question about staph infections

[gregftl]

my partner has gotten 6 staph infections (boils) on his butt within the last year or so. each time they don't go away on their own and his doctor has to lance them and give him antibiotics.

well, this time the boil didnt need to be cut because it isnt as bad as the others and his doctor just gave him some bactroban cream to put on it and some antibiotics.

i went in to get my lab results last week and decided to consult my doctor about this problem. she told me that my partner's doctor needed to do a swab inside of his nose to see if he is a carrier of staph. she told me people can be carriers without actually having boils, etc. she told me the frequency of him getting them made her think he needed the swab test. she also told me if the test came out positive that my partner's doctor would need to prescribe him some nasal ointment to get rid of the staph inside of his nose.

ok, i told my partner to do this and he went in today to  have his labs drawn and while he was there he spoke with his doctor. his doctor told him the nose swab wasnt necessary and told him he was just prescribe him some more bactroban CREAM and use that inside of his nose. is this safe?? the first prescription of this stuff he got the people at the county health department put a sticker on the box saying for external use only. i was looking at the walgreens site on drug info and there is a bactroban cream, which he has, a bactroban ointment and a bactroban nasal ointment. shouldnt his dr have given him the nasal ointment. i'm not so sure he should be sticking this cream up his nose if is for external use only or is it just all the same stuff just comes in different forms?

i was thinking maybe the  nasal ointment has different inactive ingredients than the cream that made it safe to stick up the nose......but i'm not a doctor so that's why i am here asking u guys.

any opinion would be appreciated.

thanks
greg

[motherinneed]

It is most likely okay to put the ointment or cream in one's nose, even though it says for external use only. Hospitals often put bacitracin in people's noses to treat MRSA another bacterial infection that likes to live in noses. But may I ask as to why they are just treating his nose? If he has staph in his blood that should be tested through blood cultures and treated also..Ask your doctor.  After all the boils are being caused by the staph also and it would be good to know if staph is growing in one's blood. Good luck. Sometimes doctors need a little push by asking them questions.