Rant

Some of you may already know this and others may not, but I suffer from an undiagnosed skin disorder that causes my skin to flare up, mainly on my face, in the form of a sebaceous cyst.

I've been fighting these things since I started university 6 years ago. They come and go every 3 months, usually 1 or 2 at a time. Currently, the skin below my mouth has been very active. I have one right now in fact. I've been putting hot compresses on it to bring it to a head. Usually it takes about 2 weeks for the cyst to complete a full cycle (flare up, come to a head, pop, then deflate).

I sometimes get them beside my nose, between my eyes, behind my ear, on my forehead, on my back, and even on the side of my neck. The worst ones usually occur on my neck, beside mouth and beside my nose. Thankfully I haven't been getting them anywhere on my face, neck or back except for the lower cheek area beside my mouth. They usually swell up to about an inch in diameter, projecting almost a centimeter from the skin. They can be extremely painful.

A few years ago (a week before sister's wedding), I got one between my eyes. I went to a walk in clinic to get it checked out. The doctor at the clinic injected some kind of "steroid" into the cyst which helped to bring the swelling down. Of course it didn't happen over night, it took about 4 days for it to go down. But the best part is, is that I haven't had one in that area for over a year and a half now!

The best treatment for cysts is a hot compress because it is non-invasive. Although, it takes longer, it is very effective. An alternative to this is surgery. I usually steer away from it because I prefer not to have massive scars on my face. I already have permanent acne scars (red spots) on my face from previous cases, so I guess it doesn't really matter anyway.

I used to suffer from major depression as result of my cysts. When one would flare up, I would have major anxiety attacks knowing that I would have to show my face in public (ie: at school, in front of my friends). To avoid embarrassment I would stay home from school. If I had no other choice I would wear cover-up to hide my blemish. Knowing full well that it probably wasn't enough to conceal it, I remember acting very awkward in front of my peers, hiding the worse half of my face. For example, if I had a cyst beside my nose, I would pretend to scratch my eye so that I could hide the blemish. Or if some friends were hanging in a hallway, I would take an alternative route, avoiding social contact all together. My friends thought that I was absent-minded or something but the truth is, is that I was pre-occupied with something else (my skin!).

My focus has always been on my appearance. As a child I was made fun of a lot because I had a big forehead. Since then I've covered my face with my hair. I now regret that decision. Just look at my picture on facebook from 2003-2007. I had the worst hair back then. I still have really bad hair, but it's at least shorter now.

Anyway, I'm sorry about my rant. I just needed to get this off my chest.

I'm treating a cyst on my lower right cheek right now, so I will be house bound for a few days. Hope to see you when my face clears up.