Infected Blister, Swollen, on Foot or Hand, Pictures, Causes, Treatment & Home Remedies

A blister is a fluid-filled bump that can develop on your skin which may be swollen and painful. This is a common skin condition that can occur on your skin especially on hand, finger, foot, heel and ankle. Occasionally, a blister can advance into a serious health problem if infected by bacteria, fungi or virus. Explore facts, pictures, causes, signs and symptoms of an infected blister. Also, find out how to get rid of such blisters with medical treatments and home remedies, including popping it.

Table of Contents

Signs and Symptoms

Skin blister is a type of a bump that is usually characterized by the small fluid-filled pocket. The pocket of fluid on the surface of the skin might contain body fluids such as plasma, serum, lymphatic fluid, pus, and blood.

Most of the skin blisters are filled with serum or plasma. A serum is clear or yellowish body fluids that can collect in the sac of the blister. This fluid may give a blister a yellow color appearance. Usually, a clear fluid-filled blister may take the color of your skin.

The blood-filled blister is another type of bump that typically contains blood in its pocket. Blood-filled bumps are always red, pink or dark in color. They develop when the blood vessels are damaged by injuries or infection to burst and leak blood underneath the surface of the skin that collects inside the blister.

The symptoms of fluid-filled blister can show up on various skin parts of your body. They can develop on foot, heel, toes, hands, ankles, fingers, palm, face, neck, scalp, mouth, lips genital area, or any other parts of your body.

A blister on your skin should take few days or one week to heal. However, it can take a long time to heal if it is infected by bacteria, fungi or virus. An infected blister on your skin can show up in various signs and symptoms that might appear worrisome.

Here are some of the signs and symptoms associated with a blister that is infected:

Redness, tender and inflamed skin in area affected
Severe itchiness or burning sensation on the skin
Pus-filled blister that burst, ooze, and crust over
Strange discharge from the blister that has odor or bad smell
Blister develop into open sores, wound or ulcer that refuse to heal
The blister grows large than normal and spread to other parts of the skin
Swollen lymph node in groin and armpits region
Fever or chilling of the body

An infected fluid-filled bump on the skin can also be accompanied by other strange symptoms such as a headache, pain in joints, dizziness and other. For this case, this symptom might be an indication of more serious infection that has entered into your body system through the blister.

If you notice that your blister is likely to be infected by harmful pathogens that make you feel a discomfort, it is advisable to seek medical help. You can visit your doctor who can help you in diagnosis and treatment of the problem

How to tell if a blister is infected

A blister on your skin can act as an entry that can allow the bacterial, fungal or viral infection to enter into your body system. The fluid-filled bump can also provide a suitable environmental condition that can allow the disease-causing microorganism to grow and causes an infection.

If your blister develops into a painful bump that is filled with pus, this is an indication of an infected blister. The harmful pathogens in the infected area can lead to strange symptoms that include redness, tenderness and swollen skin around the blister.

Staphylococcus is an example of bacteria that can infect a blister on your skin to develop into a painful boil. A boil is a type of an infected fluid-filled blister that can develop anywhere on your skin. Cellulitis is another skin condition that can occur on your skin as an effect of bacterial infection through the blister.

Am infected skin blister can advance into more serious health condition that needs medical attention. If you develop large painful blisters on your hands, fingers, feet, big toes or any other parts of the body, you should not try to puncture it with a need or squeeze it. But instead, visit your doctor how can help you in the treatment.

Infected Blister Pictures

How does a blister that is infected look like? Infected skin blister can appear as an open sore, wound or an ulcer that can take red, yellow, pink, grey, brown or white color depending on the cause of the infection. To see how it might appear, we have inserted descriptive pictures of an infected fluid-filled bump in relevant parts of the post to show you how it might look.

These picture pictures might have a slight difference from the actual vision of your skin condition due to variation in skin color. Despite the variation, you may use these images to assess your skin and get a clue about your health condition. However, you should not use this picture for self-diagnosis and treatment without the help of the doctor.

Causes Infected Blister

There are various factors that can lead to an infected bump or blister to show up in different parts of your body. Some of these causes can either lead to a skin infection that develops into a blister directly or sometimes infect a blister that already exists on your skin.

The common causes that can lead to an infected skin blister include the following:

1. Cold sore

Cold sore or fever blister is a type of fluid-filled bump that can show up around the oral region. These blisters can develop on the vermilion zone of the lips, outside the cheeks, on the chin and inside the nasal cavity. A cold sore blister usually occurs outside the mouth but on few occasion, they can develop inside the oral cavity.

The cold sore infection is usually characterized by burning sensation in the affected area before blistering. After the bump shows up, it becomes filled with body fluids. The blister burst, weep out, crust and final heal.

