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Hi guys, I just wanted to ask if any of you have had the same experience. I have a pea-sized cystic pimple just before my right eye, below my eyebrow. It's one of those annoying under-the-skin lumps that's swollen and red but with NO head so I can't pop it. I've gone to my dermatologist three times already for cortisone/steroid shots. She tried to prick/extract the thing but she can't get to the pus because it's too deep. Instead, she injected it with a LOT of the solution (steroids) in pure/concentrated form. It flattened out a couple of days later but now (roughly one week later), I feel it growing again and I know it won't be long until it's back to its original size, maybe even bigger. I don't know what to do anymore. This thing has been on my face for almost a month now and nothing I do seems to make a difference--THREE cortisone shots, hot compresses, salt-and-water soak, bacon fat and band-aid, everything! It won't even come to a head.
I will probably go back to my derm next week but I'm afraid the same process will happen again. Any tips?
oh yeah, I've had several excisions for the same reason- there were a few cysts that just wouldn't go away, so you need to have the cyst wall removed.
only let your derm do the excision if they've done lots of them- I had mine done by a derm who was also a MOHS surgeon and very used to removing things from FACES
if done properly they will only need a small cut, maybe 1/4-1/2 inch to remove the wall...and of course it's better to do this when the cyst is not inflammed.
and the scar will fade over time, I'd trade a small linear scar for a pain in the butt cyst that keeps coming back anyday
but again make sure your derm has done a lot of these on the FACE
I had a very large cyst on my cheek for almost a year because I did nothing about it so I highly recommend you try sorting it out soon.
I don't know much about medical advice because the treatments can often be very unreliable and have bad side effects (such as scarring), however I do know that you can take antibiotics but doctors rarely prescribe them due to bacteria resistance.
But I have some home remedies that will hopefully help as they eventually brought my cyst down until it finally popped by itself one day.
Firstly, to reduce the swelling and redness, put some ice on it for a couple of minutes. I found it works much better than hot compresses which tend to just make my cysts swell even more. The ice can also numb any pain if there is some.
Witch hazel is also good as it dries out the cyst (moisture will sometimes make it grow)
It sounds odd but I also used hemorrhoid cream on my cyst overnight which was very effective in reducing the size and redness. Despite some people saying you shouldn't do this, a lot of people do. Celebrities even put it on their face to reduce eye puffiness, so don't be put off by what you read. However, just to be sure, put a bit of the cream on an area of your face that isn't visible first to see if you have any bad reactions to it.
I also put TCP on mine as its a good antiseptic and even recommends it on the the instructions.
But under no circumstances should you try and pop the cyst yourself. It will just swell and more than likely will become infected.