66 replies to this topic

[doejane]

Seriously... thank you.
Just dealing with the real shitty part of having an enormous cyst... so someone just answering me is a small comfort.

[Wynne]

The icing will make the cyst feel better. This site is terrific in that we all KNOW the experience and thus we can empathize with each other and provide support. Welcome to acne.org!

[Helio]

I don't know if this has been suggested yet.

I use hydrocortisone on cysts and find that it helps. People get cortisone shots to shrink cysts, so this helps too right?

It's not wise to use hydrocortisone. It can damage the skin and allow overgrowth of fungi, yeast, and bacteria. Hydrocortisone is also systemically absorbed via the cutaneous route...not good. All meds have some cutaneous absorption, but you do not want to mess up your own cortisol levels through using hydrocortisone topically. It is ok every once in a while (once a month on a hideous cyst), but NOT daily use even in tiny dabs. Please do look up Google images for overuse of hydrocortisone. See also steroid induced rosacea on these boards and on Google search.

Oh wow, that really scared me. I'm going to stop applying hydro cortisone now. If you don't mind, I want to post what you said under the hydrocortisone thread in the Body Acne forums. Someone else was wondering why it was a bad idea to use hydrocortisone on acne.

[willow569]

Okay... dumb question.. what is BP?

Secondly... alright I have this cyst.. going on about 4 weeks now. I had a cortizone shot, it went down, almost disappeared, then whamo! it came back... with a vengeance. Tonight, it had a whitehead. Small but visible. Its throbbing and I have sharp little pains coming from it... so I popped. Not a big pop... of course I never got the core. I am way to whimpy for that... hurt enough already. I barely touched a sterilized pin to it, and pus flowed (sorry for grossness). Then a liitle blood, more pus, then blood.
The hard nodule is still there.

I read your recommendations.. I am icing it now, and have taken ibuprofen. I have some polysporin I will put on later.

I am also on day 8 of accutane. My skin is freakishly oily for being on day 8... even more oily than it has ever been. Anyone ever heard of that?

And still, I really want to know what BP is.
thanks

You do have to be careful when you are on accutane - your skin is much more fragile. You probably don't want to do any more self-surgery with pins (even if they are sterilized!) - you really risk scarring your skin when you do that, or making a cyst/nodule even worse than it already is. You might see if the derm who gave you the cortisone injection could surgically extract the core of the spot. I've only had one spot like this as far as i can remember, but it was a pea sized nodule that hung around on my jawline for months. I finally had it surgically removed by a derm who also does cosmetic surgery. He applied a local anesthetic, extracted the core of the lesion, and applied cortisone. It took about 2 months for the spot to totally flatten and the smal indentation to fill in, but the spot has not come back and I have no scarring (its been about 6 months since I had it done). I don't know if this sort of procedure can be done while on accutane, but it has to beat the safety pin method!

[doejane]

I do understand what you are saying.
However... first off... they scar regardless on me. Whether I leave them alone or not.
Secondly, this one is really bad. Throbbing, larger than a pea and stuck out, a lot.

I agree for the most part --- leave them alone. And I did, for a very very long time. The pus needed to come out, and truth is... it doesn't hurt as much today as it relieved some of the pressure.
Tomorrow, hopefully I can see derm and ask about having it removed... if I can't perhaps he can inject it again.

Thanks

[willow569]

I do understand what you are saying.
However... first off... they scar regardless on me. Whether I leave them alone or not.
Secondly, this one is really bad. Throbbing, larger than a pea and stuck out, a lot.

I agree for the most part --- leave them alone. And I did, for a very very long time. The pus needed to come out, and truth is... it doesn't hurt as much today as it relieved some of the pressure.
Tomorrow, hopefully I can see derm and ask about having it removed... if I can't perhaps he can inject it again.

Thanks

Good luck with the derm appt!

[Wynne]

I don't know if this has been suggested yet.

I use hydrocortisone on cysts and find that it helps. People get cortisone shots to shrink cysts, so this helps too right?

