Hi NJ mom! I've been getting those types of injections since September and have never had any major issues at all. If anything, they are like magic for reducing the size of cysts. Within 6-10 hours of getting it, the spot is generally flat. Within 2 days, all redness is gone (as long as I don't pick at it!) and it's totally clear. I wouldn't worry about it being a mistake at all.

1. My skin has only "dented" once, it was a spot on my chin that had an abnormally large inflamed cyst and she put a LOT of cortisone in there. After about a week, the skin kind of sunk in a little, but only a tiny spot where the injection had been. They call it "atrophy" and within another month all of the tissue had filled back in. It really wasn't a huge concern for me, it was hardly noticeable and was MUCH better than the big spot that had been there! But I understand your concern.

2. Yes, the spot should fill back in like normal, or at least mine did!

3. No, I don't think so

4. I would just leave it alone. The cortisone will help reduce the swelling and it will just take some time to heal. I've found that the less I mess with those spots, the better. The cortisone and your skin's natural reaction to the injection will take care of it.

I hope that helps! I really wouldn't be nervous, I've had this done a lot and it's actually very helpful.

A little bit of atrophy from a cortisone shot is more likely to heal than an acne scar, speaking from experience

Okay so I wanted to post a happy story to make people feel hopeful. I us to get cortisone shots for my acne cysts when I was suffering from acne. My doctor use to tell me to be very careful who you go to to get these shots because they can atrophy. I never had any problems when I got them done. At the time we didn't have internet and also later on I just never really understood the risks.

Well recently I went through a very traumatic experience and had a lot of stress and I am perimenopause so I started to break out in cysts again. I had two on my face not super bad but big enough that they were bothering me. I went to another dermatologist and asked him if he would inject them. I asked him about atrophy and he said well it can happen but its only happen once for him. I asked if how much do you use and do you dilute it with saline. He said he uses .1 cc and yes he dilutes it (I honestly dont believe it makes it safer if you do this-it can happen to any doctor). I went ahead and did it not really worried that anything would happen.

Well after a week the cyst went down but now it was atrophying. By the way I had it on my cheek where all can see. I started to freak out and went to my other derma who said why didn't you come to me? He started to do saline injections and it really didn't seem to be doing much. I was freaking out to the point I was obsessing about it, not eating and looking every where on the internet for into. This also freak me out because I was hearing so many horror stories and not many successes. I really wish I had realized how bad this can be because if I had I would have dealt with the darn cyst. Any way I just had my third saline shot. The night of the shot it looked good of course because it was filled up. The next day it looked even more indent then the day I had the saline shot! I really went over the edge then. The next day, which is today, I noticed it actually looked much better and right now it looks better then it has since it all happened. I feel very hopeful right now and after research I decided I would get it filled in even though it could still be healing. I decided I just cant wait for it to fill in but now I think I can wait if it stays like this. I have been massaging it with Vi-c and other collagen products. I will keep you posted but I really feel good about it right now and just imagine it filling up. No matter what I think fillers are the way to go. Just think if it takes from 1 month to a year to fill in you might as was well have it filled in so you can have a peace of mind. I will NEVER have a cortisone shot any where on my body!! It just isnt worth the risk!!

Hi,

Can you please update if your cortisone dent has filled in?

If so, did you continue saline injections? How many saline injections did you have? Any details are much appreciated...I am living this nightmare and am obsessing over it daily and am very depressed.

Thanks.

Okay so I wanted to post a happy story to make people feel hopeful. I us to get cortisone shots for my acne cysts when I was suffering from acne. My doctor use to tell me to be very careful who you go to to get these shots because they can atrophy. I never had any problems when I got them done. At the time we didn't have internet and also later on I just never really understood the risks.

Well recently I went through a very traumatic experience and had a lot of stress and I am perimenopause so I started to break out in cysts again. I had two on my face not super bad but big enough that they were bothering me. I went to another dermatologist and asked him if he would inject them. I asked him about atrophy and he said well it can happen but its only happen once for him. I asked if how much do you use and do you dilute it with saline. He said he uses .1 cc and yes he dilutes it (I honestly dont believe it makes it safer if you do this-it can happen to any doctor). I went ahead and did it not really worried that anything would happen.

Well after a week the cyst went down but now it was atrophying. By the way I had it on my cheek where all can see. I started to freak out and went to my other derma who said why didn't you come to me? He started to do saline injections and it really didn't seem to be doing much. I was freaking out to the point I was obsessing about it, not eating and looking every where on the internet for into. This also freak me out because I was hearing so many horror stories and not many successes. I really wish I had realized how bad this can be because if I had I would have dealt with the darn cyst. Any way I just had my third saline shot. The night of the shot it looked good of course because it was filled up. The next day it looked even more indent then the day I had the saline shot! I really went over the edge then. The next day, which is today, I noticed it actually looked much better and right now it looks better then it has since it all happened. I feel very hopeful right now and after research I decided I would get it filled in even though it could still be healing. I decided I just cant wait for it to fill in but now I think I can wait if it stays like this. I have been massaging it with Vi-c and other collagen products. I will keep you posted but I really feel good about it right now and just imagine it filling up. No matter what I think fillers are the way to go. Just think if it takes from 1 month to a year to fill in you might as was well have it filled in so you can have a peace of mind. I will NEVER have a cortisone shot any where on my body!! It just isnt worth the risk!!

Yes my dent filled in. I was the member shraddhaji that had the pink lotus flower picture. Had to resign in with a new name. Yes it went away and took about 4 months. Its now been 5 months and its gone completely. Would i do it again.... not sure. I was pretty freaked out because it was on my cheek and you could see it. I think if I had a cyst in a less conspicuous place I would do it or even ask if they could dilute the 1cc even more. I wouldn't discourage people from doing it because I have done it before and had no problems, but it can happen even if done by a skilled doctor. I do hate when people have bad experiences and then scare others and tell them not to do it because of their own experience. They act like it will defiantly happen and you will never heal. Maybe decide if the place where the cyst is, is in a place that if it did sink in you would be okay with it. Any ways yes they can heal but I would defiantly do the saline injects ASAP and do them every 5 to 7 days. When I first did the saline it would plump up and then seem to sink in deeper but in the end it really worked. Also squeezing it and getting blood in it really helped me. Just don't do it to hard or you can get a hickey looking red mark. Your going to be okay. Even if, which I don't think will happen, even if it does stay dented you can get it filled in so no matter what your going to be okay. REALLY!!

I had 3 saline injections.

Thank you so much for the encouragement. I will keep up with the saline and hope by the holidays I may see some improvement. After 1 saline, as you mentioned, almost seemed to be a bit deeper. But, I am only 1 month into this nightmare so I should probably at least try to stop freaking out. As you mention and as others have mentioned, this seems to be a problem that takes months to resolve, not weeks. I just hope I have resolution.

I am happy for you that this was not a permanent problem! Thank you again.

Just sharing my experiences.... I've had over 20 now and not one has left an indentation. Hope I haven't jinxed myself, but frankly, there's not any other good solution to deal with an actual cyst or nodule. Any dermatologist will tell you this who is worth his/her salt. Baking soda/aspirin or herbal supplements may help or even prevent, but once it's out... it's out and it will hang around for awhile. I don't know what I'd do without it. That said, there have been a few times where they will not give the injection, which is fine with me. It tells me they don't just inject anything because the patient thinks it's a cyst.