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Infected Preauricular pit (please help)

My Preauricular pit is now infected much like the picture that I attached. This is the second time that it has got infected and I am now 16 years old. My doctor had prescribed antibiotics to me and now i'm finish with it. In about a week I will have to go to an ENT doctor to see if I need to have it removed by surgery or not and my family really doesn't want me to undergo the surgery because of the high failure rates. Now my mom want to sterilize a needle and try to bust it. She said she did it the first time when it got infected, but thats when I was a very little girl. I just wanted to know if it is safe or not to have my mom do it. Also please if you have bust it yourself please let me know how it turned out.
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Avatar universal
My daughter had it on the both side, and the left side, i think it's already infected, i am very much worried to brimg her to the doctor because of possible financial obligation, i dont know how much it cost, for the surgery
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Please my daughter preauricular sinus  got infected for over two years now and has keeps on reoccurring over and over again. what can I do, I am not confident on the surgery recommendation.
Avatar universal
I am experiencing Preauricular Pit in My right ear i  feel itching and and i squeeze every time i feel itching then something like wax or cream come out  after that a feel some inflammation a year ago i visited an Ent he told me to under go a surgery but i hesitated from his experience as I never take an antibiotics for my Preauricular Pit  so do yo see to take  antibiotics  since i have no bump and pain thanks
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Avatar universal
I am experiencing the same problem now. My right ear with Preauricular Pit was swollen started 3 Days ago. It hurts a lot and very painful. I've tried to squeeze it so that the fluid inside will go out. It makes me feel better but it will not longer. Ive tried to take antibiotics and anti-inflammatory but i guess it doesn't work. Please give me an advice to this matter.


Thanks Guys..

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Avatar universal
Hellow i am really worried about my preauricular pits cause its infected for the second time, and i am cleaning it with contton buds tinted with alcohol for me to disinfect it in some sort because pus is still going out on it and even at the back part of it... I am just really afraid and it is painful... I am affraid..
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Avatar universal
Hellow i am really worried about my preauricular pits cause its infected for the second time, and i am cleaning it with contton buds tinted with alcohol for me to disinfect it in some sort because pus is still going out on it and even at the back part of it... I am just really afraid and it is painful... I am affraid..
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Avatar universal
Hi,

Have you had your surgery done? I'm looking for a good ENT surgeon for my daughter. Could you please recommend one?
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Avatar universal
I had pits on both ears and had surgery on my left one when I was a child (maybe 5 years old?) after it became infected. The tract was removed and all I have is a tiny scar hidden just past the hairline so it's not visible. I have not have not had any problems with it since, perhaps because a very good job was done with it being removed so I suggest anyone planning on having it surgically removed should look for a surgeon who has experience in removing pits.
I still have problems with my right ear and have had one very unpleasant infection so far after a very muddy camping trip. It was very painful to touch so cleaning was an issue. However I placed a clean and warm towel on it to relieve some of the pain and gently massaged the pit with cotton wool soaked in a bit of rubbing alcohol (still hurt like mad but had to grin and bear it). I did this three times a day,each time getting a bit more pus out of it and each time hurting a bit less as the infection went away. I am now more careful and clean it every few days to mark sure that it doesn't get infected again.
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Avatar universal
I am 53 years old and my pit has been severely infected two times in my lifetime. At one point, I thought my mastoid bone was going to get infected.  The spot was so full that if I even touched behind my ear, pus would drain.  The right side of my face ached terribly, from the start of my ear, all along the top part of my jaw. Everything about the infection and drainage was different from what I normally experienced with my pit.  I know how I got the infection. I was working in an office at a metal fabrication plant, and handled a lot of dirty, greasy papers that came in from the shop. Both times, without thinking, I rubbed my ear.  The very next day it was infected.  Even the pus was different. Now it was a dark golden color, and reproduced in extraordinary amounts. I got in to see a doctor, (ENT) and he recommended NOT having surgery, it's very intense, and since at the time this was my first severe infection, he did not think the risk was worth it. I was 39 at the time.  He gave me Keflex AND a topical prescription antibiotic ointment, BACTROBAN.  I applied it with a Q-Tip 4 times a day, and after the second day, the pain was gone. I did gently mash on it to get the old pus out, but after a few days, it stopped too. I continued using both the antibiotic until it was all gone, and used the Bactroban for a total of 14 days. I have had one other infection since, and I told the new MD what to give me. Some doctors have never even seen one, which I thought was strange, I didn't think it was that rare. MAIN LESSON:  Don't ever touch your pit or scratch it, rub it with anything else, and always wash your hands thoroughly both before and after, and use a Kleenex, as to not touch it directly. Use a soft cotton pad (like to remove makeup, dampen it with WITCH HAZEL, and gently wipe to clean the area. I still do this every night. Don't use the same pad to wipe any other parts of your face after that, though. Hope all this helps.
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Avatar universal
My son is 10 and has had several minor operations (drainages) on his and two major operations on his all since October of 2013.  The whole tract was removed and healing well.  Now a new lump has formed that is draining the same nasty pus that was occupying the space before is back but there is no pit and no cyst according to the doctor.  He says that the skin has now formed some kind of superficial infection at the surgical site.  It was fine for 5 months and then out of no where it just filled back up.  
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Avatar universal
Can you please forward the name of this surgeon?
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Avatar universal
Hello,
I have pre-auricular pits in both of my ears, my two children have them as well in both ears. I have never had any serious problems, other than some minor drainage once in a while, which subsided after a few days.

