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I see there has been no activity on this for 6 months but I will add my two cents anyway. You really should discuss this with your doc, each case is different. My cellulitis went septic (yeah the kind that can lead to death) so I have been very inspired to try to educate myself to prevent reoccurance, thankfully I do not have diabetes or an immune deficeiency which complicates things.
When I was in the hospital I started asking immediately about prevention but I did not get much response (they seemed to be preoccupied with keeping me alive) so I had to push. Eventually I got the most help from my dermatologist. I had swollen ankles so I now wear compression socks whenever I am awake, but you have to be very careful putting them on as you can cause an abrasion if you pinch yourself (keep your fingernails clipped close). This has reduced fluid build up in my lower leg dramatically which was a very good environment for infection. I also use a prescribed anti fungal cream daily between the toes(and for the rest of my life) to prevent athletes foot ( a common source of cellulitis infection). He also prescribed an ointment for a very occasional case of dyslaidrosis ecsema which if it shows up i get under control as quickly as possible. I use an prescribed antibiotic cream if I do get any kind of abrasion or scratch (I check for them daily). If I do have an sore which keeps me from wearing the socks I bandage the sore and then wrap my leg with horse wrap (available from your local farm store for a buck and a half).
After my bout with cellulitis my skin was thin fragile and discolored, so my dermatologist had me use amlactin cream daily (over the counter) to try to toughen it up, it seems to be slowly but progressively doing that. The amlactin will also remove dead skin and prevent dry cracked skin on both leg and feet which is also a source of infection.My hard dry feet are now as as smooth as a babies butt.
My infectious disease specialist has me on long term penicillin threapy (500 mg twice a day). There is some controversy over this approach, depends on who you talk to, but he seems to be comfortable with it.
To date this combination has been very sucessfull. Thankfully I also had a full recovery from the sepsis. Other than the compression socks and horse wrap and amlactin all these treatments are prescribed so as I said you need to work with your doc, I have three, a general practioner, dermatologist, and infectious disease specialist.
Hope this helps
Replies to "I see there has been no activity on this for 6 months but I will add..."
For cellulitis prevention it is essential to me to keep the fluid build up on my ankles down so thus I wear compression socks however if I do get a sore that requires antibiotic cream and a gauze bandage it is impossible to get the socks on and keep the bandage in place so instead I use the wrap to keep the gauze in place and provide the compresion for my ankle. My GP's nurse turned me on to this. It takes the place of the old ace bandage. She used the "human" version in the office which runs upwards of $10 a roll at the drug store, but told me about the vet use only version which is about $1.50 in the ag store. The wrap is flexible and adheres to itself. I can mimic the compresion the socks give, I start low on the ankle, a little tighter there and just a bit looser around the calf. You don't need any clips and it stays in place all day. It also affords some protection from the bumps you mentioned . Do be carefull however not to get it to tight and restrict blood flow. You can get a couple uses out of each roll. It does have latex so if your allerigic don't use it. Here's a link to our local ag store it's actually called a cohesive flexible bandage. http://www.farmandfleet.com/farm_livestock/horse_tack/horse/wound_care/?p=2
I do know by the way exactly what your talking about with the bumps. When i first got out of the hospital it took hardly any bump at all to cause an abrasion, My skin wasn't tissue paper thin but wasn't far from it. Lucklly with the antibiotic ointment none of them turned into cellulitis. I did try shin guards, for me they were more trouble than they were worth, they rubbed on the skin and caused a sore.
from one who's been there, good luck
Thank U, More Ideas to combat this problem....
Thanks for the info on the horse bandages. I am one who cannot wear compression stockings although they have been recommended to me by many health care people. I cannot stand them nor can I get them on! So, this seems like it might be a good alternative for my swollen legs/feet. I could just begin around the foot and up the leg. The skin on my leg is very tough (hard) I think from the constant swelling and feels very 'tight.' I recently asked for an appointment at Mayo in FL to see if I could get some help from all these conditions.
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Thanks so much for replying, Pmack! What does the horsewrap do? How do you wear it? thanks!