Help me identify a small cyst...

by pronomono 7 Replies latest watchtower medical

  • pronomono
    pronomono

    I'm having problems identifying a small cyst that I get every once in a great blue moon. I like to call it a lollipop cyst because it looks like a really small lollipop. So, it's basically a small cyst at the tip of a really small shaft (not my penis). Every time I Google for this, Google thinks the small shaft is my penis (once again, not my penis! lol). The stem is 1mm or less in diameter, symmetrical. The length is usually about the same as the diameter, maybe a tad bit longer. And the cyst is usually twice the diameter of the stem and symmetrically round. The entire thing is flesh colored and usually hurts from friction of being under my clothes. If I give it a week or two, it will eventually go away. I'm not sure if it is shrinking out of existence, or dying and falling off. It's like it magically appears and then disappears. I've never tried popping it, and I always treat it with rubbing alcohol.

    I've never had one pop up in the same place. I've had three that I know of over the course of two years. One on my chest popped up like a third nipple, and I've had two in two different locations of my thigh/leg. To my knowledge, my wife has never had one. I can't find a picture online and this one is in a particularly difficult place to get a picture on my lower inner thigh. It hasn't worried me enough to bother going to a doctor, but I'd still like to figure out what it is and do some reading on it. Anyone ever have something like this, or might be able to point me in the right direction? Thanks, all!

  • Splash
    Splash

    Is it a skin tag?


  • pronomono
    pronomono
    That looks about right! The shaft on mine is a little smaller, but looking at other images on Google, I think we have a winner. Thanks, Splash. Now I know what to research.
  • adjusted knowledge
    adjusted knowledge
    I see skin tags a lot on the elderly patients I take care of. They're rather common and harmless. We have a dermatologist that comes on site to remove them, but I think they can be freeze off like a wart.
  • FayeDunaway
    FayeDunaway
    You can also simply snip them off with scissors, especially if the base is thinner. A little bleeding will result but a band aid will fix that. Your rubbing alcohol is probably drying it out too. I've never had one but my young daughter gets them.
  • pronomono
    pronomono
    It's good to know it's not serious. I've thought about snipping it with disinfected toenail clippers. It's small enough I can get around it. But usually it doesn't bother me enough to the point that I can't wait for it to go away on it's own.
  • Nathan Natas
    Nathan Natas

    I think it is probably a benign skin tag, but I am not a medical professional. In the past I have used Dr. Scholl's® Freeze Away® wart remover to remove a similar "thing" from my inner arm near the elbow. At first I used it according to the directions, but that wasn't doing it, so I applied the freeze swab for a LONG time, until the "pins and needles" feeling went away, and then I put a band-aid on it and left it alone. The freezing breaks the cell structure of the wart or skin tag and the body then reabsorbs it. A dab of first-aid cream like neosporin will help protect against infection.

    Skin tags are something we either do or do not have a propensity for. I recall that my grandmother had them and I found them scary, but I was young.

  • GrreatTeacher
    GrreatTeacher

    They tend to form in places where there is friction, so the inner elbow makes sense. Also, under breasts or where your underwear elastic rubs.

    I've known people to just snip them off with manicure scissors and they say they don't even bleed.

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