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This post is going to get into some what may qualify as medical squick, because there's a cyst on my sternum, between my breasts. I've had the thing slowly getting larger for something like 35 years, and it's just suddenly /decided/ to open up and release.
Like just this weekend.
Been years since I used the lj-cut technique so I reaserched. Now people can opt in to (or out of) reading medical goop and my thinking/ experiencing.
Today's Wednesday, and this past Saturday I noticed that this walnut sized cyst of mine had gotten soft, tender at the bottom, and dark red in that spot that was soft. I photographed it at that point, so that I would have something to show the doctor if it turned out that I needed to.
Late Saturday, if I remember correctly, I performed the procedure that my massage therapist taught me for cysts. It's a quick push in at the boundary followed by a flick down and out across the margin of the boundary. You do it at the cardinal points of the cyst, and then I did it again at the points in between those four. And then I went to sleep.
Sunday it was even softer, and because of the placement of the mirrors in the house, I asked Jeff to take another picture. The reason why this post is behind an LJ cut is that he made a face when I made him look at it? And when I asked him does it look like it has a head on it he said yes.
So this walnut sized cyst between my breasts, that I've been dealing with off and on since I was around 15 when it was tiny like a single pore!
It opens spontaneously mid-afternoon Sunday. Lots of goop that just CAME OUT. I think I just stretched the skin over the top of it from either side and it just went doink. Suddenly and without pain or TRYING, a pus like substance is piled, between my breasts, of an amount similar to the biggest and most memorable pimples I've ever had.
Sunday afternoon was so weird.
Because the thing is, it just kept going. I was using a warm compress and wiping something like every couple of minutes? And it just. Kept. Going. Thirty years of goop, my friends. Hard to wrap my head around this. This thing that I've fussed and felt self conscious about is just... Draining. I feel that I'm surprisingly calm, all things considered.
Yes I'm a skin picker. Yes I did fuss with the outside edges of the lump from time to time to see if more would come out. And it did. I've got four or five washcloths in the laundry for the towel load because there was so much stuff.
I put a bandaid over it Sunday evening, with A&D ointment on it to keep it soft and hopefully productive, and though it was tender and achy, (I assumed from poking at it!) I slept okay.
All day Monday after my workout I was basically milking the little weirdo. Sometimes a little pressure made a bunch of stuff POP. Mostly it was just enough stuff to notice.
Research told me that the stuff is keratin, sebum and skin flakes. Smells a bit like poop 💩 to be honest, but it always has.
I passed up on a walk with Jeff and Gem because I had a sports bra on and a damp warm washcloth tucked in to keep the pore soft. Figured that all things considered I didn't want it to dry out before I could encourage it to give up all the goop.
Repeated A&D ointment and band-aid 🩹 to sleep Monday night. Tuesday morning the site of the cyst was red and tender, and the skin around it was itchy. I hit up the internet for "weeping cyst" because I thought I remembered that being a term.
Basically one warning I got was that as soon as it starts weeping you should contact your doctor, (TOO LATE) and they'll decide if for example, you should have it surgically removed (!!) But the same site iirc also said that Epstein's pearls, the tiny hard sebum crystals I scratch out of my skin on the regular, should only be removed by a doctor or medical esthetician. I therefore had a skeptical.
Yeah no, I'm practically a professional skin picker at this point, at least on myself. So while I did write my dermatologist, with photos, my big change was to wash my chest thoroughly, put antibiotic ointment on the bandaid, and Quit Fussing It with bare fingers.
Which yeah I should have known better than that or particularly have DONE better than that, but I corrected myself.
And today it was pink instead of starting to be angry red. The chafed look above and below is clearly from the band-aid adhesive being repeatedly peeled off that tender skin, not from infection.
Score one more for knowledge gained after self-treating cat bites. (After I called animal control that one time about should I be worried that my cat bit me and the finger got infected, I got VERY invested in taking care of my own infections, because the thought of having them put her down is unbearable. She's also mostly sweeter than she was for awhile there and rarely takes an angry chomp anymore.) 🐈
Today it's mostly flat, with a kind of structure or pad beneath the skin, which is obviously the skin of the cyst. Still haven't heard anything from the dermatologist, and the cyst is reduced by more than half, I would estimate. I'm allowing myself to fuss at it/milk it with clean hands and a tissues, three times a day. On waking up, some point midday, and when I put a fresh dose of neosporin and fresh band-aid before bed.
I'll post this and then go check for a response from the dermatologist. If I don't have one by 4pm, I'll copy-paste the letter to my GP, along with photos and an update, and see where we go from there.
Witchily speaking (and I can only do otherwise with great effort), it's SUPER INTERESTING to me that this ancient wound/defect/holding on to old stuff is releasing so dramatically in the half week before the Dark Moon, 🌒🌑🌘. This is the phase of releasing and letting go of what we don't need and what no longer serves us, and there's a lot of emotional business cropping up lately which is clearly old scripts and tapes playing.
Time to chuck ALL THAT SHIT. 💩🗑️😂
Like just this weekend.
Been years since I used the lj-cut technique so I reaserched. Now people can opt in to (or out of) reading medical goop and my thinking/ experiencing.
Today's Wednesday, and this past Saturday I noticed that this walnut sized cyst of mine had gotten soft, tender at the bottom, and dark red in that spot that was soft. I photographed it at that point, so that I would have something to show the doctor if it turned out that I needed to.
