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| Dr. Joel Aronowitz |
Dr. Joel Aronowitz: "What are the signs of an infection? There are four cardinal signs of an infection. Redness, swelling, pain, and four is warmth. And stick around and I'll tell you how to detect each one of these things.
Redness associated with infection looks like the redness associated with inflammation of other types. It is bright red typically, angry, and sometimes there's streaking of the red going toward the body away from the source of the infection. This is called a lymphangitis, a dangerous sign if you see that type of red streaking.
How do you detect warmth due to infection? Usually by using the back of your hand. If you use the back of your hand, you have the better appreciation of the temperature difference. Warmth to the touch is a good sign that there's increased blood flow and inflammation, and that's a sign of infection.
How can you tell the difference between the signs and symptoms of infection versus just inflammation? Well, you can't always because they're pretty much exactly the same. Redness, pain, swelling, and warmth. So you have to put it into context.
Was there an injury? Was there a laceration or some type of reason to suspect infection? And also remember that infection will have local signs and symptoms, and it's not till later that you get more systemic signs and symptoms, such as feeling ill, being septic, having a temperature. You'll typically get local signs and symptoms of infection before you get these systemic signs."
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