safe to remove large painful cyst myself?

[Scar]

I posted a simliar topic on a acne/cyst forum, i thought i might as well post it here too because some of you might of had simliar problems.

this all started last week.

I have this big lump on my back, about in the area of the shoulder blade. its started out as one of those pimples or whatever that are deep under the skin, but i usually pop those and they goa way. however this one was deeper it seemed and i tried to pop it but didn't pop. Eventually it became really swollen, and i've only been able to get some puss and blood to come out of it.

IT'S REALLY PAINFUL! i can barely move because it hurts every time i move, and even when i don't.

itso n the area by the shoulder where the back, shoulder and all that connect to the neck, so it sucks really bad ly.

I don't have medical insurance so i can't jut goto the doctor right now, and i don't get paid til Thursday, and i seriously doubt that i can wait that long, and then make an appointment, and then wait a few more days. It hurts too much to wait that long. I need to remove it some how now.

It hasnt come to head or anything yet, i wish it has but it hasnt. usually these ones dont for me. I've never had one like this either.

if i soak it in warm/hot water should that help it come to head so i can easily pop it? or do u think it might be one of those hard ones that a doctor needs to remove? i seriously cant wait that long.

I'm a guy and it sucks to be in this much pain, while trying not to show it. I never thought that these things could hurt like this.

I've also read that sometimes calcium build ups can cause these cysts. A few weeks ago i started taking calcium dietary supplements, maybe that caused these?

thanks. sorry for being so whiny but this sucks too much ha.

edit: also have a very bad cold right now, and keep coughing, and you can only imagine how much that shakes the area where the cyst or whatever is, and hurts like hell.

here is a picture i've just taken. you really cant see how big it is. quality sucks. turns out to be kinda hard to take a picture of something on my back... myself ha. but you can kinda see.

The black spot is just a scab from me picking on it while was at work (thought it was a tiny pimple as i said).

the thing is getting to be really solid. i gues because there isnt much room right there because of all the muscles and whatnot that are located so it just swells up tightly in the skin.

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[pharmer4]

dude, bad bad bad things you have done to yourself.

It obviously sux living in a country without a public medical plan.

OK, from a medical point of view, here are some things you need to know.

firstly, that calcuim information is a red herring. It does not cause issues like this.

seconly, while it may hurt, popping or squeezing this will only make things worse. it will cause more inflammation (therefore pain), and if you do break it, it will spread the bacteria in there, causing more of them (like the one further down and to the right of that one).

You need to keep it clean, and washing it reguarly in warm water is a good idea.

If you can get something to cleanse your skin, you'll benefit from it - so,ething to break down sebum (the oil in the skin), such as salicylic acid/sulphur mix or benzyl peroxide.

but seriously, lancing it is going to be your best thing here - can you last until then?
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[Scar]

[Rashy]

From what I have heard cysts should only be removed by a professional. I would see a dermatologist on the issue if you can, generally they are the ones who deal with cysts. I don't know how much it would cost without insurance though.

If you can't see a dermatologist for a while, then you should follow pharmer's advice and also keep it covered with a bandage so that it doesn't rub on your shirt. Having it rub on your shirt is just going to make it hurt and itch.
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Rashy!

[Scar]

okay i think he meant have a doctor cut it open and take care of it.

i have it covered up now with like 15 bandaids ha, i only have the small finger ones. Oh well its covered. Hopefully since im not going to mes with it anymore, i'll get better and less swollen.

Damn this sucks. i hope i never get another one of these.

thanks to both of you for your helpful replies.
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[Scar]

I just got back from seeing a doctor about it. It got to the point where that entire area was swollen and i could barely do my job which is heavy lifting and moving my neck and stuff without being in pain. It also starting oozing but not enough.

I went to the E.R because of the pain. I was going to wait a couple days until I got paid so i could pay them, but the pain was too much.

He stuck the area with his needle about 5+ times to make sure it was fully numb and took his scalpel and starting to dig in deep to get all the junk out. The core was huge and it took him a while to get it all out. It didn't really hurt besides a couple of sharp burns here and there, but thats about it. He then filled the hole up which was the size of a dime and a itch or more deep with gauze, and didn't sow it up. He said he did this because it needs to heal from the inside out or it'd develop again or something like that.

tomorrow morning i goto the pharmacy and get my antibiotics, and i have to schedule an appointment for Friday to see a doctor to get more gauze and whatever other bandages i might need.

It hole is still pretty numb, but he said its going to hurts really bad one it comes out of the numb stage. my entire arm hurts on that side i guess from all the pressure or something, i'm not sure why it hurts. He didn't give me any pain medication that i know of, unless i get some tomorrow along with the antibiotics. They gave me a pill tonight which i think was an antibiotic also.

The hole right now still hurts, but its alot better then it was before. Now the entire area isn't under all that pressure so its good. It's better to have that pain in one concentrated area now anyways

anyways ijust wanted to resolve this thread.

Thank you pharmer4 for your info. :d
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[pharmer4]

well, good to see it is fixed!

Lancing is what the dude at the ER did. in this case, he has lanced it (opened it to remove the pressure), and has debrided it as well (ie removed all the dead and diseased flesh).

