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Daisy (Jacksonville, Florida, U.s.a) on 09/12/2011
5 out of 5 stars

I have a small cyst on my face that I have been ignoring for at least a year, but then got hard and started to be annoying. I have no insurance right now, and money is VERY tight, so laying out hundreds of dollars to have it cut out is not an option right now. I've tried a number of things -- iodine, tiger balm, campho-phenique, coconut oil -- but the only thing that even remotely began to be of assistance was holding a hot compress to it for 10-20 minutes twice a day. After a couple of days, it softened it up to the extent that I could get some of the gack out, but only with *tremendous* pressure, and not enough came out to make a significant difference anyway. Repeated efforts didn't do much; it's like whatever got hard in there stayed hard and the heat only got to a small part of it, no matter how often or for how long I applied the hot compress. (I think this is because I ignored it and let it get old and hard, instead of dealing with it when I first got it. ) I didn't want to break the skin over it or get it infected, so I stopped mashing on it and kept looking for something else.

I saw the posts here on EC about castor oil, and after googling for more info I saw where it had worked for other people with stubborn sebaceous cysts, so I got some castor oil and put it on under a band-aid before going to sleep. Already, just after the first application, it's drawing the cyst up and out and softening whatever's in there: it never hurt before, but it did a little after putting the castor oil on, kind of like a tiny bruise, and then when I woke up and took off the band-aid, a bunch of nasty-looking stuff came out with almost no pressure. It's not gone at all, but it's flatter and the castor oil is definitely working to break it up. Many thanks to Abigail from Lawrence, Kansas for taking the time to describe exactly what she did, because that's what I'm doing and it's already working after so much else has failed.

Thanks, EC!

REPLY   16      

Replied By Daisy (Jacksonville, Florida, U.s.a) on 09/16/2011

Update to my last post: you can go ahead and call it a cure! I have been applying a bit of gauze saturated with castor oil to the cyst morning and night, and every time I change the bandage I try to express whatever's in there. Over the last several days, slowly but surely, most of it has come out (there was even a hair buried in there! ?! ) and now whatever comes out is mostly clear.

One thing that became obvious is that it was a lot deeper and more substantial than I gave it credit for. I think it must have had a few loculations too, because when I'd try to express it I'd change the direction of my fingers, and then feel a little pop and get more stuff out. It was a nasty and complex cyst.

I'm going to keep going with it for the next few days, but the area is already flattened out and just about gone altogether, which is what I was hoping for. Will it come back because I didn't get the sac? No idea, but today I'm thrilled that I no longer have the pea-sized lump on my cheek!

Thanks, EC!

REPLY   13