My 6 and 8 year old daughters have pits in both ears, but they do not bother my 6 year old.

My 8 year old over the course of her life has had a few minor infections which ultimately went away without treatment. Last week, we took her to her doctor because this time it was not going away. If formed an abscess on the side of her face. The doctor placed her on Keflex, but this didn't seem to help the infection and the abscess got bigger, ultimately I brought her to the ER last night, and they drained some of the pus with a needle and syringe and prescribed Bactrim instead of the Keflex. The lump is still there and we have a follow up with a ENT on Wednesday.

My question is.. should I consider this surgery if this is the first time that it has been seriously infected or wait and see if this becomes a reoccurring issue?

Reading through posts, some people are pro-surgery and some are not. I do not want to subject her to this if it isn't absolutely necessary?

Thanks - Mindy  
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Avatar universal
My twin and I both (19 y.o.) have these on each ear and mine is infected. Reading these comments has made me nervous about my doctor's appointment in a couple of days. I really don't want to have a surgery or anything like that but I am skeptical of anything else helping. It's such a painful thing. My mom tried squeezing stuff out but it hurt so bad i told her to stop. It's to the point where the whole right side of my face is starting to hurt. Thanks though for your stories, I always wondered what it was, and WHY ME!!!
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Avatar universal
My pit is currently infected, a bump is starting to grow. The bump itself and around is feeling some pain, this is the third time it's been infected. The first time my mom took me to the hospital and they cut about 5 inches of my face open. They cleaned and everything went fine. Then the next year it got infected again, I didn't have to go to the hospital. My mom was always cleaning it an so it was fine. Now it's infected again, the pain is still fairly the same as previous infections so I'm kind of used to it by now. But I'm still scared though, I'm trying to pop the bump of pus thats growing, but it hurts. Any ideas or tips you can give me to help? Thanks so much. x
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Avatar universal
Hi , i am 18, i live in Sydney Australia, i had problems with preauricular sinuses too. i had 3 operations all three were unsuccessful, these things are a massive headache if not taken care of and treated the right ways. If the infections happen to come back again and keep coming back then i would advise you to take Keflex to stop the infections as soon as it starts the first little signs of infections (it helped me alot with stopping the infections). Recently on the 4th of December i had a successful operation done and it is now all cleared up. i advise if you are going to have a operation on this problem, then have it operated by a surgeon that has operated on these problems and make sure he has alot of experience. My last operation was operated by a professor in sinuses and i think that if you live in Australia and are willing to get rid of them problems then you should see this guy.
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1337001 tn?1276883841
Hi Christi,

Go to your doctor at the earliest, get it aspirated rather than incising and draining it. Take oral antibiotics (such as Augmentin) and pain relievers (such as Ibuprofen/ Diclofenac). Once the infection subsides get it excised.

Regards
OHNS2010
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1 Comments
hi do you also have that kind of infection? can you help me to get rid of these?
1363624 tn?1277812108
mine was recently infected and it was my second time as well. I was put on Augmentin for seven days. To help it soften up i would put a warm cloth on it at night or as often as possible. The thing is my first infection was when i was 16 and because i did not understand anything, the doctor perfomed an I&D which was a horrible experience. I do not ever want to go through it again hopefully so i explore other methods whichworked for me. after a few days the pus made its way out as it softened up. However you need to be carefull when draining it at home.

I totally know how you feel and i was happy to see that im not weird but there are peole with the same condition as me. Im better now and hoping that it wont get infected anytime soon. Its something we have to live with.

\i hope yours gets better.

Regards, B
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1061534 tn?1276702061
Draining this at home is not advised as the infection could spread/worsen.  You would likely need some oral antibiotics to help with this.  Complete excision is the only treatment to permanently take care of this.  Failure rates aside, there is really no other solution.
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1 Comments
Is it true that the failure rates are pretty high in this?
Avatar universal
It appears to be an abscess that certainly needs to be drained. A preauricular sinus may be infected repeatedly. In that situation it has to be excised once the acute infection has been adequately controlled. I don't agree about high failure rates if the job is done properly. Thanks.
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