Cellulitus...gnat bite infection?

[GirlAfraid23]

Ive been bitten by gnats a lot in the past but this last one I have had is suddenly swollen, red and warm to the touch compared to the rest of the leg.
Stupidly I looked it up & the first thing that came up was cellulitus an bacterial skin infection that can be potentially fatal.
What do you all think? Should I go to the doctors?

[Pipkin]

GA,

Read this on the NHS website:

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bites-insect/Pages/Introduction.aspx

This tells what to look out for and when to see a doctor. Most of all, don't scratch it!

Pip

[GirlAfraid23]

Thanks for that.
It's abit late for that, I've already scratched it!

I do have some of the signs, what do i do now?

[Pipkin]

You'll have to decide, or ask a friend to have a look. It's infection to look out for and it's described on that link what to look out for.

I only knew about the NHS page because I got 15 bites a few weeks ago and a few of them swelled up to the size of a £2 coin and were quite revolting. I was considering going to the GP if they got any worse but I bought some hydrocortisone cream from the chemist and they went down fine.

Pip

[GirlAfraid23]

I don't have any pus or blistering which seems to indicate infection.
I am now constantly looking at my leg and trying to see any signs of blood poisoning

[uk23]

I actually have had Cellulitis before. The area started looking like a bite then became more swollen and hard with redness moving out around it. I went to A&E and they quickly diagnosed it, gave me some erythromycin and sent me on my way. I took the full course and the pain soon went and my foot was back to normal.

If you genuinely think you do have it then it's worth getting a doctor to take a look at it. It's very easily treatable early on with a simple course of antibiotics.

[GirlAfraid23]

Thanks for that UK23.
I'm gonna give it one more day & see if it clears up, but thinking of going to my local pharmacy tomorrow & see if they will take a look at it.