64 replies to this topic

[nicouture]

yeah, life's a bitch. I got about 14 cysts on my face right now. I usually just leave them alone, throw some tea tree oil on them before I go to bed, and it seems to decrease their lifespan.

Tea tree oil eh? Have you tried the Regimen this site offers? When I get the ones that dont pop, I usually stick a tack in it. Doesnt always work . . .. Try clay masks. I had a nasty one, wait still have a nasty one on the side of my nose. Luckily it popped and then I spot treated it with a clay mask clay. In the morning, the "opening" looked like it was stitched shut! and it shrunk by about 50% just from the mask, and that it popped.

[Helpless1234]

Two weeks ago I had a tiny pimple that popped on the side of my nose. It left a faint reddish mark but other than that I figured it was a goner. I wore my glasses two days later and the nosepads were resting on where the pimple used to be. I woke up the next day and I could feel a giant pimple coming on in that same spot because it was sore and red. I made sure I kept the area clean and layered the BP on at night, but as the days progressed it kept getting bigger and bigger. Last weekend I spent two entire days and nights with BP on 24/7 but it did absolutely nothing. I swear the sucker got even bigger.

Now here's where I screwed up. I normally get a really bad cystic pimple every month and it always eventually comes to a head in the steamy shower after a few days. I always pop it and TONS of gunk spew out...and though sometimes I have to pop it again every once in a while over the next couple days...I always get everything out eventually and it scabs over and disappears, leaving only a faint red mark that is easy for me to cover up.

But it had been over a week, and BP and hot showers were doing absolutely nothing. It was less painful, but just as red. It was smooth and red and you could see the giant pore right in the center of it. Last night I was so frustrated that I convinced myself I saw a tiny white spot in the pimple so I tried squeezing it. Clear liquid started oozing out and a verrrry tiny bit of stringy pus (kind of like the stringy pus that comes out of blackheads but not as solid). I think it's like those pimples where you have to push all the stringy pus out until all that's left is a gaping hole. But I tried soo hard to get it all out and I couldn't. Every time I squeezed, I could see another tiny dot of white pus come out again. I knew I had screwed up so I applied BP again and went to bed. I woke up this morning and it was super painful again and redder. I know I know I know..I screwed up But I'm so self-conscious now because it's impossible to conceal this monster. And I'm confused. I figured as long as I pushed hard enough I'd be able to get all that satisfying, mirror-splattering pus out like I'm used to.

Why is the pus coming out like the pus in a blackhead? Why oh why oh why is it not coming to a head? I've used hot compresses for days and I've been taking steamy showers for two weeks now. I step out of the shower praying for a whitehead...and I stare at the mirror only to be disappointed. I'd do anything to get rid of this pimple.......its smack dab in the middle of my face where everyone can see.

Thanks so much in advance. I know this is a super long post and I'm one in a million suffering from pimples. But I've been googling all day and haven't been able to find an answer. Where's the pus? What do I do now that I popped and failed??

allysaurus - Can you please give an update? I did the same thing last night and am quite devasted by what I did. Now I have the same thing you have...a circle of hard skin with a brown center. DOES IT GO AWAY? When I popped it initially only blood came out and I can still feel a huge pimple underneath

[Almost Perfect Male]

I had the same thing happen to me. The pressure of squeezing the cyst might have created a redish colored bruise under the skin.

There is no "catch all" solution to the problem. Time and patience is what your skin needs most from you. DO NOT PICK AT IT ANYMORE!

I had one of these incidents not too long ago and I got a prescription called mupirocin which is like an intense neosporin of sorts. I am noticing a gradual improvement, but expecting an overnight miracle.

I get very frustrated sometimes and want to dry it out with peroxide or something, but that might make it worse.

[allysaurus]

allysaurus - Can you please give an update? I did the same thing last night and am quite devasted by what I did. Now I have the same thing you have...a circle of hard skin with a brown center. DOES IT GO AWAY? When I popped it initially only blood came out and I can still feel a huge pimple underneath

I left it alone and put BP on it every night. It definitely looked disgusting during the day...brown and peeling galore. But I didn't pick it again and after another week the brown spot in the middle scabbed and fell off. I wish I could say it didn't scar but I have a tiny whitish bump underneath my skin and the skin surrounding is dark. But I always get that when pimples go away...I have marks from pimples that have gone away years ago.

