opportunism and can occur in situations were the host organism (people in this talk) is under physical stress or injury. If these bacteria were to colonize in a wound and grow out of control an infection can ensue. Ironically these same bacteria protect use from full time pathogenic microorganism that are not normally found as part of normal human flora. 

_
Streptococcus pyogenes:_ This is a common bacterium of the skin and throat. This bacterium usually causes problems in the throat (strept throat) but it can also cause impetigo and most relevance to this discussion necrotizing fasciitis. 

_Pseudomonas aeruginosa:_ Again this is a normal bacterium of the skin and upper respiratory tract. This is of great clinical significance to burn victims. Common sources of infection are through cuts and open wounds. This organism is resistance to hydrogen peroxide treatment. 

_Staphylococcus aureus:_ This organism is the cause of the dreaded staph infections. One thing to understand about this organism is that not all staph infections are MRSA infections. MRSA simple refers to a strain of _S. aureus_ that is resistant to a certain family of antibiotics. Just because a staph infection in not a result of MRSA that does not mean that it is not serious. This organism is present in about a third of the population and under normal conditions it is not a pathogen. Clinical signs of a staph infection are as follows. 
Cellulitis, furuncles, folliculitis, carbuncles, boils, impetigo and of course abscesses. 
*
Additional links about MRSA, (With Pictures)*
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...US271%26sa%3DG

*
Diagnosis of bacterial infection:* 

This is merely a guide to help one understand the difference between a bacterial infection or a simple injection site reaction. If at any point one suspects that they may have a bacterial infection it is strongly recommended that a trip to the emergency room or consultation with a doctor be pursued. This in no way should be used instead of professional medical advice. 

*
Links to the rest of the series:*

*Injection pain: Why it happens / How to prevent it / How to cure it* 
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=358594

*How to filter your gear (With Pictures)*
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=358623

*Why Do I Pass Out While Injecting*
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=358622

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## MuscleScience

*Impetigo*



*Cellulitis*


*Boil*

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## MuscleScience

*Carbuncle*

*
Folliculitis*


*Abscess*

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## one8nine

sick

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## BadBarbie

ahhhh aahhh aahhh ahh!!!!

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## KingTenderloin

Thats sick!

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## michael tyson

is it sad that im hungry now?

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## NBRD1808

i nearly just re-ate my chicken and almonds

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## MuscleScience

You think this is bad, wait until you have one of those things burst on you....LOL

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## Nicotine

i just wanna squeeze those ....man they look fun to pop :P

film it and put it on youtube  :Big Grin:

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## higherdesire

wow what a series huh? Great stuff musclescience. I have recently become serious about my knowledge and furthering my education on this stuff and your info always has a valuable impact on that. Thanks for taking the time.

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## higherdesire

Sticky?

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## BrokenBricks

Mind if I nit pick?

They are Latin words not Roman words (not a language). And it is tumor not turgor. 

Bacteria in your blood is bacterimia not sepsis. Brushing your teeth introduces bacteria into your blood. Sepsis is a clinical diagnosis and in the majority of cases bacteria are not isolated by blood cultures. Fever is not necessary to diagnose sepsis. Two or more of the following, Fever, elevated WBC count (or very very low WBC count), elevated heart rate or increased rate of breathing present with a suspected infection source (bacterial or otherwise) makes the diagnosis.

Also, that picture of cellulitis is very uncharacteristic. The UCSF site that picture comes from chose an unfortunate example. The look will tend to be more uniform, less busy and varied than that.

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## MuscleScience

> Mind if I nit pick?
> 
> They are Latin words not Roman words (not a language). And it is tumor not turgor. 
> 
> Bacteria in your blood is bacterimia not sepsis. Brushing your teeth introduces bacteria into your blood. Sepsis is a clinical diagnosis and in the majority of cases bacteria are not isolated by blood cultures. Fever is not necessary to diagnose sepsis. Two or more of the following, Fever, elevated WBC count (or very very low WBC count), elevated heart rate or increased rate of breathing present with a suspected infection source (bacterial or otherwise) makes the diagnosis.
> 
> Also, that picture of cellulitis is very uncharacteristic. The UCSF site that picture comes from chose an unfortunate example. The look will tend to be more uniform, less busy and varied than that.


