Know your medical terms: Abscess

Do you know what 'abscess' means? Here's a simple explanation.

At times, listening to complicated medical terms could make you more ill than your actual condition. Right from symptoms of a disease to the diagnosed disease itself, you may come across several terms in your day-to-day life which you don't really understand. We attempt to explain all such complicated words in a language that you will understand. So here is today's term Abscess.

Abscess is a term used for describing collection of pus in the body. Your body contains millions of cells that play an important role of fighting infections. Whenever there is a foreign attack on the body (in case of a cut or a wound), these fighter cells gather at the site of injury to kill the entering germs. However, in the course of fighting, several fighter cells get destroyed. They get accumulated at the site and their internal content is released, which along with other debris is seen as pus.

Abscess can occur in any part of the body (brain abscess, tooth abscess, spinal cord abscess) but is most commonly seen on the skin (in the form of boils or pimples). Internal abscesses can be much more dangerous and can cause severe damage to tissues and organs.

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To know more terms, visit our know your medical terms section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And to join discussions on health topics of your choice, visit our forum.