re-occuring boils

I have been taking evening primrose oil for a number of years, to treat eczema. I have had boils for the past two months, and have been prescribed three courses of anti-biotics, which have worked on a short term basis only. I also have asthma, am vegetarian, and I am slightly anaemic (taking iron tablets for this). The boils keep appearing in large numbers. Could they be anything to do with my eczema (broken skin) or the evening primrose oil that I am taking? Is there any way to get rid of them permanantly (drugs available)?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Rosie:

Boils are a tough problem, to have and to treat.  I often see them in people who don't have eczema or any other obvious reason to get a break in the skin.  (I also doubt that oil of evening primrose has anything to do with it either.)

Some people carry staph germs (the ones that cause boils) in their nostrils --  no symptoms there, just silent colonies of bugs.  Oral antibiotics don't eradicate these.  One procedure is therefore to apply an antibiotic ointment (like bacitracin or neosporin) into the nostrils every night for 1 or 2 months.  I suggest also washing with an antibacterial cleanser (Hibiclens is over-the-counter.)  You may need another round of oral antibiotics to suppress the boils you have.  Some of my patients can't get by without longer-term oral antibiotics.  This need not be a problem, since the ones which help aren't broad-spectrum and don't suppress the immunue system or make people susceptible to yeast infections.

Get started yourself, and your doctor can help.

Good luck.

Dr. R