For the past 3 years or so I’ve had this small lump on my forehead, about 2 inches above my left eye. It doesn’t hurt, and it hasn’t really grown since I noticed it. I’ve had the doctor look at it and his diagnosis was that it was just a fatty deposit (“Lipoma” I think) and that it wouldn’t hurt to leave it alone, but I could have it removed if I want. I told him I needed to think about it.
So now I’m considering having it removed. Has anyone ever had this type of thing before? If so, did you have it surgically removed? How did they do it? Was it painful? Were you awake during the procedure? I’ve never had surgery on anything before and I’d like some advice on what to expect if I decided to go through with this.
May I respectfully suggest that you should ask the doctor who proposed the surgery these questions? That is what he or she is there for- to take care of your medical situation and explain exactly how the procedure will be done, what anestesia, etc.
Web advice is good, but there is no guarantee that your doctor will do your surgery the same way. I would ask your doc for the details.
Yes, and I plan on doing just that. It’s just I don’t like going in without as much information as possible before hand. Plus if there were any bad experiences that others had with it, I’d like to know about them so I can address them with my doctor.
My husband is prone to lipomas and gets them all the time. Periodically (every three years or so) he goes in to get the current bunch removed. In short, you’re given an injection of lidocaine to numb the area, there’s a quick incision you will not feel, and then the doc will pop the lipoma out (hate to make the comparison, but this is best described as popping a pimple.) A stitch or two to close the incision, and off you go. The doc will likely send the excised lipoma for a routine biopsy.
You don’t HAVE to have them removed – take a good look at Robert Redford. All those little bumpies on his face are lipomas. OTOH, my husband DOES have to have them removed because he gets them in his legs, which means they are prone to more pressure than a forehead. Several of them have been large enough that they’ve “dug” into the muscle beneath, and you can feel the divots where they were. This is very definitely a YMMV kind of thing. Ask your doctor what s/he suggests.
For the record, when my husband came home the first time and said “lipooma” to me, I heard “lymphoma” and damn near had a heart attack.
Well, yes. However, unless you’re prone to cheloid scarring, it’s no more disfiguring than any other small scar. You know, just a regular, run of the mill slice-shaped scar.