The outbreak of cold sore is caused by herpes simplex virus type-1. This virus is highly communicable. It can spread from an infected person to another through direct skin contact with the contaminated saliva that has the active virus.

You can easily be infected by herpes virus through the sharing of one glass or utensils with an infected person. Also, the virus can spread through the process of kissing or having an oral sex with a person who has a cold sore infection.

If you are infected with herpes virus, you might not develop an infected blister on your lips and nose immediately. The virus can stay in your body in a dormant state but it can be activated to causes an outbreak of sore by stress, fever, fatigue, hormone change and weakened immune system.

2. Canker sore

Canker sores are the type of blisters that typically occur inside the mouth. They can appear on tongue, gums, inside the lip and inside the cheeks. In few occasion, they can develop outside the mouth on the vermilion zone of the lip and in corners of the mouth.

A canker sore is painful mouth blister that has a white, yellow or gray center and a red color at the base of the bump. These sore can develop on your oral cavity after they are stimulated to occur by oral trauma, stress, fatigue, change of hormones and weakened immune system.

An outbreak of canker sore in the mouth is a harmless health problem that can last few weeks. However, it can advance to the more serious problem if the blister is infected by bacteria and fungi. An infected blister of canker sore can take more time to heal hence it might require medical treatment.

3. Bacterial infection

Staphylococcus is a known type of bacteria that can infect your skin to develop pus-filled boils or blisters. These bacterial usually lives on the surface of the skin and it can lead to an infection of boil if it enters into your skin through open cuts or wounds.

Once you are infected by staphylococcus bacteria, the blister might show up on the areas infected. The common parts of your body that can develop a boil include buttocks, inner thighs, legs, grown, genital area, armpits, and arms. However, a boil can show up anywhere on your body.

Cellulitis is another skin condition associated with an infected blister on the skin. Cellulitis blisters are caused by bacterial infection of the sebaceous gland and the connective tissue of the skin. Usually, this condition is characterized by redness, tenderness and inflamed skin in the affected area.

4. Physical injuries to the skin

Your skin can develop infected bump after a physical injury on the affected area. Skin injuries include cuts, bruises, friction, strike, hit, punch, thermal burns and chemical burns. The open sores or wounds that may develop on your skin due to injuries can act as an entry of harmful disease-causing microorganism that might infect the blister.

A blister on feet, heel and big toe develop as a result of physical injuries caused by unfit shoes. You can develop a blister on feet due to wearing of too tight shoes that cause a lot of force and friction on your skin.

A punch or a strike on your skin can damage the blood vessels under the skin surface to break and leak blood which may develop into a blood-filled blister. This can occur on delicate parts of the body such as lips, face, arms or any other part of your body.

A chemical and thermal burn on the skin is another factor that can result in a fluid-filled blister that can be infected easily bay bacteria or fungi. The blister that develops from burns is always filled with clear body fluids or serum.

5. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)

A blister can develop in your mouth, genital area, armpits, anal region, face or any other parts of your skin as result of sexually transmitted infection (STI). Some of the STDs that can lead to infected skin blister include syphilis, oral herpes, genital herpes, genital warts, and HIV.

The symptoms of sexually transmitted infection might show up few days or weeks after having unprotected vaginal, oral or anal sex. If you develop strange sore and blister on your genital area and mouth after sexual intercourse, it is advisable to visit your doctor for diagnosis and treatment.

6. Allergic reaction

Your skin can develop an infected bump after an allergic reaction. The direct exposure of your skin to strange materials or substance can result in a skin condition known as an allergic contact dermatitis. This condition is usually characterized by blister, sores, burns, hives, and bumps on the affected area of the skin.

Some of the allergens or irritants that can lead to an allergic reaction on your skin include harsh detergents, dust particles, poison ivy, hair dyes and other household chemicals.

7. Sunburn

An infected blister can develop on your skin after sunburn. The sun has harmful UV rays that can lead to skin burns and blister. Direct exposure of your skin to sunlight can also result in sunspots, premature age spots, freckles and wriggles.

The sunburnt blister on the skin can show up on lips, forehead, scalp or any other area that might be exposed to sunlight. The sunburn blister can weaken the skin which can allow the bacteria and fungi to infect your skin.

8. Skin cancer

Skin cancer is chronic health condition that can lead to an infected skin blister. This condition may result in several types of skin bumps, blister and sore that can bleed easily if something touches. The cancerous blister on the skin can act as an entry for other harmful bacteria, fungi, and the virus that can lead to health complicated problems.

9. Chickenpox

Chickenpox is a rare viral infection caused by varicella-zoster virus. This infection is characterized by red itchy blisters that develop all over the surface of the body. The infection often occurs in children who are not vaccinated against varicella infection.

