At-Home Cyst Removal: Isn't This a Bad Idea?

[smiling_bandit]

I’ve actually had some trouble finding doctors capable of doing the job right themselves! They can handle the actual mechanical portion, but for some reason the people who handle genitalia, cuts, wounds, nasty diseases, etc have a problem with dealing with cysts. And one office has a policy of never excising anything like that without a full biopsy workup. Which is… rather wasteful.

[Beware_of_Doug]

@Serenata67

I have a pilonidal cyst and I had it drained at home a few times… however, it was by my mother, who is a rather successful doctor and very educated woman. Ever since we moved apart, I have trained medical professionals drain it in their office. Wouldn’t do it at home at all.

Sheee-yit no. Ouchy-bleedy slow-cooked dermal detritus all over the damn place? I had one myself at age 20; it was a helluva job just keeping myself in clean shorts until I had that puppy excised.

[Colibri]

@nyctea scandiaca

Let’s take this example of “DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME” home doctoring, and talk about how this type of “do-it-yourself” medical care might be increasing as more people are uninsured. If you had the choice between trying to drain a troublesome cyst yourself for $0 and being able to pay your rent and buy food this month, OR going to an ER and being charged $2,000 (probably a conservative estimate) and therefore not being able to afford your rent, people will likely take this gamble. But in the case it does get infected, then they’ll go to the ER and it will perhaps end up costing the “system” even more. But this is the risk people will take.

But let’s face it, how many times have one of us taken care of a relatively minor medical issue at home, that probably would have been better to see a doctor, but that turned out OK in the end, and save us thousands of dollars that we didn’t have?

Let’s be honest, how much would something like this cost someone if they had no insurance and were paying out of pocket? I’m willing to bet at least $1,000 or more. For someone who is low-wage or unemployed, that might as well be $10 million. It’s just not affordable. So you’re going to see people who have no access to health care doing it themselves - just like when women had no access to legal abortion, there were plenty of do-it-yourself abortions, some which turned out badly (even resulting in death) but many that turned out fine. People were willing to take that gamble.

My point is that NO ONE in America should ever have to consider making that gamble!! That is a good illustration of why health care should be accessible to everyone. This is a prime example.

[Moderator Note]

My point is that this is GQ, and political commentary of this kind is inappropriate here. If you want to comment on health insurance issues, do so in GD or IMHO. No warning issued, but don’t do this again.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

[Serenata67]

@Beware_of_Doug

Sheee-yit no. Ouchy-bleedy slow-cooked dermal detritus all over the damn place? I had one myself at age 20; it was a helluva job just keeping myself in clean shorts until I had that puppy excised.

I was a college student without insurance when that happened (I know where the no-insurance people are coming from), so she did it. It hasn’t been severe enough or recurred often enough for me to have it removed. I take care of it and keep it clean.

[Jackmannii]

Messing with an abscess is a recipe for disaster, or at least a worsened problem that will require more complicated and expensive medical care in the end.

In the case of “sebaceous cysts” (more properly termed epidermal inclusion cysts), incompletely removing one, or traumatizing it through repeated scratching and popping it, can cause the contents to leak into surrounding tissues, resulting in an inflammatory reaction, scarring and a hard lump that will look even more unattractive.

Jackmannii, M.D. (Medical Doper)

[CandidGamera]

When it comes to things like this I am… well, irrational. I too-commonly self-treat for minor skin problems (including skin tags and cysts) and in my experience, the doctor always does a better job.

… but the embarrassment, expense, and inconvenience still sometimes causes me to grab a sterilized implement, ready to cut into my own flesh for relief.

And that’s about as close to TMI as I’m going to go.

[Chief_Pedant]

The video shows an amateurish incision and drainage of a small infected sebaceous cyst over the right shoulder. This is a relatively safe procedure. Infection is not much of a concern–it’s already infected. Opening the infected closed tissue space to the outside is beneficial. The thing that keeps the infection growing is the fact that it’s a closed space.

Even though it’s obviously being done by incompetent hands, this is a pretty ordinary infection and is probably better off drained than left closed.

Proper medical care of this would be better skin preparation to avoid introducing new contaminants, better incision–the x-shape is not necessary–and removal of the cyst wall, if there is one (and there is) to prevent reaccumulation. If there is evidence of direct invasion into the surrounding soft tissues, antibiotics might be prescribed. They are not necessary for the localized infection.

Such wounds are left open, sometimes with a small drain in place to make sure they heal from the inside out. Allowing the skin to close will create a new cavity and possibly a new closed space infection all over again.

Despite the amateurish care here, overall it is preferable for this to be opened and drained–even in amateur hands–than left closed until the pus finds a way out on its own.

Note that many sebaceous cysts are not infected. Opening of those by amateurs is worse than leaving them alone. But in general, any subcutaneous abscess is better off drained that not. As QtM mentions, sharp opening in amateur hands can damage associated structures.

[Markxxx]

I don’t have insurance and I have a ganglion cyst on my index finger. It’s really small and they wanted $600 just for the anesthetic, not even to mention what they’d charge for removal of the cyst.

I’ll just keep cutting it off with a nail clipper till the time, if ever, I get insurance.

I’m sure if I could nail clipper the whole cyst it’d stop growing back.

[Claire_Beauchamp]

@Markxxx

I don’t have insurance and I have a ganglion cyst on my index finger. … I’ll just keep cutting it off with a nail clipper till the time, if ever, I get insurance.

Ganglion cysts do not appear on the outside of the hand, they are inside, on the joint or tendon covering. You can’t slice them off, they are under the skin.

Ganglion Cyst Basics

[jaketheweight]

I was actually told to do something like this to a cyst I had by a urologist. Here’s the back story I live in an area of about 35 - 45 thousand people, there is 1 urologist and he has only 1surgery day a week at the hospital. He told me this is not a serious matter and I cannont waste my one surgery day on it I have to deal with cancers and other serious matters. I said I don’t want this big ass sebaceous cyst on my leg. He said you can try to pop it and drain it at home if you life then he got up and left.

[CandidGamera]

@jaketheweight

I was actually told to do something like this to a cyst I had by a urologist. Here’s the back story I live in an area of about 35 - 45 thousand people, there is 1 urologist and he has only 1surgery day a week at the hospital. He told me this is not a serious matter and I cannont waste my one surgery day on it I have to deal with cancers and other serious matters. I said I don’t want this big ass sebaceous cyst on my leg. He said you can try to pop it and drain it at home if you life then he got up and left.

Find a dermatologist.