Reoccurring spot

[Ms Monnie]

I developed a spot on my cheek near my nose a while ago that was amazingly large and quite taught and hard. It didn't come to a peak with a head like the spots I usually get, instead it just sort of deflated again and left a scar. I was treating the scar with vitamin E oil when again I found that it was becoming more hard and raised, a spot developed again in the same place. It was again large and taught but this time it developed a head and left an even worse scar. Washing my face today I noticed a spot developing in exactly the same place, right under the scar! :boggle: It's not usually a troubled area, the skin surrounding it is pretty clear. What's going on?

[nicollomo]

I get the same type of thing on my inner thigh, i never really know what to do it just goes away, i usually get them around the weather changing times of the year. I havent had one on my face yet though.

[getoffmyskittle]

You probably have some little comedone-thing plugging the pore there. Are there things you can do to try to get it to a head? If you can pop it, it will probably go away. Dabbing ACV on usually works for me.

[manderly]

Sounds like you've got a cyst. I have one on my earlobe and one next to a mole on the side of my face. They get hard and sore and swollen every so often, don't become anything I can "pop", occasionally I can "see" a head to it, but I can never seem to get it out. They eventually go away and leave a mark, only to come back eventually.

Now, good and bad news. I have got a few of these out on their own. It took some pretty viscious handling by me to get it, and I really wouldn't recommend it. You can see a dermatologist and he/she can inject it to make it go away or even remove it if necessary.

Because it's a cyst, it never goes away unless you manage to get the seed out.

For me, I got really sick of one finally and I cut the skin with a razor blade and squeezed and pulled the big round seed out with a pair of very pointy tweezers I had. This was on my ear so I wouldn't have done this had it been on my face. Since I did that it hasn't returned. Like I said, it wasn't the smartest thing to do and I wouldn't recommend YOU do it, but you can see your doctor about it.

[Ms Monnie]

Eewww, manderly! You're hardcore! :lafhard:

But yeah, this is slap bang in the middle of my face so razorblades aren't going there. It's a little difficult to see a dermatologist over here (UK) because you need to get referred. Uuuuhm, I wonder if the GP can do it? Can they get the seed out without opening the skin?

I'm gonna continue applying ACV and tea tree just to see if it helps... I hope it is just a comedone like Skitts says but from what you've told me, manderly, it does sounds rather like a cyst *sigh*. What causes it?!

[manderly]

We have no control over cysts, that's why cystic acne is so hard to treat. Heck, our ovaries get cysts, it's just something your body does.

Here is a video of one being removed from someone's shoulder. This is kind of gross (not as gross as some of the other similar videos). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmWS5jGnKjE&feature=related

You can see that when it's removed it looks like a pea. It doesn't break apart or anything. It's like a little sack of puss. And that's what happens. Sometimes you can actually squeeze some of the goo out, but if you don't remove the whole little sack part, the cyst will eventually grow back.

The one I pulled out of my ear was about the size of a piece of bird seed or so, so we're talking cysts on a much smaller scale.

When I got the skin away from it I could see it very clearly, but no sqeezing or manipulating it did anything. I had to grab it with my point tweezers and pull it out. It sticks to your skin.

A doctor can inject cortizone into it to make the swelling go down. It will eventually come back though, but if you can manage to ignore it, it will generally go away on its own, only to return months or years later.

Tolerate it and don't aggravate it until it goes away would be your best bet :)