cyst-like hard bump - Skin Problems Message Board

leopolda · 09-28-2003, 04:57 PM

Hello. I am hoping someone can help me figure out what to do. I have a cyst-like hard bump under the skin, just to the right of the inner part of my left eyebrow. It began about a year ago with a small pimple or something. I picked at it and it developed into a bigger pimple which eventually healed, but then created this lump...which I picked at (dug it out, actually) and it healed flat. But then within a few weeks, another lump slowly appeared. Long story short, I have dug this thing out about 7 or 8 times now, and it keeps coming back. You can't really see the bulge (though you can see the redness, but that's just from my picking). It doesn't hurt, though at times it itches. It absolutely drives me crazy. I am a compulsive skin picker and am triggered by lumps and bumps. So I have been really good about not messing with it for a few months now, but I need it to be gone (I also think it just keeps getting bigger, so although it's not so noticible now, that won't be true forever). So I am going to a doctor to have it treated. It isn't filled with fluid or puss--just knotty tissue. Also, I know this is gross, but when I have dug down in there, I can see a very small hole (like a pin) in the base of the skin, and if I press on it, small semi-firm pieces of ??? skin? collagen? peek out, as if there's a little subterranean factory down there producing this stuff. Sorry, I know that's gross. I also know how bad it is to pick so compulsively, and am addressing that. But it does mean that I can describe what's going on down there pretty well. Does anyone have any idea what this is? Or how best to treat it? Excision? But, won't it grow back? What about intralesional steroid injections? Please, any information is greatly appreciated.

--leo

leopolda · 09-29-2003, 12:08 AM

bump (so to speak)

please? any ideas?

Amber77 · 09-29-2003, 04:16 AM

Hi, don't know exactly for sure what it is but just an idea, it could be a keloid. A keloid forms when your skin is trying to heal. It produces the collagen to heal itself but it keeps producing it too fast so that scar tissue starts growing out of the skin therefore producing a lumpy bit of scar tissue. It usually doesn't hurt say unless it is knocked but they are prone to itch and usually they don't go away.

Did you go to the doctor? Maybe he or she can confirm what it is but I have keloids on my shoulders which I got from acne and it just sounds very similar to what a keloid is, especially if it hasn't gone away by now. Hope you find out.

Oh, I think if you got it cut out it would probably grow back.

leopolda · 09-30-2003, 05:09 PM

Thanks. I don't think it's a keloid because it's not growing outside the limits of the scar. Also, from the pics I've seen of keloids, they look like the growth is on the top of the skin, but I think my growth originates much lower in the skin, and is pushing all of the already-scarred tissue that has healed on top of it, upward. Maybe hypertrophic? I believe these are easier to correct than keloids, no? Are there such things as cysts with solid centers (as opposed to pus?)

thanks

-leo

Amber77 · 10-02-2003, 03:53 AM

Hey Leo,

I glad that you don't think it's a keloid cause they suck! You know, it could be a really stubborn cyst, just wait a while longer and see what happens. If it's hypertrophic, yes it is better than a keloid, they are easier to get rid of. Good Luck!

Amber