Dealing With Abscesses
Abscesses occur with athletes of all calibers and levels of experience, from beginners to the very top pros. Anyone who injects anabolic/androgenic steroids is at risk.
What causes abscesses? Non-sterile injection techniques lead to abscesses. This can involve sharing or re-using needles, or a failure to properly clean the area before injecting. Bacteria in the vial itself also cause abscesses. Thanks to very strict government restriction on steroid production and prescription in the United States, the black market supplies the vast majority of steroids in use in the United States. Since there is zero oversight as to the purity or hygienic nature of black market manufacturing facilities, you never know what you’re getting in each vial.
What is the treatment for abscesses? Typically an abscess will be treated at home by a worried bodybuilder, followed by a rushed trip to the emergency room (after waiting too long) for proper medical attention. Recovery, even among elite athletes, can take months.
How often do abscesses occur? It’s very likely that abscess occurrences are highly underreported. We’ll occasionally hear about a top bodybuilder dealing with one, but for the most part, since they do suffer damage to reputation, most will not mention it. Instead, he will “take a break†conveniently around that time, and plan an “off†period to allow for healing of the area. The few pro bodybuilders who have admitted having abscesses have been mocked for it, even though it is a fairly common occurrence given the sheer volume of injections these men are taking.
At the amateur bodybuilding level, abscesses are underreported also. Like many medical problems, many find the stigma associated with them to be too much to bear. Imagine a young man secretly using steroids, trying to explain to his girlfriend and family just why he was injecting anything into his shoulder or thigh. People in this position often just blame it on a bug bite and perpetuate the lie and underreporting to save face with loved ones.
In sports outside of bodybuilding, the chance of an abscess bring reported is nil. At least in bodybuilding, steroid use is understood as a necessary evil. In sports like football or hockey, admission of an abscess would likely lead to immediate suspicion of steroid use and a blanket of suspicion that would follow the athlete forever.
How can I avoid abscesses? Use clean needles, and never share them, no matter how expensive and hard to obtain the needles and vials are. Avoid black market drugs whenever possible. At the first sign of an infection, see a doctor and get the abscess treated while it is still a small problem. Waiting until it’s a life-threatening infection is a bad idea, and it happens way too often.
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