On 7 January, former martial artist Alex Reid shared a picture of himself on Instagram with an IV in his arm. In the caption he revealed that he has what appears to be a ‘an abscess’ in his throat which ‘may need to be syringed’.
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As many would, Alex Reid didn’t take the signs seriously and admitted that he was going to ‘take pain relief and sleep it off!’ So what happened to him and how serious are abscesses? We tell you what we know.
An abscess in Alex Reid’s throat
Katie Price’s former husband took to Instagram to share the news of his disastrous weekend. As we’ve explained, the man had to rush to the hospital after being told that he might suffer from an abscess in his throat.
In the caption Reid gives further detail:
Felt rough went to out of hours gp to be told to go straight to hospital.
Didn’t realise how dangerous it was to be left with out treated!! Was literally just going to take pain relief and sleep it off! Thank god I saw someone as was told it could have burst which is deadly!
He then ended the caption saying that he was waiting to see a doctor in order to know whether or not an operation was needed. So far it is unknown if the surgery indeed happened.
Why abscesses are dangerous
First of all it is important to know that there are different types of abscesses. As the NHS explains, you have ‘skin abscesses’, ‘dental abscesses’, ‘brain abscesses’ and ‘breast abscesses’. According to Cleveland Clinic, you can also get abscesses in your mouth and throat. All of these have varying levels of seriousness.
According to Cambridge Dictionary an abscess is recognisable as a ‘painful swollen area on or in the body that contains pus’. Smaller abscesses can go away on their own without requiring any help from a doctor but more serious ones need to be drained. According to the NHS ‘skin abscesses’ are ‘usually caused by an infection.’
They list the following things which can facilitate the apparition of abscesses.
- ‘smoke
- are living with obesity
- have diabetes
- are between 15 and 40 years old
- have a skin condition or inflammation such as eczema’
The NHS also provides a list of things to watch out for. If you have any of these you must immediately call you GP.
- 'a lump that is getting bigger
- a lump anywhere on your body that lasts more than 2 weeks
- a lump that is hard and does not move
- a lump or swelling in your breast
- a lump and you have a weakened immune system or a long-term condition such as diabetes'
Unfortunately for us, the NHS also specifies that abscesses can appear ‘anywhere’ on our body. Cleveland Clinic explains:
If you don’t get a skin abscess drained, it can continue to grow and fill with pus until it bursts. A burst abscess can be very painful and cause the infection to spread.
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