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I have a lump!
moocow
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Medical problem, not the least gross thing ever!
So there's this lump on my back. I noticed it...at least 6 months ago, maybe longer. It was small at first, and didn't hurt.
A few weeks ago, it started aching if I lean against the couch or a chair wrong. It aches when I poke it. Now I can feel it ache depending on how I move my arms. It seems larger than I remember it being. This seems worrisome.
It's soft, but not malleable. It's not secured to something under the skin, I can wiggle the skin around and the lump moves with it. There's also a smell. When I touch the lump, it makes my fingers briefly smell like toe jam. Gross, right? And that's not a hygiene issue, I tested by touching other parts of my back, and no other areas make my fingers stink!
I'm going to the doctor on Tuesday to make an appointment (busy on Monday). I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar, or knows what it might be. I'm hoping it's a cyst or something (relatively) harmless, rather than a tumor or something shitty.
So there's this lump on my back. I noticed it...at least 6 months ago, maybe longer. It was small at first, and didn't hurt.
A few weeks ago, it started aching if I lean against the couch or a chair wrong. It aches when I poke it. Now I can feel it ache depending on how I move my arms. It seems larger than I remember it being. This seems worrisome.
It's soft, but not malleable. It's not secured to something under the skin, I can wiggle the skin around and the lump moves with it. There's also a smell. When I touch the lump, it makes my fingers briefly smell like toe jam. Gross, right? And that's not a hygiene issue, I tested by touching other parts of my back, and no other areas make my fingers stink!
I'm going to the doctor on Tuesday to make an appointment (busy on Monday). I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar, or knows what it might be. I'm hoping it's a cyst or something (relatively) harmless, rather than a tumor or something shitty.
PS4:MrZoompants
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But no more masturbation until I rule out the migratory testicle theory.
PS4:MrZoompants
I realize it's on your back, but either get someone else to describe it to you or use a pair of mirrors to get a look at it.
I've got my money on cyst. They happen.
Don't do this.
There's absolutely no good reason to pop something like this.
A medical professional may, depending on the actual condition, lance it or drain it.
But you should never ever do it yourself at home.
I can squeeze it and stuff, it's pretty deep and doesn't pop. If it did, I'd be bleeding fucking everywhere. It would not be good times, I'm thinking.
My brother had something similar on his arm (middle of his tricep), and it turned out to be a cyst.
He had the fabulous idea of home surgery. Drank a bunch of vodka, then poured some vodka on his arm to sterilize it, then started to cut it with a hobby knife. He stopped right after he broke the skin, apparently not having drunk enough for it to be good anesthetic for DIY surgery. I told him it was a terrible idea beforehand, but I guess he had to learn for himself.
PS4:MrZoompants
A girl
Yes.
An old friend of mine had one on his back too.... and it smelled as well. I know this because he would constantly touch it and say "the cyst on my back smells." and then prompt me to smell his fingers.
He's no longer my friend.
Either way, if it hurts, get it drained.
Check out my art! Buy some prints!
I've had a few ingrown hairs before, and for a twenty-fucking-seven year old, I've had (more than my fair share of) zits, including on my back and shoulders, and this doesn't seem anything like those.
Zits that get even 1/5th this large tend to hurt more when manipulated, and the complete lack of discoloration seems to work against the ingrown hair thing, too. It's also not totally anchored to my top layers of skin like a zit/ingrown hair would be.
Oh yeah, size: It's about as wide as my pointer and middle finger, so like...an inch and a half or something?
PS4:MrZoompants
Definitely going to the doctor's on Tuesday, was just wondering if anyone had some good idea of what it was from my vague description.
PS4:MrZoompants
2 girls 1 cyst.
(warning graphic and noisy film)
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
If some greasy pus like substance comes out, then it's probably a sebaceous cyst.
Sebum is the wax produced in hair follicles that greases your hair. If it gets blocked, it can create something similar to a pimple.
you know you're not supposed to pop your zits right
It's unrealistic to be expected to never pop anything though. There comes a time when it's ready to be popped.
Edit, actually, if it smells it's probably a cyst.
Seriously though go to a doctor.
Itinerant Posterior Halflings
you may have The Fellowship
this is important, do you have any Mt. Dooms located on your body?
Pony speaks the truth. I nearly died around this time last year because I popped a cyst/abscess/whatever the fuck it was on my leg. It would have worked fine if it had popped OUT of the skin, but instead it popped INTO my leg and I ended up with sepsis. They had me in trauma at the emergency room and I spent two days in ICU.
Go to a doctor and have it looked at. The fun of popping it does not outweight the risk of nearly dying and spending a week in the hospital.
EDIT: I just realized how stupid it would have been if I had died from that. I mean seriously.
"How did he die?"
"He popped a cyst/abscess/whatever the fuck it was on his leg and died of blood poisoning."
"Fuck, seriously? What a pussy."
The lesson here is that real men don't die of blood poisoning. Unless it is brought on by a gunshot wound or chainsaw accident or wrestling with a bear or something equally manly.
However after I stopped poking it, it stopped growing and now you really cant tell its there. I hear they can and will continue to grow though, and especially if its somewhere that will get irritated constantly like your back/spine. Should get it professsionally removed.
I would have had mine removed, however the doc informed me of the 'tiger strip zone' or whatever which the chest is a part of. Essentially any surgery no matter how minor on that area will scar pretty significantly unless I forked out the dosh for plastic surgery. After seeing it subside, I didn't bother. However I would have definately had it removed if it was on my back, the doc said he often removed ones from people who had left it too long and they had suffered significant posture problems because they had grown so large.
Yeah, I've got some of those too, as does real-life Tycho from the sound of some of his posts. Anything like that should be checked by a doc and/or dermatologist.
It's not necessary, strictly speaking, to have it treated unless it's infected (usually from poking at it) or painful. You said it's uncomfortable, so that might warrant it.
Edit: just in case the reader of this post is an idiot, I'm not really a doctor.
So, it was a sebaceous cyst (not a testicle or lipoma or angry leprechaun). The nurse made a shocked noise when she looked at it.
The doctor said they usually look pretty cool (the cyst itself, not the skin outside), but I looked at the pile of crud on the instrument table and it was just some gross pink stuff. He said they often pop right out if you squeeze them (after an incision is made), but mine was gigantic, and thus was held to my back by it's own gravitational pul or something.
He said he's pretty sure he got most of it out, and I asked if it came back, if they'd take care of it for free, and he said yes, but that I'd probably have to remind him that I got him to say that.
I got my first ever stitches. Three of them. The cyst was like 3-4 centimeters. He only charged me for a 1 cm cyst though, and didn't charge me for the clinical part of the visit (the diagnostic part). Still cost $271, but I'm glad he knocked all that stuff off. Telling doctors that you don't have insurance = yay discounts, in my experience.
I go back in 9 days to get the stitches out, and after that, he says I should be ok to do anything. Also, the lidocaine is starting to wear off now, and it stings like a bitch.
PS4:MrZoompants
Hope it works out and that's the end of it. I'm sure the doc gave you some instructions on keeping it clean, so be sure to follow them.
Also, the nurse was a babe. She also had to lean down low to get some stuff out of cabinets. :winky:
PS4:MrZoompants
Okay, that was damned funny.
Glad to hear you're feeling better, though. Here's to a swift recovery!