Sebaceous cyst

[TheBigDog]

This post is a self indulgent peice of crap. Read at your own risk.

OK, about two weeks ago I notice a little lump on my cheek, next to my mouth. I figured it was a zit. Day by day it got bigger, but it never surfaced. At the beginning of the week I pointed it out to Shannon, and she immidiately went into doctor mode. She poked it, prodded it, pinched it, asked me a litany of questions, and told me to go see the doctor.

Well, I am scheduled for a checkup at the doctor on Feb 5th, so I figured I could just wait it out. But this week the lump really started to grow. The left side of my face began to swell around the lump, and it was starting to get a little red around the edges. By this morning my gums were swelling on that side, so I decided it was time to go to the doctor.

My family doctor could not see me until Monday, so I went to the local urgent care facility. We have an excellent local hospital system. When the nurse took my vitals she measured my temperature at 98.8, which told me I had an infection. My normal body temperature is closer to 96.5. When Doctor Hyek came in he immidiately identified my condition. I have a sebaceous cyst, and an infection local to the cyst. So he prescribed some anti-biotics, and told me that it will need to be surgically removed. No big deal.

This is not the first time for me. About ten years ago I had a lump of fat grow on my shoulder. It was on the back side right where my neck and shoulder met. It was a harmless lump of fat until I started to get neck pain from it. In May of 97 I had it removed. I will never forget the procedure. It was a local anesthetic. I was on my stomach with my head turned where I could not see what the doctor was doing. But sight is just one sensation. I reached out with every nerve of my body to follow the process of that surgury. I never felt the incision, but I felt the clamps when they were set on my back as they held my skin open. The the pushing and pulling sensations in the areas adjacent to the anesthetic told me some of what was going on. Once the doctor got me open he found that my little lump of fat on my shoulder was not so simple. It had long tenticles going down into the muscles of my shoulder. So he was digging and cutting and pulling in an attempt to get it all out. Three times he went so far into me that he got past the anesthetic and had to use more. The fourth time I told him not to bother, it was not that uncomfortable. The most vivid thing I remember is the smell of him burning the bleeding vessles when he was getting ready to close me up, and the feeling of my flesh boiling, not the burning, the bubbling of my flesh boiling as he cartarized the work. I was back at work then next morning, and I never filled the prescription for 25 vicadin (although Shannon did ).

Within a year the lump had grown back. When I moved to Colorado I had it removed again. This doctor used a general anesthetic so he could work more freely to remove everything. He did the job and the lump never grew back. Now all I have is a scar where the ole lump o fat used to be. Same thing happened with the vicadin again.

Since then I have had a bunch of cysts. I think I can count 12 lumps here and there on my body. I have a nice big one on the inside of my right arm under my bicep, a few along my ribs, one on my leg. I also have these bumps that grow on tendons (nodules?) on the inside of each forearm. WOW! I sound like some sort of hideous lumpy mess. I went to a specialist about them about four years ago. She was a hot little Asian number with a flirtacious smile and sparking eyes. I remember that her hands were very professional as she examined lump after lump... Mmmm.... Oh, and I think she said not to worry about them. Sadly, I moved before I could schedule a follow up visit.

Which brings me to the medical portion of this post. As Doctor Hyek explained to me, a cyst normally excreats an oil that helps to lubricate the skin. They are located all over the body, except for the palms of the hands and feet. Sometimes a cyst gets blocked up so instead of excreating it begins to swell as it fills. They are generally harmless. But they can get infected, or burst. A poorly located sebaceous cyst can be painful. Sometimes they can be drained. Other times they need to be removed with a simple surgical procedure.

Mine is on my left cheek along my jaw. It is not painful, but I can feel it all the time. It is like having a small marble under my skin. It is infected, so there is a red ring around the cyst and some swelling in the local area. I have just begun my anti-biotics, so that should be clearing up shortly.

I am curious about the procedure for removing it. I imagine I will need to shave at least part of my beard. It has been at least 14 years since I put a razor to my face. I hope that they use a local when they remove it. I am curious about what happens when they remove it. What would be even better is if that cute little Asian doctor could ... never mind.

Bill

[Celeste]

BigDog....your all male. Something we all knew anyway.

I'd be willing to bet that your androgen levels are abit high. Though most cysts are caused by swollen hair follicles, wide spread ones usually point to an increased hormone level if I remember right. Nothing concerning, but it can wreck havoc when it comes to these kinds of cysts or acne in general.

