My war on staph: I got this nasty infection last year in the worst place you can get it for a guy: the groin. I went to the hospital and they had to operate. Luckily they caught it in time. The sad part about it is I was unemployed and had no health insurance at the time. They only gave me a limited amount of medicines to treat it. This is where I had to learn the hard way. I ended up getting re-infected with more than 13 on my body at a time. I finally came down with a system to help prevent and neutralize boils. This does not replace a doctor though, as a disclaimer. There aren't many manuals out there on preventing re-infection, so I'll try my best here. This infection is not environmentally friendly and should not be treated as such. If you want to get rid of it, then you'll need to be exceptionally clean. Do not use washcloths in the shower (this can spread it over your body more). Do not take baths; showers are better. Use anti-bacterial bar soap to minimize the spread. When you towel off, dry the affected areas last. Do not reuse your towels or clothing. Wash your hands any time they come into contact with sores or anything discharging from your skin, again, anti-bacterial soap is preferred. After toweling off, make sure you have the following: PRID Homeopathic Drawing Salve, Boil Ease (painkiller), Tea Tree Oil, bandages (choose something that covers the affected area so whatever oozes out doesn't spread to another part of the body), and Q-Tips. I changed my bandages twice a day. I applied the first set straight out of the shower in the morning. The PRID, boilease, and tea tree oil would be applied to the bandages via the Q-Tip so as not to infect the medicine itself and placed over the areas that were either forming or discharging. If the bandages are a dark red when you pull them off, then it is working. Strip all bed sheets and pillows or any cloth your skin comes in contact with and get them washed, trashed, or burned. You can buy those anti-bacterial hand and face wipes to help clean furniture. Lysol also works but read the instructions before you apply as to how long you need to let it set because it can irritate your skin and lungs.

I was hospitalized 60 days over a period of five months. I had no idea that I had a staph infection. My doctor and I thought it was sciatica. After a week of intense pain, my hand swelled up. I went to urgent care and the doctor sent me to the emergency room. Within two hours, I was in the first of 13 surgeries. The infection spread all over my body. I learned later that the infection started in my hip, which was the largest area of abscess. I have since had to have my hip replaced and also had a rib removed and clavicle bone. I am still on antibiotics a year later. I am very lucky to have survived.

I was diagnosed with staph today, after 3 weeks of symptoms.

An itchy bump formed just below my kneecap. I thought it might be an insect bite. I went to the doctor five days later after trying antibiotic ointment. The doctor laughed and said I need antibiotics, and that it was staph, I was wasting time with the ointmen. She said this is serious stuff and doesn't just go away. Fortunately, I caught it early and took antibiotics now it's healed. It got nasty though before better. Go get checked, catch it early it's worth the co-pay, believe me.

My husband has been told he is a carrier of staph. Up until this last year he hadn't shown any signs of it. But this year he has had eruptions on posterior and now a sore as you describe on his leg. Wound care specialists have treated him all summer, and doctor most recently put him on a drug. He did not tolerate it well, and wound up hospitalized.

I have had a staph infection for more than 20 years. My doctors have been unable to get rid of it.

My wife had HA-MRSA and was hospitalized twice before getting better. She had about two weeks in the hospital in a 3 week period. As of now she has not had any additional problems but we are extremely concerned as she is scheduled for a knee replacement in January. According to her surgeon, they plan on taking precautions prior to surgery to help reduce the risk of infection. I pray he is correct...

I am a healthcare worker and a MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph aureus) carrier. I have worked in hospitals, nursing homes and clinics for almost 20 years. I do not know when I got MRSA and did not find out until I had to have a minor infection lanced at the doctor's office and it was cultured. The culture grew out MRSA. I was immediately put on antibiotics. Two weeks later I had a nasal swab for MRSA and it was still positive for MRSA. My doctor said there was no point in giving me a lot of antibiotics for it since I had no symptoms (by this time the original infection had healed) and my immune system kept it in check. I have to be very meticulous about hand-washing, though, and cleanliness, especially around patients. If I touch my face, I have to wash my hands immediately afterwards. I double glove all the time. I wear a mask much of the time, although MRSA is spread by contact and not by breathing on someone. I don't want to be responsible for spreading it to my patients. The last statistic I read was that about 40% of healthcare workers are MRSA carriers; that is, they have it, as I do, but do not have symptoms. I hope it never becomes active.