An abscess is painful, irritable, often red, and puffy. If your skin abscess needs draining, you will likely have a small operation under anesthetic – typically, a local anesthetic, where you stay awake, and the area around the abscess is numbed. The abscess removal surgery is when the surgeon cuts into the abscess during the process to allow the pus to drain out. Once the pus has been removed, the surgeon will clean the hole left by the abscess using sterile saline.