It's sad because I just got another cystic pimple the other day right in the middle of my two eyebrows. Once again, I didn't follow anybody's advice and I picked the damn thing today. I'm so mad at myself and next time I'm tying my hands together so I don't do anything. Of course...it didn't pop...it's huge...extremely painful and red...and just overall a giant mess. I swear I'm retarded or something.

Edit: Oh, and by huge...I mean HUGE. This thing is like the size of a nickel! DISGUSTING!!

[acne_battle]

Two weeks ago I had a tiny pimple that popped on the side of my nose. It left a faint reddish mark but other than that I figured it was a goner. I wore my glasses two days later and the nosepads were resting on where the pimple used to be. I woke up the next day and I could feel a giant pimple coming on in that same spot because it was sore and red. I made sure I kept the area clean and layered the BP on at night, but as the days progressed it kept getting bigger and bigger. Last weekend I spent two entire days and nights with BP on 24/7 but it did absolutely nothing. I swear the sucker got even bigger.

Now here's where I screwed up. I normally get a really bad cystic pimple every month and it always eventually comes to a head in the steamy shower after a few days. I always pop it and TONS of gunk spew out...and though sometimes I have to pop it again every once in a while over the next couple days...I always get everything out eventually and it scabs over and disappears, leaving only a faint red mark that is easy for me to cover up.

But it had been over a week, and BP and hot showers were doing absolutely nothing. It was less painful, but just as red. It was smooth and red and you could see the giant pore right in the center of it. Last night I was so frustrated that I convinced myself I saw a tiny white spot in the pimple so I tried squeezing it. Clear liquid started oozing out and a verrrry tiny bit of stringy pus (kind of like the stringy pus that comes out of blackheads but not as solid). I think it's like those pimples where you have to push all the stringy pus out until all that's left is a gaping hole. But I tried soo hard to get it all out and I couldn't. Every time I squeezed, I could see another tiny dot of white pus come out again. I knew I had screwed up so I applied BP again and went to bed. I woke up this morning and it was super painful again and redder. I know I know I know..I screwed up But I'm so self-conscious now because it's impossible to conceal this monster. And I'm confused. I figured as long as I pushed hard enough I'd be able to get all that satisfying, mirror-splattering pus out like I'm used to.

Why is the pus coming out like the pus in a blackhead? Why oh why oh why is it not coming to a head? I've used hot compresses for days and I've been taking steamy showers for two weeks now. I step out of the shower praying for a whitehead...and I stare at the mirror only to be disappointed. I'd do anything to get rid of this pimple.......its smack dab in the middle of my face where everyone can see.

Thanks so much in advance. I know this is a super long post and I'm one in a million suffering from pimples. But I've been googling all day and haven't been able to find an answer. Where's the pus? What do I do now that I popped and failed??

I had a cystic pimple lingering on my chin for three weeks. It bugged the crap out of me too and I kept on trying to pop it even though that just makes it worse. I finally went to the derm on Friday and got it injected with cortizone and it disappeared less than two days later. Do you have insurance? If so, get it injected with cortizone. It hurts but the inflammation is gone within forty eight hours

Don't feel sorry. I share your experience. I have 4 cystic acnes that are huge on my jaw they are painful as hell. I used 5% BP too and it's been a week and it has not gone down in size. Another cysts near my right temple near the hairlines is Gigantic.

If you want to try another thing that might not hurt, it has helped me a bit.
Buy any ORGANIC APPLE CIDER VINEGAR.

Wash Your Face.
Apply the Apple Cider Vinegar Directly, UNDILUTED, not mixed with water, just pure straight to your acne. Use cotton ball and press on the pimples for 10 minutes. let dry. don't wash off.
Apply 5% Benzoyl Peroxide. Lots of it.