It's not wise to use hydrocortisone. It can damage the skin and allow overgrowth of fungi, yeast, and bacteria. Hydrocortisone is also systemically absorbed via the cutaneous route...not good. All meds have some cutaneous absorption, but you do not want to mess up your own cortisol levels through using hydrocortisone topically. It is ok every once in a while (once a month on a hideous cyst), but NOT daily use even in tiny dabs. Please do look up Google images for overuse of hydrocortisone. See also steroid induced rosacea on these boards and on Google search.

Oh wow, that really scared me. I'm going to stop applying hydro cortisone now. If you don't mind, I want to post what you said under the hydrocortisone thread in the Body Acne forums. Someone else was wondering why it was a bad idea to use hydrocortisone on acne.

I'm so glad you read that and will heed the warning. Your skin will thank you in the long run! So will your hormonal system.

doejane, I also echo willow's warning about invasive techniques while on Accutane. It is more likely to lead to severe scarring such as I have experienced. You do not want deep holes all over your cheeks just to get rid of the cysts. The Accutane and gentle treatment will take care of the cysts over time with less scarring if you do not mess with them.

[YouandMe]

Tell me how disgusting this is.........around Dec 8 07 i devloped this pimple under my skin...it only showed up on the surface as a small pink mark but it was underneath cause u could feel it....but of course I was able to cover it with makeup cause it didnt protrude to make a bump....I didnt do anythign to it thinking I didnt want to make the area more red.....it seemed to go down a bit but it was always still there, never coming up to the surface....finally around Jan 5 or so I think it started to get infected or something cause u could feel it getting bigger under the skin....it left a purplish brown mark on my skin...not a bump on the surface but a purple mark....I imagined it filled with blood or something but under the skin....it was harder to cover with makeup cause the area was purple or dark.....and someone even wiped my face thinking i had something there and was helping me get it off......

So around that time i could feel it getting bigger i started putting BP 5% on it....that did nothing....then on Jan 21 I had a Fraxel treatment......I waited 5 days then started putting Finacea on it on Friday.....i could feel it geting smaller......but tonite somehow it just looked ripe enough to pop....so i squeezed it & pus and alot of blood came out.....so disgusting......I think it was a cyst...but somehow the fraxel or Finacea brought it to a head......cause it never had one before this.....like it was just a bump under the skin....

so now it looks liek a popped pimple in teh middle of my cheek....have to wait for it to scab & then fall off....but im so glad i got that junk out.....

I cant believe its been there for so long.....they say not messing with pimples will make htem go away but i feel that some are so deep under the skin that they will stay for years.....

anyone else agree with this????

[Wynne]

You risk scarring by messing about with a deep seated pimple.

[arty-party-love]

hey wynne...
thanx for the detailed advice here- def going to follow it - its great how we can learn from other peoples experiences and it makes our lives a bit easier
xx

[sadman]

sometimes icing and ibuprofren just won't make some of my acne go away. so I'm forced to go to the derm. She removes, what she calls the "eye" of the pimple and injects some steroid to ease the inflammation since the spot is so battered from all the extracting she did. I'm just wondering if the steroid she's injecting is similar to hydrocortisone which when applied to the skin often will result in side effects? I'm afraid because it's almost every week i get some acne removed with that procedure. thanks for any reply

[Wynne]

sometimes icing and ibuprofren just won't make some of my acne go away. so I'm forced to go to the derm. She removes, what she calls the "eye" of the pimple and injects some steroid to ease the inflammation since the spot is so battered from all the extracting she did. I'm just wondering if the steroid she's injecting is similar to hydrocortisone which when applied to the skin often will result in side effects? I'm afraid because it's almost every week i get some acne removed with that procedure. thanks for any reply

The steroid injected can cause scarring sometimes but due to the administration method it affects a much smaller area of the skin so cannot cause damage all over the face, only in the one small area in which it is injected.

[joe1985]

Hey tried this and also used an aspirin mask and it worked very well, my question is how often should you apply an aspirin mask. is it okay to use one every night?

Cheers

[Manuka Honey]

Hi Wynne! A few people mentioned that you are the person to go to for advice. I've read some of your posts and I see that you have a lot of info. that are beneficial. Maybe you can help?

