Boil

Boil, a localised inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, usually in connection with a hair follicle or with one of the cutaneous glands. Boils are frequently found in situations which suggest that friction has played a part in their production, as on the neck where the collar rubs against it, or on the forehead where the hat exerts pressure. The buttocks and back form occasional sites of boils. They occur by preference in young adults and during the spring, and often indicate "poorness of blood," as in diabetes and albuminuria, or result from errors of diet or faulty habits of life. A boil commences as a small painful induration of the skin, which subsequently suppurates and bursts, discharging a "core" of dead tissue. If the boil disappears without reaching the stage of suppuration it is called a "blind boil." Microorganisms can usually be detected in the matter of a boil, and possibly they form the real source of mischief in many cases.