Re: Sebaceous Cyst - Warning may be TMI and rather... - Page 3

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

@Carol Diane has this been recently? Normally, a sebaceous cyst's contents are not a liquid, but is usually described as white and cottage cheese in texture, although I would call it more ricotta than cottage. If it's a foul smelling liquid, it could be infection. I would either go back to the dermatologist or have his regular doctor look at it. He may need a course of anitbiotics.

From what I understand, getting the sac completely out is difficult and they tend to break open during the procedure. I think that's what happened in my case especially because it's so deep and if you look at the landscape of an underarm, it's not completely smooth in the first place. It sounded like my doctor thought he got the sac out, but if it broke open during the procedure maybe it didn't all come out. I don't know for sure. I wasn't watching.

shoekitty · ‎03-10-2010

@SeaMaiden

one of my other husbands had that. started when he was kid, he did have it removed later on ecause of pain and recurrance. it did have hair and bone. weird.

Carol Diane · ‎04-27-2015

@Icegoddess , when it was large, it had that cottage cheese appearance when extracted. It's been like this for years and it has been checked by his dermatologist. I understand where you're coming from though. Thanks for taking the time to reply!

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

One of the procedures for removing a sebaceous cyst which is considered minimally invasive involves a small incision and then the cyst is is expressed (squeezed) out including the sac. The reason for using this method is that it does not require a large incision and thus a scar. This appears to be what my doctor did. Instead of a stitch, he packed mine to allow it to continue to drain. I went back in the following day to have the packing removed and then the small incisiion is left open to heal.

Also, It's not the first time for this procedure for me. I had one on my neck at the hairline and another on my back. The one on my back he packed, and then had my husband replace the packing the following day. That one hasn't returned and I can't even remember exactly where it was.

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

@Icegoddess i have had alt least 15 to 20 of these things removed. Once the sac was removed, it didn't drain and didn't need packing.

i had one on my back removed by a dermatologist who used a crochet looking hook to remone the sac. This was the only time I felt pain when getting one removed. A few months later it came back.

i went to a plastic surgeon to have more removed and he looked at the one on my back too. I ended up going to the outpatient department of the hospital for surgery and was placed under general anesthesia. I had five new ones and the old one on my back removed on the same day.

i have a crater like scar on my back. The surgeon said it was not done correctly the first time and made his work more complicated. This one was the reason he would not do the procedure in his office.

i sure hope your doctor removed the sac, but truly it doesn't sound like it. You should not have had any draining the following day.

Right now I three M&M size cysts on my scalp, so I need to make another appoint to have them removed. As soon as they are gone, another one will probably pop up somewhere else.

PilatesLover · ‎08-20-2014

His body absorbed a "twin" in utero, that's what the hair and bone is about.

My son's friend had a situation where he was feeling exhausted and tired all the time. Long story short, a lump that he'd had all his life had been getting bigger and bigger. When it was biopsied they found hair, bone and other tissues in it - it had gotten so big it was actually drawing nutrients from the guy's body. Creepy!!!

sidsmom · ‎11-25-2011

@Carmie wrote:
@Icegoddess i have had alt least 15 to 20 of these things removed. Once the sac was removed, it didn't drain and didn't need packing.

i had one on my back removed by a dermatologist who used a crochet looking hook to remone the sac. This was the only time I felt pain when getting one removed. A few months later it came back.

i went to a plastic surgeon to have more removed and he looked at the one on my back too. I ended up going to the outpatient department of the hospital for surgery and was placed under general anesthesia. I had five new ones and the old one on my back removed on the same day.

i have a crater like scar on my back. The surgeon said it was not done correctly the first time and made his work more complicated. This one was the reason he would not do the procedure in his office.

i sure hope your doctor removed the sac, but truly it doesn't sound like it. You should not have had any draining the following day.

Right now I three M&M size cysts on my scalp, so I need to make another appoint to have them removed. As soon as they are gone, another one will probably pop up somewhere else.

@Carmie

‘...crochet looking hook...’

I bet that’s a curette.

DPP uses them often (sorry to continually talk about Dr. Pimple Popper.

I’ve learned so much from her videos)

https://youtu.be/1HMlbqqgsH4

And the M&M size cysts on the scalp....Pilar Cysts?

https://youtu.be/nCuKpUcP13Q

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

@Carmie

From: https://www.aafp.org/afp/2002/0401/p1409.html

There are many surgical approaches to epidermoid cysts. While complete surgical excision can ensure removal of the sac and prevent recurrence, this technique is time-consuming and requires suture closure. The minimal excision technique has been proposed as a less invasive and successful intervention. The minimal excision technique involves a 2- to 3-mm incision, expression of the cyst contents, and extraction of the cyst wall through the incision. Vigorous finger compression is used to express the cyst contents and loosen the cyst wall from the surrounding tissues to facilitate removal of the sac. The tiny wound can be closed with a single suture, although most physicians do not close this opening. A variation of this technique uses a punch biopsy instrument to create the opening into the cyst.

The packing for drainage probably was not necessary, but was more likely for drainage of the infection not the actual cyst.

Also, I did not purposely wait until it was infected to have it removed. We had discussed having it removed at my convenience and my plan was to have it removed after I was done with yard work season as I didn't want having it removed to affect my ability to get all my work done. It just seems the infection coincided with the end of most of my yard work (due to high temps).

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

@sidsmom I love to watch Dr. Pimple Popper too. I even got my DH to watch and now he is hooked.

The instrument the derm used did not look like a curette. It looked like a plastic crochet needle and apparently wasn't very effective.

Yes, I get Pilar cysts too. If I don't get them removed immediately they calcify and get hard. Then they can't be squeezed out. The three on my head now are pretty hard. Thank goodness they are small and can't be seen.