Difference between Impetigo, cellulitus, and Shingles?

I thought I had Impetigo, got treated after 3 antibiotics in the "mycin" family, it got worse and I found to be allergic and went on Dermisil on my own, didn't work. Then thought I have shingles since I have headaches, light fever, foggy head,swelling and pustules around mask area of face that crust over. It comes and goes(re-emerges) about every 6-7 days. Doctor now thinks I have cellulitus. But I don't have any symptoms of cellulitus and she wants me back on antibiotics from the tetrycylin family again with 4 Duflicans to counteract the radical yeast infection. I don't want to go back on antibiotics. All info says shingles, can anyone help? Note: I think I got it from the hospital following surgery last summer.

OK. I was on Bactroban in the first place, then Amox., then Clindomycin, then Dermisil with no avail. Now using watered down Apple Cider Vinegar to sooth and it really helps. Have used honey also, anything mildly antibacterial but it doesn't go away. Dr. thought it would be Impetigo because of the outbreak that has been going around. The rash first starts red gets hot and swells, but is a perfect 'mask' from bottom chin, sides of mouth, towards nose. Not one-sided.This last outbreak included sides of nose and rim of nostrils. My mind function has gotten much foggier as it re-occurs, but once the pustules and swelling is down, my mind is fine. INfo says cellulitis is caused by almost the same bacteria as Impetigo, if so, wouldn't the cellulitis have been cleared out by all the antibiotics? That's why I am hesitant to take more. And , no, I have not had any cultures, doc tried but really isn't good at that kind of stuff. I'm really in 'hixville.'

You don't get shingles from anywhere; you already had them in their previous form when they were called chicken pox. The virus had simply retreated to the base of your brain where it had remained dormant until something triggered it to become active again. Then it will follow along a nerve pathway, and cause an eruption of vesicles that are painful and infectious, but generally limited to that particular nerve's skin distribution area; ie. you generally find the shingles on only one side of the body, either on the neck/face/shoulder or underarm/chest/back.

Impetigo is usually a staph or strep skin infection seen in young children, and can be treated with various antibiotics like Penicillins or Cephalosporins (or perhaps Erythromycin for those with pen allergies), or topical Mupirocin if the infection isn't severe. If the infection is persistent and doesn't seem to go away despite aggressive antibiotic therapy, the wound should be cultured to rule out MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus), especially if there is cellulitis involved.

Good luck

Ralph

Addendum: From your follow up message, it seems that in this case, being in Hicksville may be to your detriment, though I'm not sure what you mean by "doc tried...?" A culture is simply a sample taken with a sterile Q-tip swab used to sample the wound, then is stored in a special thin plastic tube with a culture medium, then sent off to a lab. Even if you're in a small town, that shouldn't be a problem for even the smallest doctor's office.

Since it is all over the lower half of your face and not unilateral, my suspicion is that it is some form of impetigo (though other differentials like herpes simplex, pemphigus, or contact dermatitis cannot be ruled out). Again, your doctor being unable to culture the organism is bad news. Part of the value of culturing wounds or infectious material is to identify the actual organism, and then to ensure that the antibiotics chosen and prescribed to the patient would be effective against it. If worst comes to worst, it would identify if the bug is of the sort that is resistant to most antibiotics (MRSA). If this is the case, then you may have to be hospitalized for Antibiotics via Intravenous.

Further, I just thought to mention that any antibiotics prescribed must be taken for the entire prescribed course. Many patients mistakenly believe that once symptoms abate, that they're cured. The fact is, the infection was weakened to a point where you can recover, but not yet totally killed. If you stop the antibiotics before all the bacteria are dead, the germs that were briefly exposed to the antibiotics will then become resistant to them. You will then be subjected to another bout of the same infection, but this time, the same antibiotics (or same dosages) won't work.

This has been a major problem world wide as many antibiotics are no longer effective against certain germs.

Impetigo is a skin infection caused by specific types of bacteria (streptococcal or staphylococcal), treated with topical and systemic antibiotics. Cellulitis is a deeper tissue bacterial infection. Both can be serious, though simple impetigo is quite common especially among children and rarely has complications when properly treated.
Shingles is a varicella viral infection caused by a herpeszoster virus, the same one which causes chicken pox. It is quite painful, but is not itself a bacterial infection.
Yeast infection is caused by totally different microorganisms (yeasts, obviously).
Here is some more info:
http://telemedicine.org/stamford.htm
http://www.emedicine.com/derm/index.shtm...
Feel better.

Have you been cultured for MRSA? This is the bad resistant strain of bacteria normally found only at hospitals, but now found at many places due to spreading and antibiotic resistance. This is a major problem right now and only reacts to certain antibiotics. You need to be referred to a wound clinic for culturing of the wound site so they can know exactly what bacteria is causing the problem. However, if it is shingles antibiotics will not help either b/c it is a virus. It would normally only be on 1 side of face. Cellulitis is cellular inflammation of tissue/infection. broad range term for a tissue infection. The main thing is finding out what is causing the problem.

Shingles is really painful, I think you would know if you had that. The pain and spots tend to follow a nerve line.
Impetigo is very contagious and you can easily re-infect yourself through towels and facecloths etc. Have you tried Bactroban on it? That works really well on bacterial skin infections.