Late Saturday, if I remember correctly, I performed the procedure that my massage therapist taught me for cysts. It's a quick push in at the boundary followed by a flick down and out across the margin of the boundary. You do it at the cardinal points of the cyst, and then I did it again at the points in between those four. And then I went to sleep.
Sunday it was even softer, and because of the placement of the mirrors in the house, I asked Jeff to take another picture. The reason why this post is behind an LJ cut is that he made a face when I made him look at it? And when I asked him does it look like it has a head on it he said yes.
So this walnut sized cyst between my breasts, that I've been dealing with off and on since I was around 15 when it was tiny like a single pore!
It opens spontaneously mid-afternoon Sunday. Lots of goop that just CAME OUT. I think I just stretched the skin over the top of it from either side and it just went doink. Suddenly and without pain or TRYING, a pus like substance is piled, between my breasts, of an amount similar to the biggest and most memorable pimples I've ever had.
Sunday afternoon was so weird.
Because the thing is, it just kept going. I was using a warm compress and wiping something like every couple of minutes? And it just. Kept. Going. Thirty years of goop, my friends. Hard to wrap my head around this. This thing that I've fussed and felt self conscious about is just... Draining. I feel that I'm surprisingly calm, all things considered.
Yes I'm a skin picker. Yes I did fuss with the outside edges of the lump from time to time to see if more would come out. And it did. I've got four or five washcloths in the laundry for the towel load because there was so much stuff.
I put a bandaid over it Sunday evening, with A&D ointment on it to keep it soft and hopefully productive, and though it was tender and achy, (I assumed from poking at it!) I slept okay.
All day Monday after my workout I was basically milking the little weirdo. Sometimes a little pressure made a bunch of stuff POP. Mostly it was just enough stuff to notice.
Research told me that the stuff is keratin, sebum and skin flakes. Smells a bit like poop 💩 to be honest, but it always has.
I passed up on a walk with Jeff and Gem because I had a sports bra on and a damp warm washcloth tucked in to keep the pore soft. Figured that all things considered I didn't want it to dry out before I could encourage it to give up all the goop.
Repeated A&D ointment and band-aid 🩹 to sleep Monday night. Tuesday morning the site of the cyst was red and tender, and the skin around it was itchy. I hit up the internet for "weeping cyst" because I thought I remembered that being a term.
Basically one warning I got was that as soon as it starts weeping you should contact your doctor, (TOO LATE) and they'll decide if for example, you should have it surgically removed (!!) But the same site iirc also said that Epstein's pearls, the tiny hard sebum crystals I scratch out of my skin on the regular, should only be removed by a doctor or medical esthetician. I therefore had a skeptical.
Yeah no, I'm practically a professional skin picker at this point, at least on myself. So while I did write my dermatologist, with photos, my big change was to wash my chest thoroughly, put antibiotic ointment on the bandaid, and Quit Fussing It with bare fingers.
Which yeah I should have known better than that or particularly have DONE better than that, but I corrected myself.
And today it was pink instead of starting to be angry red. The chafed look above and below is clearly from the band-aid adhesive being repeatedly peeled off that tender skin, not from infection.
Score one more for knowledge gained after self-treating cat bites. (After I called animal control that one time about should I be worried that my cat bit me and the finger got infected, I got VERY invested in taking care of my own infections, because the thought of having them put her down is unbearable. She's also mostly sweeter than she was for awhile there and rarely takes an angry chomp anymore.) 🐈
Today it's mostly flat, with a kind of structure or pad beneath the skin, which is obviously the skin of the cyst. Still haven't heard anything from the dermatologist, and the cyst is reduced by more than half, I would estimate. I'm allowing myself to fuss at it/milk it with clean hands and a tissues, three times a day. On waking up, some point midday, and when I put a fresh dose of neosporin and fresh band-aid before bed.
I'll post this and then go check for a response from the dermatologist. If I don't have one by 4pm, I'll copy-paste the letter to my GP, along with photos and an update, and see where we go from there.
Witchily speaking (and I can only do otherwise with great effort), it's SUPER INTERESTING to me that this ancient wound/defect/holding on to old stuff is releasing so dramatically in the half week before the Dark Moon, 🌒🌑🌘. This is the phase of releasing and letting go of what we don't need and what no longer serves us, and there's a lot of emotional business cropping up lately which is clearly old scripts and tapes playing.
Time to chuck ALL THAT SHIT. 💩🗑️😂
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Since age 15, wow, that's a WHILE. I hope it heals up smoothly. It'll probably be rather a nice change to just... not have it there.
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Well this getting older thing is a little bit bogus but it's definitely still better than the alternative!
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Bit gross, more than a bit inconvenient, but part of the body's natural processes. :Shrug:
Thank goodness this doesn't hurt but like a 1 on the pain scale.
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Which is to say bodies that are weird and interesting, and I think we should talk about what happens with them more, for general sharing and knowledge! So thanks for that :)
Also, it must be SO SATISFYING to have something that you've fussed and felt self conscious about for so long just.... drain away.
Only forward :)
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And it IS satisfying. Today I had a fresh hydrocolloid bandage on, and it collected a little stuff overnight.
Had my workout for an hour and now WHOA LOTS OF STUFF IN THAT BANDAGE.
The texture on these bandages is squishy and surprisingly flesh like to begin with, so the feedback on Collecting Stuff is really direct, both tactile and visual.
I need a shower, photograph of the progress under that bandage, and fresh bandage. SCIENCE!