Your GP can usually diagnose cellulitis by assessing your symptoms and examining your skin.
Before making a diagnosis, your GP may want to rule out other conditions that can lead to your skin becoming red and inflamed, such as varicose eczema (an itchy skin condition that causes inflammation and, sometimes, skin ulcers).
If you have an open wound in your skin, your GP may take a swab of cells from the wound to see what type of bacteria is causing the infection. A swab looks similar to a cotton bud and it is used to remove small traces of tissue for testing.
Further testing may be carried out if your symptoms are serious enough to warrant admission to hospital. Testing usually involves a series of blood tests, which are an effective way of assessing the severity of the infection and how well you are responding to the antibiotics. See Cellulitis - treatment for more information.
