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Osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis is an infection of bone. Unfortunately there is not easy treatment for this type of infection. One option is to place the person on intravenous antibiotics for 6 weeks and even then it is not a definitive cure. This can be very time-consuming for the patient. It can also be very aggravating if the intravenous antibiotics do not clear up the infection. The other treatment option for osteomyelitis is to surgically remove the bone that is infected. This is a more definitive treatment for bone infection, but does ot come without its own risks.
Bone infection can be caused by a break in the skin that leads to the spread of infection from soft tissue to bone. It can also be caused acutely from a puncture wound with a foreign body into the bone.
If you have had a puncture wound and it continues to cause pain after the soft tissue has healed or if you have a wound that is chronic in nature that won't heal, you should be seen by a foot and ankle specialist to rule-out an underlying bone infection.