My face is still with the cystic acnes, but they have gone down in size.
And my face is NOT oily no more. thank GOD to the Apple Cider Vinegar.
I know it's the APple Cider that's working b/c I used 5% BP constantly in the past and my face was still oily. Only when I combine both Apple Cider Vinegar and 5% BP did I see my face get dry.

Now only if I can use it to magically make those cystic disappear overnight.

5% is too strong for bp! My face can barely handle 2.5%

[acne_battle]

Those open spots will get better if you apply a dab of antibiotic cream or ointment to a bandaid and then a bandaid on each spot. The round bandaids work nicely. Use that at night unless you don't mind going out in public with bandaids all over...even I won't go that far.

lol youve been making me laugh lately

[allysaurus]

My mom won't take me to the dermatologist because she's convinced my acne isn't that bad. In fact she says it's because I don't clean my face correctly...which is completely untrue I'm so diligent with my facial regimen. So I doubt I have anywhere to go to get a cortizone shot. Though I really want one...this cyst is so painful it's giving me a headache. It's throbbing, I swear! And now that I picked it it's blood red and huuuuuuuge.

[Wynne]

Could you show her acne.org so she can see for herself that acne's not about personal hygiene?

[CoreyDB]

Yeah... I find people with Acne on these forums have by far and beyond the best personal hygenie. Yet we are still covered in spots. Hygenie has NOTHING to do with it.

[Wynne]

Particularly show her the following link:
http://www.acne.org/myths.html

[allysaurus]

Thanks! I'll definitely show her that. You know moms...they always have their beliefs and they're hard to sway. Should I go to the dermatologist? My mom is completely opposed to any oral medication...I was on Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo for a couple months but got a rare disease from it (erythema nodosum anyone?). But I've tried so many topical creams and gels and acne washes and nothing seems to slow these cysts down! I just don't see what the dermatologist can do for me at this point..

I have this huge cyst that I fiddled with the other day (shame on me) and really messed up the skin around it. It didn't pop and now the skin is scabbing over. It's extremely painful and I've took ibuprofen and I've been icing it on and off but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. I honestly just want it to ooze out on its own and be done with it! I just can't imagine it flattening out...it seems way too ginormous to be able to do so. The problem is I've had this cyst for over a week now and it still hasn't come to a head! It just seems to be hardening by the day, especially after I ice it. I don't understand why my cysts never come to a head...you'd think after a week of warm showers it would finally surface

[acne_battle]

Yeah... I find people with Acne on these forums have by far and beyond the best personal hygenie. Yet we are still covered in spots. Hygenie has NOTHING to do with it.

It does in some people. I mean if a person sleeps in make up and skips washing their face a lot, it will lead to acne.

[DianaBananna]

Try to put an aspirin mask on it overnight as a spot treatement. Take 2 tablets of aspirin (not coated), add a drop of water and crush them with a spoon. mix it up and then put it on your cyst before bed. The water will dry up and it will become a hard white mask on your cyst. Should be better in the morning.

Best of luck.

[renie69]

My most recent cystic "infestation" has been comprised of cysts exactly like this. They don't ever come to a head. Thsi is hard for me cuz I'm a popper too! But I've learned that trying to squeeze these is a no-go. I also have the situation, after a while, where the clear stuff comes out and a little string-looking thing in the middle of it. This usually happens after the cyst has gone down and isn't so inflamed & angry, and it's a super-hard thing under the skin.

I've also noticed that these cysts are blister-like. Rather than coming to a white head, they fill up with clear liquid until it literally looks like a big red knot with a blister on top. They hurt SO bad that I feel like I have to press on them just a little to relieve the pressure. It does relieve the pressure, but all that comes out is clear runny stuff. And I think this habit is what has contributed to the repetitive contamination of the same area (my chin).

So, I'm back on Retin-A, and have finally (I think) got past the dry, red, itchy, flakey stage. The patch of cysts on my chin is finally diminishing and I'm not getting any new ones. But I have about 5 that are in various stages of healing. It's like the Retin A is the only thing that goes deep enough to force all the crap out from the depths of my skin.

