The standard skin infection antibiotic — and the one most often taken at the wrong time relative to food.
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Flucloxacillin is a penicillin antibiotic designed specifically to resist the enzyme that Staphylococcus aureus uses to destroy ordinary penicillins.
That narrow, deliberate design is the point. Most skin infections are caused by staphylococci and streptococci, and flucloxacillin covers both while leaving much of the rest of the body's bacteria alone — which is exactly what a good antibiotic choice looks like.
It is why amoxicillin is the wrong drug for a skin infection despite being a close relative.
Take it on an empty stomach — an hour before food, or two hours after. Food roughly halves how much is absorbed.
This is the single most common reason flucloxacillin appears not to be working, and it is worth arranging your day around. Four times daily on an empty stomach is genuinely inconvenient, which is precisely why it gets taken with meals instead.
Mark the edge of the redness with a pen and note the date. It gives an objective answer to whether things are improving, which is far more reliable than impression.
In penicillin allergy, clarithromycin, erythromycin or doxycycline are used instead, so treatment is still straightforward.
It is considered acceptable in pregnancy and breastfeeding where indicated.
Short courses need no routine monitoring. Longer courses, or treatment in older people, may prompt liver function checks.
Blood tests can help judge severity where the picture is uncertain, and inflammatory markers are sometimes used to track response.
Yes, for straightforward skin infection where photographs and history give a clear picture. Cellulitis is one of the conditions that assesses reasonably well remotely, provided the boundaries can be seen and the person is otherwise well.
What we will not manage remotely is a spreading infection in someone who is systemically unwell — fever, shivering, confusion, a rapidly advancing edge, or severe pain out of proportion to the appearance. That last one in particular can indicate a deep, rapidly progressive infection and is an emergency.
We ask for photographs, and for the edge to be marked with a pen so that spread can be judged against a fixed line.
Flucloxacillin is a cheap generic. A standard course on a private prescription usually costs less than the England NHS prescription charge.
Capsules and liquid are both available; the liquid tastes unpleasant, which is a genuine obstacle in children.
Complete the course. Skin infections can look settled while bacteria remain, and relapse after a short course is common.
Yes. Alcohol does not interact with flucloxacillin and does not stop it working.
This is one of the most persistent myths in general practice. The advice comes from two antibiotics where it genuinely matters — metronidazole and tinidazole, which cause a severe flushing reaction with alcohol — and it has been generalised to every antibiotic since.
Two honest caveats. Alcohol worsens the nausea and stomach upset flucloxacillin already causes, so heavy drinking will make you feel worse. And because flucloxacillin can very occasionally injure the liver, it is sensible not to add a significant alcohol load on top of that during the course.
A drink with dinner will not undo your treatment. Being too unwell to rest, or missing doses because you were out, will.
Because food halves absorption. Taken with meals, you may be getting roughly half the intended dose — which is why an apparently failing course sometimes just needs correct timing.
No. Flucloxacillin is a penicillin. Alternatives are available and work well.
Redness should stop spreading within 48 hours, though full resolution takes longer and some redness can persist for weeks. Marking the edge with a pen makes this much easier to judge.
Because the boundary and its spread are the key clinical information, and a marked edge photographed a day apart answers the question better than any description.
Seek advice today. Flucloxacillin liver injury can begin up to two months after the course finished, and is easily missed because nobody connects it to an antibiotic taken long ago.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 30, 2026
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It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
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If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
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