pimple-like growth - what is it?

[aragep]

My husband has had a small bump in the middle of his chest for years.  It has always had a green-ish look to it under the skin.  In the last week it has started to grow and is now approximately an inch in diameter and raised, red, and painful to the touch.  Thinking it was a simple pimple that had formed in that spot he tried to pop it but it didn't work.  We also tried to use a needle to relieve some of the pressure, to no avail.  Yesterday he tried again (despite my suggestion to leave it alone) to pop it.  Pimple-like pus came out of it, and then I looked closer and there appeared to be a hair in there.  I used some needle-nosed tweezers to pull out the hair, and there was not one, but at least 8 short hairs (about the length of eyelashes).  Every time he attempts to squeeze it more pus comes out, followed by more hairs to pull out.  It also has a very bad smell.  It appears to have decreased a bit in size, but is very painful (to the point that wearing a shirt is bothering him).

Any idea what this is or how to fix it?  After some research I thought it might be a sebaceous gland, and he tried a warm wash cloth on it which appears to have helped a bit and he said that it must have been leaking all night because he has dried material on his chest this morning.  I can't find anything that explains the small hairs inside of it.  We've pulled out at least 20 of them so far.

Any ideas?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

The painless lump that your husband is having seems like a sebaceous cyst. A sebaceous cyst is a closed sac occurring just under the skin which contains a "pasty" or "cheesy" looking substance called keratin.They may occur anywhere on body but scalp, ears,chest, back, face, and upper arm, are common sites for sebaceous cysts. Blocked sebaceous glands, swollen hair follicles and excessive testosterone production will cause such cysts.

Generally no treatment is required but they become painful then it means they are infected,Then surgical excision by traditional wide excision, minimal excision, and punch biopsy excision may be required.

I hope that helps. Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or in case you have additional queries. Kind regards.

[aragep]

the strange thing about this is that it didn't just gradually grow bigger.  On Sunday it was normal and on Monday it was the size of a dime, and by Wed it was the size of a quarter.  Now it's shrinking.  The many small hair inside it and the smell have me confused.

[EyeSoreOne]

Years ago I had an infected sebaceous gland in my genital area that I kept popping, thinking it was an ingrown hair...I wound up needed surgery to get it removed.  Tell your husband to stop messing around with it and go to the doctor...he might now need antibiotics if its infected.  The worse thing you can do for a growth is pop it or pick it.  I did this to a growth on my face thinking it would go away if I popped it, and it was growing too..like your husbands.  It would up being skin cancer, which was recently removed.