I concede all of those points, I was writing for the lay person. Not to many know what bacteremia. Sepsis has more meaning to most people. I could have said blood poisoning...LOL

I learned it as turgor, roman or latin....

PM me changes that you propose and if you can find a better pic of cellulitus Your a better web surfer than I.  :AaGreen22:

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## BrokenBricks

I like this picture. Many people with cellulitis have other conditions which have predisposed them to infection like poor circulation in an extremity. That in and of itself leads to skin changes which means that some pictures of infection are complicated by different pathology appearing in the same image. The garden variety cellulitis that the population of this web forum are most likely to see is represented well below. The entire left lower leg, dorsum of the foot and toes are affected. It is obviously swollen compared to the other extremity. Redness is present and is you were to touch both legs you would feel significantly more warmth on the left leg. It is terribly painful as well, much more so than an abscess. This responds well to antibiotics and this guy would be sent home with a ** for penicillin, a cephalosporin or Bactim from any ER. Abscesses must be incised and drained however.

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## MuscleScience

Yeah that is nice, I must have looked for two hours for a good picture. I could find everything else practically.

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## Towel

i remember in one of my cycles i broke my left arm, a week after that the arm i broke got full with folliculitis. Seriously so afwul! from delts to my forearms. I still got scars from them on my arm.

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## deja vu

good info!

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## BeastIn916

Thanks for the info.

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## DocBman

DONT EVER TRY TO POP THOSE THINGS, IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE!!!!!! 

apply warm compress to try and bring to the surface, put a band aid over it if it gets embarrassing gross. If you get a fever get to the ER because its most likely casued a systemic infection.

Oh if its ever on a joint see a Doc right away.

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## xMRxCOMPLETEx

Uhh looks painful some of em. Damn i hope when I start AAS i dont get any of that junk

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## tigerspawn

Bump

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## Obs

Thanks ms. I appreciate you. 
This should be a sticky.
Swelling in my bicep has got so bad I can squeeze it up and down it and make weird impessions.
Its just bad reaction to too much shit I am sure. I swab everything just shot too much in my bicep

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## MuscleScience

> Thanks ms. I appreciate you. 
> This should be a sticky.
> Swelling in my bicep has got so bad I can squeeze it up and down it and make weird impessions.
> Its just bad reaction to too much shit I am sure. I swab everything just shot too much in my bicep


Forgot that I wrote this...lol

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## Obs

> Forgot that I wrote this...lol


Shit its the only thing on thevtopic here.

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## MuscleScience

> Shit its the only thing on thevtopic here.


I use to be so helpful back then, before the world jaded me...

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## Obs

> I use to be so helpful back then, before the world jaded me...


At least you didn't become like me lol. 
Kept your positivity.

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## MuscleScience

> At least you didn't become like me lol. 
> Kept your positivity.


My HIV positivity  :LOL:  


You can do the same, it’s all a matter of looking at your life objectively and being thankful for everything you have. There are always those that have much less than your much worse situation and are still happy. In your case you have kids if I’m not mistaken. I pray everyday to every god, creator or otherwise that I will one day have that opportunity.

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## Obs

> My HIV positivity  
> 
> 
> You can do the same, it’s all a matter of looking at your life objectively and being thankful for everything you have. There are always those that have much less than your much worse situation and are still happy. In your case you have kids if I’m not mistaken. I pray everyday to every god, creator or otherwise that I will one day have that opportunity.


I undrerstand the thankful part. Its the fed up part that gets me. Kids are great. You need to go to texas and knock that chick up. Dr. Obs is a smart mofo sometimes.

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## Obs

> Welcome to the series of injection threads by one8nine and MuscleScience
> 
> 
> In this thread I will try to help everyone know the difference between injection site pain or a possible infection. I will speak specifically on bacterial infections in this thread, please refer to the thread at the bottom of the page for injection site pain. 
> 
> The classic signs and symptoms of a bacterial infection are based on four Roman words; Rubor, Calor, Turgor, and Dolor. Which means Redness around the site of infection, Heat, Swelling, and Pain. These are generic inflammatory processes that also mimic the signs and symptoms of injection site reactions. 
> 
> The difference in signs is usually specific to the species of bacteria but there are a few commonalities. 
> 
> ...


I just love this guy. 
Always have. Bumping for newbies with ow-ows...

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## Grappler13

If you run a temperature you need to worry.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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