Boulder Care

Preventing and treating infections

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Key points

Two different things can cause an infection. Sharing equipment can pass a virus from one person to another, like hepatitis C or HIV. And injecting itself can let bacteria into your skin or bloodstream, even when your supplies are your own and clean. Most of this is preventable, and all of it is treatable.

  1. Sharing equipment for injecting or snorting can lead to infections.
  2. These infections can be prevented, and they can be treated.
  3. Using new or clean equipment every time lowers your risk a lot.

Skin infections

Injecting can sometimes cause an infection in your skin. The spot may get sore, red, swollen, and warm to the touch.

You might hear this called cellulitis, which is an infection spreading through the skin, or an abscess, which is a pocket of pus under the skin. Either one needs medical care. A clinician may need to drain the pus, and you'll probably need antibiotics to clear it up.

If you think you have a skin infection, get medical care right away. These don't clear up on their own, and they get harder to treat the longer you wait.

Infections deeper in your body

An infection can move past your skin and reach your heart or your bones. Signs include feeling very tired, running a fever over 100° F, and bone pain.

These can be life threatening, so get urgent medical care if you notice any of this. Going in early gives you a much better outcome.

Viral infections

Sharing equipment can also pass viruses, including hepatitis C and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). These are different from skin infections because you often can't feel them at all. You can carry one for years without symptoms and pass it to someone else without knowing.

Hepatitis C can be cured. There's a medication you take for a few months, and for most people it clears the virus completely. Hepatitis B spreads the same way, and unlike the others, there's a vaccine that prevents it. A lot of adults never got it, so it's worth asking whether you have.

HIV can't be cured yet, but daily medication keeps it under control, protects your health, and can lower the virus enough that you can't pass it to anyone else. People with HIV live full, long lives.

You can also prevent HIV before you're ever exposed. There's a daily pill called PrEP, short for pre-exposure prophylaxis, that keeps you from getting HIV.

If you have questions about any of this, bring it up with your care team.

Main takeaways

Some infections come with symptoms. A skin infection gets red, sore, and swollen. An infection in your bones or heart can show up as a fever, deep tiredness, or pain. Any of that means you should get urgent medical care. Others are quiet. Hepatitis C and HIV often cause no symptoms for years, so a test is the only way to know. Both can be treated, and hepatitis C can be cured.

  1. Get urgent medical care if you have signs of an infection.
  2. Tell your care team right away if you're having trouble getting medical care. We'll help you sort it out.
  3. Talk with your care team if you have questions about getting tested for hepatitis C, hepatitis B, or HIV.
  4. Ask your care team about vaccination for hepatitis B and about PrEP, the daily pill that prevents HIV.

Additional resources