I found out that I don't have just cystic acne or nodules but found out I have a form of staph along my jawline. Although, I do still have hormonal acne as well. Is it ok to do all this on staph? Especially the antibiotic like neosporin. I think the other antibiotics need to be prescribed right? My doc said to just wash my face with a gentle cleanser and not put anything on it for fear of causing irritation. Plus adding other things could disrupt the oral antibiotic (Bactrim). Just touching the staph hurts like crazy so I do want to limit any touching.

I've been prescribed Ortho Tri-Cyclen (for hormonal acne) and Bactrim (for staph). The Ortho has worked for me in the past that's why my doc put me back on that. I know you've been on Ortho before, do you think it will be just as beneficial for clearing acne a second time?

I'm actually going to incorporate the Nucelle Mandelic Acid Serum 10% into my regimen as soon as the Staph clears up. Right now I'm just going to put the serum on my chin and spot treat. I've heard that the Mandelic Acid would work better than the Glycolic Acid. I just wanted to get your input about this. I've thought about using the baby hairbrush as well. I'll have to go check out your page on baby hairbrush.

[bunpan]

Ice made the area around the cyst turn red and the cyst got bigger
I put it in a papertowel and gently put it on the cyst for one minute on and 5 min off...

Anyone know why?

[SmashhRockss]

"Borat Voice" Verrry Niiice! "Borat Voice"
I'll use this if/when a nice little cyst decides to pop up.
;]
Thanks!

[Wynne]

...I found out that I don't have just cystic acne or nodules but found out I have a form of staph along my jawline. Although, I do still have hormonal acne as well. Is it ok to do all this on staph? Especially the antibiotic like neosporin. I think the other antibiotics need to be prescribed right? My doc said to just wash my face with a gentle cleanser and not put anything on it for fear of causing irritation. Plus adding other things could disrupt the oral antibiotic (Bactrim). Just touching the staph hurts like crazy so I do want to limit any touching.

I've been prescribed Ortho Tri-Cyclen (for hormonal acne) and Bactrim (for staph). The Ortho has worked for me in the past that's why my doc put me back on that. I know you've been on Ortho before, do you think it will be just as beneficial for clearing acne a second time?

I'm actually going to incorporate the Nucelle Mandelic Acid Serum 10% into my regimen as soon as the Staph clears up. Right now I'm just going to put the serum on my chin and spot treat. I've heard that the Mandelic Acid would work better than the Glycolic Acid. I just wanted to get your input about this. I've thought about using the baby hairbrush as well. I'll have to go check out your page on baby hairbrush.

The bactrim will take care of the staphlycoccus aureas infection over time. Please do limit touching, and please do follow the derm's instructions about a gentle cleanser. Change your pillowcases nightly, too. You don't need to add in any topical antibiotics as you're already taking bactrim. You might benefit from a tad of Aquaphor at night, or even a thin film of petrolatum jelly at night (and cover with bandaids, as many as it takes to protect your pillowcases and sheets). The soothing moisture of the petrolatum jelly or Aquaphor will stop the itching of the staph infection (slightly) and also help the skin a LOT.

When I stopped BCP, I never restarted any again. I don't know from personal experience if the BCP will be effective a second time but I also don't see why it wouldn't be as the BCP targets one of women's causes of acne.

Ice made the area around the cyst turn red and the cyst got bigger
I put it in a papertowel and gently put it on the cyst for one minute on and 5 min off...

Anyone know why?

No I don't know why as usually a cyst will shrink when ice is applied. Just one day's worth of ice application may be insufficient. Or else that cyst had already progressed beyond stopping it and it was already going to get bigger no matter what you did.

"Borat Voice" Verrry Niiice! "Borat Voice"
I'll use this if/when a nice little cyst decides to pop up.
;]
Thanks!

Hope it works for you, too!

[quamen]

wow i was wondering the same thing and made a new post. this post answered all my questions, thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[AlexGF]

wynne I wouldn't want to take ibuprofen in tablets.. would the ibuprofen gel work in the same way?

[Wynne]

wynne I wouldn't want to take ibuprofen in tablets.. would the ibuprofen gel work in the same way?

It would have an anti-inflammatory effect but I don't know if the other ingredients would be comedogenic.