He is right, in that it is going to hurt for a while, but I suspect that it won't hurt as much as it has been hurting. If you need pain relief, i suggest an antiinflammatory, such as ibuprofen or diclofenac (I don't know what you can buy without a prescription in the US) - just be careful that it is not bleeding (antiinflammatories increase bleeding) - also, if you have asthma, don't use them, they can cause asthma attacks in people with asthma. Lastly, take them with food, because they can cause stomach ulcers.

Packing the wound is a goo idea as well, because the gauze can be soaked in antibacterial liquid before going in - don't do this yourself though, it's asking for trouble!!!

I would bet that the bacteria involved is Staphylococcus Aureus (commonly known as golden staph, which also causes most boils, some acne, impetigo [school sores]). This means you are likely to have a penicillin.

I also think that at the end of this, you will have a brand new version of your screen name on you back.
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[kenoodo]

Oh man, you must suffered a lot. But you are luck that it is winter now and you do not sweat a lot, otherwise that would really mess up.

Take care!

[Scar]

ha thinks :d

Its actually not hurting as much as it was. Not even close. Just the hole is hurting a bit, but if i take this extra strength Tylenol it seems to make it completely go away. I actually slept like 12 hours last night (which is good for my cold) and i haven't been able to do that in the past week it seems because of that swollen cyst.

On the way to see the doctor last night the person that was driving me said "you should have the doctor lance it" ha, so it is an american word too! just one i never use i guess so i didn't know what it meant.

There is some blood now that is starting to seep through the wrappings nad stuff on my back. The doctor last night told me to NOT take the padding off that he put on, but to add to it. So i'm going to do that soon.

Man i really wish i was in the right mind last night to record this that would've been cool ha.


Again a special thanks to pharmer4! You kinda talked me into nto messing with it anymore myself. Plus the pain i felt when i even touched it. All that could've made it alot worse, and you helped prevent! which is pretty cool :d
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[pharmer4]

believe me, I see funky stuff like this every day.

It always seems strange to me when people are hesitant to see a doctor - for americans I can understand if you don't have insurance, since the costs could become astronomical, but here in Australia, there is public coverage.

I had a dude some months ago come in with his hand very bright pink, with areas around where you would grip something very grey and white. When I asked what he had done, he told me he had his hand on the flow port of an LPG canister when it released the LPG directly onto his hand - this was both at high pressure, and very very very cold.

In other words, he had a chemical burn and a freezer burn at the same time, and because of the high pressure, it got very deep into the hand. If he had not gone to the doctor when I told him to, he could have lost the hand - as it was, it just got very very very festy and needed antibiotics for ages.

If anyone is interested, I can tell you about all the other nasty stuff people come in to see me with.
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[pharmer4]

one other thing dude, by posting this thread, you'll be making others aware that they should treat things like this with respect, to prevent the pain. that's a good thing
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[LP-SolidRaven]

[coralvalley]

I can sympathize with your pain. I had gotten a cyst on my back at one point in time as well that honestly felt like my spine was ready to leap up and out from within the skin. It was in the middle of my back so it got to the point where it felt even painful to walk with it being there. I had tried soaking it as suggested as I wondered if it was just acne and if I had just pulled a muscle in my back since I am prone to that, but after hearing about a cousin of mine having a cyst, I went to the doctor to have it checked out. He did the same procedure as what you had done in numbing it and then lancing it to drain it. Truth be told the doctor had told me at the time when I was getting it lanced that it might hurt for a few days, but in comparison to the pain that I had experienced when it was still in tact, it was nothing. I did not feel any residual pain after it was lanced.

My advice for the future though is to remember not to pick at it or try to drain it yourself. You never really know what you are getting into when doing that. While it was a cyst this time, I know that my sister worked for a vet clinic and she was bit by a cat during one of her first days on the job. The vet tech told her to go wash up with soap and water and clean the wound and leave it at that. Well a month later she had something pop up on her arm that looked like a cyst or even acne, but it started to harden and get red around it. She was in so much pain that one night she wound up with a fever as well and was rushed to the emergency room. It turned out that what her employer at the veterinarian's office she worked at failed to mention was that she needed to take antibiotics just in case there was a chance of infection. Because she hadn't been on any antibiotics there was an infection that spread throughout her arm and the result was her having to have surgery on her arm that was far from minor surgery. The surgeon who worked on her had to open her up from her wrist, to the inner part on her arm above the bend where her elbow would be to clear out the infection. She had to have two or three follow up surgeries and her arms still has major scars from the surgery. Also after she had the infection taken out she was on IV antibiotics for a good six months at least twice a day after that to deal with the infection as it had worked her way into her system. Fortunately she was insured, but the doctor told her had the veterinarian told her to take care of it from day one, that all of that could have been avoided. However, the reason I mention it is because hers started off as what looked like an acne spot as well, but became something major.

So when in doubt if you can afford it, just make sure to check on things. It's good that you had your doctor take care of it and I am sure that you are feeling much better now. I'm glad that you are no longer in that kind of pain as that is horrible indeed.

[slic_chic39]

OBVIOUSLY THIS IS OLD NEWS, HOWEVER SOAKING IN BAKING SODA REALLY HELPS THE PROCESS SEE MY DETAILED INFO ON CYSTS slic_chic39 ..post
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Baking soda works wonders, soak in a hot tub of water, with baking soda, you will notice the differene in the first application, keep clean with white wash cloths only. DO NOT USE BAKING SODA DIRECTLY WITHOUT DILUTING IT IN WATER. wash with antibacterial soap & apply neosporin & sterile gauze. Hope this helps!