See your GP if you think you may have an abscess.
Skin abscesses
If you have a skin abscess, your GP will examine the affected area. They may also ask how long you have had the abscess, whether you had an injury in that area and whether you have any other symptoms.
Your GP may decide to take a sample of the pus from your abscess to send it for a gram stain test. This will help determine the type of bacteria causing the abscess. Your GP may also want to send the sample to a laboratory to be grown in a culture so it can be tested against different types of antibiotics.
If you have had more than one skin abscess, your GP may ask you for a urine sample. This will be tested to determine whether you have glucose in your urine, which is a sign of diabetes. People with diabetes have an increased risk of developing skin abscesses.
If you have recurring boils and abscesses, the infection may be caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria that produce the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) toxin (see Abscess - causes).
If your GP thinks this may be causing your skin abscesses, they may ask the laboratory to test the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria to see if it is producing PVL.
Internal abscesses
Abscesses that develop inside your body are more difficult to diagnose than skin abscesses because they cannot be seen. Your GP will ask you about your symptoms and any other health conditions you may have.
If your GP thinks you may have an internal abscess, a number of procedures can be used to confirm the diagnosis. For example, you may have:
- a computerised tomography (CT) scan, where X-rays are taken and a computer is used to produce an image of the inside of your body
- a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, where a magnetic field and radio waves are used to produce an image of the inside of your body
- an ultrasound scan, where high-frequency sound waves are used to produce an image of the inside of your body
- an X-ray, where high-energy radiation is used to produce an image of the inside of your body, such as a chest X-ray to help diagnose a suspected lung abscess
These techniques will also help determine the size of the abscess and where it is in your body.
Your GP may also want to take a sample of the pus from your abscess so it can be examined under the microscope. This is because the symptoms and images of a tumour can sometimes be similar to an abscess and your GP may want to rule this out before an abscess is diagnosed.
Ruling out other conditions
As well as being used to diagnose internal abscesses, diagnostic techniques such as CT and MRI scans can also be used to rule out a number of other possible conditions:
- Cysts are small fluid-filled sacs that are usually harmless. There are hundreds of different types of cysts that can affect any part of the body. They can be caused by an infection, a blockage to the flow of fluid in the body and genetic conditions.
- Tumours are lumps of abnormal tissue that often develop without an obvious cause. Tumours sometimes develop in the brain. See the Health A-Z topic about Brain tumour (low-grade/mixed) for more information
