Ow. (Update)

I went to the doctor. The first thing he did was give me a tetanus shot (eeeeewwww), which ironically did not hurt as much as the pain I was having in my teeth. He then stuck a swab up my nose and pulled a bunch of gunk out from around the boil. (Actually, he told me it was a skin abscess, not just a boil.) Since the bacteria are now in my bloodstream, he is concerned that the infection will spread. The tooth pain, he said, is an indication that it has already spread or is threatening to spread into my sinuses (which, in his words, “would be nasty.”) He gave me oral antibiotics to take twice a day. If it doesn’t get better by Wednesday, or if it continues to get worse, I will need to make an appointment for daily antibiotic shots until it goes away.

The problem, he said, was that although the abscess is localized inside my nose, the bacteria could be anywhere and everywhere in my body and could continue to cause abscesses anywhere, including internal ones in my sinuses or ears. Even 1 week of the antibiotics may not be enough to stop me from reacting to the bacteria and developing further abscesses. So… yuck. Hopefully I will feel better by Wednesday.