Odd cyst/abscess/something

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A little background: 24 years old, male, non-smoker, non-drinker, fairly active, healthy eater.

I noticed a lump right below my skin on top of my jawline, maybe 1.5" from the chin midline. The odd thing about it was it wasn't perfectly round, more of a long, almost ovoid shape. It was firm, but not hard, and well defined. It was not fixed and seemed movable, although it might have been fixed to the upper layer of skin, it was hard to tell. It definitely was not attached to any underlying tissue. This was discovered about a week and a half ago on a skiing trip.

My mother is an RN and immediately said it was a cyst. My primary doctor said it was an odd shape to be a cyst, but was definitely not a gland.

At times there was some slight redness over it, but I don't know if that can be attested to constant probing or inflammation.

3 days ago, I decided to squeeze it gently to see what happened. I noticed what seemed like a dark pore at the bottom half of it. Clear liquid came out (I'm assuming pus) and then the strangest thing happened. 5-7 detached facial hairs (but perfectly bunched together) popped out of the pore onto my finger. It was strange and shocking. A little more pus came out too.

Since then, it has become softer, smaller, but has still held its shape and has not disappeared.

I wanted to post here to get insight as to what this is, and what I should do about it. Will I have to have it removed completely or just drained? Are there any methods at home I can try to get rid of it?

Thanks for your help!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Your best bet is to do nothing.  The fact that you got hairs out shows that you're dealing with a blocked follicle plus ingrown hairs, which you have now extracted.  The more you mess and probe with it, that just makes it last longer.  If you leave it alone long enough, it will go away.  Show it to a doctor if you're still concerned.  But no squeezing!

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[Nat545]

A related discussion, Hard spot in face was started.