10. Frostbite

You can develop frostbite blister on your skin due to extreme cold temperature. Exposure of your skin to a very low temperature that can lead to the freezing of skin, blood vessels and muscles can lead to skin blister know as frostbites.

11. Other causes

Other causes that can result in an infected blister on your skin include:

Impetigo; is a bacterial infection that can lead to skin blister in children and infants.
Stomatitis; this is a mouth sore caused by cold sore or canker sore infection.
Dyshidrotic eczema is a skin condition that shows up as a blister on feet and on the palm of the hand due to an allergic reaction.
Porphyrias are a genic disorder that can lead to chronic skin blister that looks like burns.
Pemphigoid is an autoimmune disorder that usually shows up in people with advanced age as blisters on the skin.

Treatment of Infected Blister

You can get rid of an infected sore or blister on your skin using various treatment method depending on your skin condition. In case a blister on your body is likely to be caused by a more serious infection such as STDs and cancer, you can go for medical treatment by visiting your doctor.

After visiting your doctor, she/ she may decide the appropriate plan for diagnosis and treatment that can help to solve your health problem. Some of the treatment methods that your doctor might use include the following:

Prescription of oral antibiotics for infected skin blister
Giving you an ointment creams that can help to relieve the inflamed blister
Laser treatment method that uses strong beam of light to treat skin bumps and blister
Surgical procedure that can help to drain the fluid-filled blister on your skin

Home Remedies for Infected Blister

If your skin develops a small and mild blister, no need to go for medical treatment by visiting your doctor. You can alternatively use home remedies. This method of treatment is effective to sores and blister that are caused by a harmless skin condition such as cold sore, canker sore, minor injuries, mild burns and allergic reaction.

You can try the following natural home remedies that include:

Draining an infected blister

Popping infected blister yourself is not encouraged because it can lead to a more serious health problem. But if the bump is on joint or on the place of your body where it makes you feel a discomfort, you can drain it. Draining the bumps from the bump help to relieve pain and facilitate the healing process.

Procedure:

Clean your hands and the infected area that has a blister by using an antiseptic soap or solution
Use the sterilized needle or pin to pierce the blister at its base, make several holes to drain the bump
Apply little pressure on the bump to drain the fluids
Use cotton ball to wipe up the pus or fluids
Use hydrogen peroxide, salt or soap to wash the infected area
Apply the antibacterial ointment cream to the infected area
Cover the drained blister with a piece of bandage
Keep monitory the blister until it heals

Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is an effective home remedy that can help to treat a blister on foot, heel, the palm of the hand and other parts of the skin. The herb has natural antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties that can help to relieve swollen blister.

How to use:

Apply the Aloe Vera cream or gel directly on the blister
After 15 minutes rinse it off with warm water
Repeat to apply it three times in a day until the blister heal

Apple cider vinegar

Apple cider vinegar has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that can help to help infected bumps on the skin.

How to use:

Dilute ¼ glass of apple cider vinegar with equal volume of water
Use a cotton ball to apply the solution on the affected area
Leave it to dry off before rinsing it with cold water
Repeat this treatment three times in a day until the infected skin blister heal

Castor oil

Castor oil is an excellent home remedy that can help to cure an infected blister on your skin within few days. The oil has natural antiseptic and anti-inflammatory abilities that can help to relieve blister on your skin.

How to use:

Apply the castor oil to the affected area directly by using your hand
Allow the oil to stay on your skin for the whole day
Repeat to apply the oil twice in a day for few weeks until the blister dries up
Instead of castor oil, you can alternatively use olive oil, Neem tree oil, almond oil, lavender oil or any other essential oils.

Salt solution

You can use the salt solution as a home remedy that can help to get rid of blisters. Salt has the ability to help the fluid-filled blister to dry up and heal faster.

How to use:

Add one teaspoon of salt into one cup of water and mix it well
Use the cotton ball to apply the salt solution to the affected area of the skin
After 15 minutes, rinse your skin with cold water
Repeat this procedure three times in a day for few weeks until the blister go away

You can use other home remedies such as the application of tea tree oil, green tea, chamomile, turmeric or any other applicable natural remedies.

When to See a Doctor

You can see you doctor over the infected blister in your notice the following conditions that include:

When the blister on your skin has persisted for more than three weeks without healing
When the blisters on your skin is associated with severe pain that makes you feel a discomfort
If the blister on your skin is accompanied by other strange symptoms such as fever, headache, body chilling, swollen lymph nodes and others
If the blisters are spreading from one part of the skin to other
If your baby or infant has strange blisters on the skin that looks worrisome