For some, just draining the cyst works well in at least controlling it. Others have some success with steriod injections. Unfortunately, draining the cyst and removing the cyst wall (sac) is the only complete solution. Anyway...count on being shaved. The whole removal part takes about 5 to 10 mins. The crappy part is that the hair usually doesn't grow back in the immediate area. And you have to make sure the doc gets the whole thing.

To help prevent more in the future, taking flaxseed oil, omega 3's, and rubbing the skin briskly after showering with a thick terry cloth towel should help.

Here's wishing you a speeding procedure and easy recovery with a full beard in pursuit.

C

[GAHD]

sounds like you need a loofah my man

[Michaelangelica]

I had a bump on my back that got bigger and biger.
Knowing I was going to die I put off going to the doctor. (As you do)

When it got to the size of a large golf ball I went to see the doc. "O just a sebaceous cyst"
Come in tomorrow and I will cut and prod and dig it out"

I thought "Bugger that"
I went home and slathered it in lots of comfrey (with antiseptic essential oil) ointment; in a couple of days it exploded and oosed crap.
At this stage I should have stopped using comfrey but carried on and it sealed up again.
(much smaller)
Again I kept up the comfrey until it exploded again. I let it drain and have never had trouble since.

[TheBigDog]

At my follow up visit my doctor advised me to use warm compresses on it for a few weeks and see if that helps it to drain out internally. If that doesn't work he will send me to a specialist. Then they have a choice of draining it or removing it. Draining runs the risk of it recurring. Removing is pretty final. The concern they have is where it is located on my face. I could give a damn, chicks dig scars.

Bill

[Pyrotex]

Sebaceous cysts are common among Caucasian males who dig hot Asian women. Says so right here in the I-Ching.

Had one in 86, on my back, just an inch to the right of my spine. I was installing a huge piece of code for NASA, doing final tests, training the staff who would use it. I just propped a book behind me so that nothing touched the cyst and put up with the pain. It was a Friday afternoon. NASA signed off on the code. Done. I limped home, took some Tylenol, went to bed.

Daybreak, Saturday, and I was in horrible pain. Could not sit up. Called a friend who came over with her hubbie, and they managed to get me in my wheelchair and then in my car, and we went to ER. They gave me an injection that turned the pain into a huge purple catepillar who sat on my back blowing bubbles.

"It's just a sebaceous cyst, no big deal," the doctor said. "I'm gonna spray on an anesthetic and then lance it. I felt some pressure near the catepillar. The doctor flinched and muttered, "shit". Huge streaks of red zipped up the wall and across the ceiling. And again. The catepillar began shrinking, leaving nothing behind but an icy vaccuum.

The doctor came around beside me to fetch gauze and forcep/scissor thingies. There were streaks of blood up and down his hospital whites, and across his face. He grinned. "Sometimes they spurt when you pop 'em!"

He packed wet gauze into the golfball-size hole in my back. Several days later I returned and he pulled out several yards of red and yellow stained gauze. No stitches. It has never bothered me since, but my wife notices it occassionally and prods and pokes the tiny scarred hole that is all that's left.

[form]

Hi, has anyone else on the forum had a sebaceous cyst?

[pamela]

they are quite common, form.My youngest son when he was 2 months old, had one removed from his eyebrow area.Although a simple procedure, it none the less was rather traumatic for both mother and baby.i still have difficulty in accepting the fact that they put him under as opposed to local anesthesia.Kinda extreme for an infant, in my opinion.Are you currently suffering from what i have come to term as a bag of trash? do you have any questions?

[Moontanman]

Hey Big Dog, you sure they removed the right fatty cyst from your neck? I've had several removed from my back, a little short Asian doc did mine too but he was old and kinda wrinkled If I can get to them I usually cut them out myself when they are small, I used to get them on my arms a lot for some reason, I always figured it was exposure to the bacteria in the liquid finishes were I used to work. I like to operate on myself, must be a named perversion for that somewhere. I know it's been a long time, this is an old post, but if anyone is getting them it's really best to get em while they are small, a doctor is the best way for sure. Like Big Dog and Pyro said getting them cut out when they are big is no fun. Pamela, getting one cut off your baby must have been outrageous, sorry it had to be done.