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Thick, White Odorless Fluid From Squeezing Sebaceous Cyst, Pain, Hard, Red Area Around It. Cellulitis?
My wife has been bugging me about squeezing a sebaceous cyst I have. I have had it for the last 10 years, about the size of a large pea, and have squeezed it before with no issues. The discharge is thick and white without odor. It was the same this time. However, the next morning it was very painful. I assumed this was because my wife was squeezing like crazy. This was Saturday. Now, I have a quarter sized hard area surrounded by a 4 inch round area of redness. Cellulitis? Normal?
Sat, 18 May 2013
Hi, welcome to HCM...
You are having sebaceous cyst with secondary bacterial infection. Pain and redness suggest bacterial infection.
In sebaceous cyst, the semi-fluid content of the cyst looks a bit like toothpaste. This substance is soggy keratin. Keratin is made by skin cells and is the substance that hairs are made from and the substance that covers the top layer of the skin.
Sebaceous cysts are benign. That is, they are not cancerous, do not spread to other parts of the body or cause any serious problems. Very rarely, a skin cancer may develop from sebacoeus cyst.
In your case , sebaceous cyst is infected with bacteria. So, first of all, you should take short course of antibiotics and anti inflammatory drugs.
If required, the cyst can usually be easily removed by a simple operation, under local anaesthetic. The surrounding skin is numbed by injecting some local anaesthetic. A small incision (cut) is made over the cyst. Typically, the cyst can be easily pulled out. The wound is then stitched up. A small scar will result. Sometimes, after the removal of a cyst, it gradually regrows in the same site under the scar. This is unusual but, if it occurs, it can be removed again.
I hope you got my answer...
Regards.
Dr.Ilyas Patel MD,DVD
You are having sebaceous cyst with secondary bacterial infection. Pain and redness suggest bacterial infection.
In sebaceous cyst, the semi-fluid content of the cyst looks a bit like toothpaste. This substance is soggy keratin. Keratin is made by skin cells and is the substance that hairs are made from and the substance that covers the top layer of the skin.
Sebaceous cysts are benign. That is, they are not cancerous, do not spread to other parts of the body or cause any serious problems. Very rarely, a skin cancer may develop from sebacoeus cyst.
In your case , sebaceous cyst is infected with bacteria. So, first of all, you should take short course of antibiotics and anti inflammatory drugs.
If required, the cyst can usually be easily removed by a simple operation, under local anaesthetic. The surrounding skin is numbed by injecting some local anaesthetic. A small incision (cut) is made over the cyst. Typically, the cyst can be easily pulled out. The wound is then stitched up. A small scar will result. Sometimes, after the removal of a cyst, it gradually regrows in the same site under the scar. This is unusual but, if it occurs, it can be removed again.
I hope you got my answer...
Regards.
Dr.Ilyas Patel MD,DVD
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