By The Doc

When you get the itch try using the chemist instead of your GP

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how patients in certain areas are being encouraged to take simple eye problems to their high street optometrist.

It’s not just the likes of Specsavers that are helping take pressure off exhausted GPS, though. Pharmacies such as Boots help, too. For example in Glasgow, if you have a minor skin infection in one area, with a golden-yellow crust, then you should pop along to your chemist.

Pharmacists are being trained to treat impetigo, a common skin condition.

Unless it’s a particularly bad case, they’ll be able to have a quick look and prescribe the right course of treatment, all without you having to visit your surgery.

There are a couple of bugs that can cause it, but impetigo is usually down to staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria that’s commonly found on our skin.

It might also appear when the skin is affected by another condition such as eczema and psoriasis, or even a little cut.

Non-bullous impetigo, as it’s known, appears when small blisters burst and leave scabbiness on a patch of skin.

The scabby area is red underneath but has a golden crust, almost like – sorry if you haven’t finished your breakfast – a cornflake stuck on the skin.

It tends to affect younger people, and it’s more common in hot, humid weather.

It’s contagious via touch so those who have it shouldn’t share towels.

Children with impetigo should be kept off school or nursery until there is no more crusting.

It can clear up by itself after two or three weeks, but treatment is generally recommended, to speed up healing and reduce the risk of passing it on.

An antibiotic cream works, but the crusty bits should be cleaned away with warm, soapy water so the medicine can get to the areas where it’s needed.

Some cases of impetigo may need an antibiotic by mouth if there is a more widespread rash or if the infection spreads despite using the cream.

Sometimes the infection comes back, or the person who has it may have a weakened immune system for various reasons, like having diabetes, or undergoing chemotherapy.

In these cases you should still see your GP.