Why You Should Remove Cysts

It's not always necessary to deal with every pimple, but what happens when a cyst forms? Should you remove it? And if so, why? Dr. Schultz answers these questions.

Why You Should Remove Cysts Hello, I am Dr. Neal Schultz and welcome to DermTV. One of the most common, normal benign growths of people shows me on their skin or skin cyst and a natural question that follows, “Dr. should I have the cyst remove?” and the short answer is, “Yes, you should because often cyst will become infected and when they become infected they’re very painful.”And if you remove that cyst preventable on your schedule, you take control of the situation. If you wait and leave the cyst and it becomes infected at three o’clock in the morning when you’re on vacation or any other time you’re then compromised and you have much more difficult situation. Let me explain what’s going on. This is the diagram of the skin and this of course is the hair shaft and hair follicle as it comes out through the top. I’m going to show something that’s very small just next to the bottom of the hair shaft and it’s right at the edge of my pointer and it’s just little round area and that’s the oil gland. That oil gland makes oil and it delivers the oil to the surface of the skin through a tiny little duct that goes into the hair shaft. Oil comes up along the hair and out on to the skin but if that little duct over here gets clog. The oil gland how now it’s clog and it keeps making more oil and that oil gland instead of being that small size becomes this big and that’s when you have a big lump under your skin and you have a cyst. At some point that oil becomes infected and when it does, that’s when you’re in trouble because it enlarges, it’s very painful, it’s red and you are really uncomfortable. So, to avoid that type of situation where it becomes an emergency and then you need to get medical help at a time when you may not be prepared like on vacation or in the middle of the night. Prepare to have your cyst removed electively. You schedule it and that where you take control of the situation. Please join me again at DermTV.com. If you have a question, please send it to me by visiting DermTV.com/question. I am Dr. Neal Schultz and thank you for watching today.