Sorry, to ramble. Good luck! Just wanted to say "I hear you"!

[Gfunk]

I just had a cyst in the middle of my forehead a week ago, took a week to completely dissapear. I squeezed it and poked it as soon as i saw it start too form. I think i was lucky because when i did that it didnt get much bigger at all and about 2 days after the pain stopped and it started to reduce. Just try and get as much crap as you can out of it. i know it probably hurts like hell but thats how i got rid of mine

[Wynne]

I just had a cyst in the middle of my forehead a week ago, took a week to completely dissapear. I squeezed it and poked it as soon as i saw it start too form. I think i was lucky because when i did that it didnt get much bigger at all and about 2 days after the pain stopped and it started to reduce. Just try and get as much crap as you can out of it. i know it probably hurts like hell but thats how i got rid of mine

Yes, you were lucky. Squeezing a pimple generally causes it to rupture underneath the skin, spreading the infection further around under the skin, increasing the redness, swelling, and length of time the pimple will stick around. Thus, squeezing also tends to create scarring because of the wider path of destruction that you've caused under the skin.

[Addie]

The advice I would give is already covered, but I just wanted to say that many of my cysts have never come to a head. They grow for a couple weeks--when they're at their the most painful--and then shrink over a few months until they disappear. They do heal eventually, though.

[finzy]

just wanted to offer up my support too. My cysts never come to a head but I totally understand that painful urge to try to squeeze them to relieve the pressure. It never works, yet I do it every time.

I say all this as I sit with 2 nasties on my chin, both which I picked to death, and now both which look like big gaping nasty open sores, and to add insult to injury, they still hurt.

so as I type, I wonder if anyone has ever tried behavior modification tools when they want to pick? Like putting a big rubber band on your wrist and snapping it every time you have the urge to lean in close to the mirror.....

[Polska Laska]

I just had a cyst in the middle of my forehead a week ago, took a week to completely dissapear. I squeezed it and poked it as soon as i saw it start too form. I think i was lucky because when i did that it didnt get much bigger at all and about 2 days after the pain stopped and it started to reduce. Just try and get as much crap as you can out of it. i know it probably hurts like hell but thats how i got rid of mine

Yes, you were lucky. Squeezing a pimple generally causes it to rupture underneath the skin, spreading the infection further around under the skin, increasing the redness, swelling, and length of time the pimple will stick around. Thus, squeezing also tends to create scarring because of the wider path of destruction that you've caused under the skin.

I read something simmilar to this that Wynne wrote in another thread. The day I read that was the last day I touched a cyst on my face. I always wondered why the cyst got worse after you played with it or tried to squeeze it, and after Wynne said that the infection is pushed further into the skin, I just can't see why somebody would want to chance that. BUT it is tempting when you see a whitehead form, and you just want to get all the junk out. The only time I have popped a cyst was after icing it for a few days until it was completely non inflamed, but just a small bump with a little whitehead left over. I then prick with a (disinfected) pin and gently press the sides with two q tips. The pus and blood usually come out with LITTLE effort, and then shrink immedietly (I ice again after until the area is totally flat). I never try to pop if it takes more than a tiny amount of pressure. All that being said, I can't recommend anyone popping a cyst because I have no idea what state your cyst is in, I can only vouche for myself.

Cysts such, period. But one thing I always do, is ICE that baby with an ice cube wrapped in a thin towel (like a car wash towel). I believe it's better than doing nothing at all.

[finitosant]

I've been dealing with cystic pimples for a long time now, and of all the treatments i've tried, the best thing for me has been to apply salicylic acid cream on it (Clean & Clear) and then 10% Benzyl Peroxide on top. Somehow, the salicylic acid makes the BP much more effective and able to penetrate the thicker layers of a cyst. Be aware that this is a powerful treatment and may really irritate the surrounding skin if you spread it too much. This treatment basically dries the cyst to death in a few days at most. Sometimes it will shed skin until a whitehead is revealed, sometimes it just dries down to nothing. Hope this helps.