My Bump, My Little Belly Lump
October 16, 2016 2:49 PM
So this is a little icky, but I had a gallbladder removal about 10 years ago, and about 5 years ago, a small lump developed over the scar. I looked that up online, and it appears to be a regular thing, no big deal, so I got used to it. It would occasionally hurt, but mostly, it was just there, a fatty, roly-poly thing. But two nights ago...
...it...burst. Not painfully but quite spectacularly in terms of distance, and what came out was white and not-great-smelling, but not horrifically foul. It's all apparently gone now, and there is no bump there at all. There's a small amount of redness, but nothing terrible, and I've kept it clean and dry.
So....what was that? A cyst of some kind? Was there an infection just laying under my skin for 5 full years without changing in size or anything? If it was just watery goop, will it come back? Googling gives me a billion answers and some not-so-pleasant photos.
...it...burst. Not painfully but quite spectacularly in terms of distance, and what came out was white and not-great-smelling, but not horrifically foul. It's all apparently gone now, and there is no bump there at all. There's a small amount of redness, but nothing terrible, and I've kept it clean and dry.
So....what was that? A cyst of some kind? Was there an infection just laying under my skin for 5 full years without changing in size or anything? If it was just watery goop, will it come back? Googling gives me a billion answers and some not-so-pleasant photos.
This sounds like what I had on my elbow once, a 3/8" kinda skin-colored mole. It was right on the point where I leaned on my elbow in my office chair, which I do for several hours each day. Everybody said it was a keloid, which is a scar-tissue-going-a-little-nuts thing that tends to form near scars but doesn't have to.
Anywho, it was there for years, probably more than 5, before one day it kinda started popping inside, a little whitish-style pus here and there over a couple of days, then it was gone leaving zero trace. Shrug!
On preview, it was definitely not a sebaceous cyst, which I remember looking into, so if it's explained by that page it would have had to have been epidermoid. That name sounds kinda catchall, though.
posted by rhizome at 3:22 PM on October 16, 2016
Anywho, it was there for years, probably more than 5, before one day it kinda started popping inside, a little whitish-style pus here and there over a couple of days, then it was gone leaving zero trace. Shrug!
On preview, it was definitely not a sebaceous cyst, which I remember looking into, so if it's explained by that page it would have had to have been epidermoid. That name sounds kinda catchall, though.
posted by rhizome at 3:22 PM on October 16, 2016
It might also be a pilar cyst, which I couldn't drill down on the definition of because people do so very much love their cyst-popping youtube videos and I...don't.
My takeaway here is that you should have filmed it, whatever it was.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:42 PM on October 16, 2016
My takeaway here is that you should have filmed it, whatever it was.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:42 PM on October 16, 2016
Yes, it was likely a cyst of some kind. However, it may come back unless the "sack" of the cyst is removed. It basically creates a sack of tissue that fills with dead skin cells and if it's popped but the sack is left in place it can just fill back up again. You can see a GP or a Derm to have it checked. Long-term it's likely best to get it completely taken care of so it doesn't fill again and get irritated. (Most closed cysts don't get "infected" exactly, it's more that they get inflamed and start swelling to try to break down the cyst from the inside out, which can be very painful. However it could get infected if outside bacteria can make it's way inside a wound.)
To remove the sack it's likely just a small incision (with numbing) removing the cyst, and stitching it back up to heal.
I am not a doctor - though I've had enough medical problems to learn a ton about health. And I obsessively watch Dr Pimple Popper and her videos are very educational. I can post a link to a less gross video of her's but it's pretty straightforward.
posted by Crystalinne at 6:11 PM on October 16, 2016
To remove the sack it's likely just a small incision (with numbing) removing the cyst, and stitching it back up to heal.
I am not a doctor - though I've had enough medical problems to learn a ton about health. And I obsessively watch Dr Pimple Popper and her videos are very educational. I can post a link to a less gross video of her's but it's pretty straightforward.
posted by Crystalinne at 6:11 PM on October 16, 2016
You may consider touching base with the surgeon's practice and check in with one of the surgeon's nurses regarding what (if anything) there is to do about what sounds like a cyst of some sort related to the wound closure.
posted by scalespace at 8:19 PM on October 16, 2016
posted by scalespace at 8:19 PM on October 16, 2016
I had an extra stone that apparently was left behind and traveled the way of the laproscope ports. A few months later my bellybutton scar opened, fluid drained for a few days and then the rogue gall stone appeared. Dr. said sometimes it happens if your body doesn't reabsorb them. You may have had some gall sand/stones that did the same.
posted by PJMoore at 11:26 AM on October 17, 2016
posted by PJMoore at 11:26 AM on October 17, 2016
Crystalline's experience aligns with my own. If it's possible for you to see a doctor without any great hardship, I think it's probably a good idea for the reasons they mention.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:45 AM on October 17, 2016
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:45 AM on October 17, 2016
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posted by jessamyn at 3:17 PM on October 16, 2016