Do I Have a Cyst or Lipoma?

Worried about uneven bumps or growth on your skin? You may be especially concerned when it just popped out of nowhere. You may start feeling bothered and think how can lipomas hurt. You ask yourself, “Do I have a cyst or lipoma?” Find out below.

Are Lipomas Painful?

A lipoma is a fat overgrowth under the skin. It is benign and soft. Can lipomas hurt? Sometimes, lipoma causes pressure, but it seldom causes infection. There are instances when lipoma can cause pain or complications. That is why some people wonder can lipomas go away their own and want them to be removed.

Skin cysts, also referred to as epidermoid cysts, are caused by skin invagination. As the capsule is closed, the skin keeps on shedding its outer layers. The cyst eventually grows larger and may cause pain and also get infected.

The Appearance of Sebaceous Cyst vs Lipoma

As you wonder, “Do I have a cyst or lipoma?”, you need to know how to differentiate sebaceous cyst vs lipoma based on appearance. Figuring out whether you have a lipoma or cyst can be simple. Just like figuring out the difference between a cyst and tumor.

Cysts

Cysts and lipomas resemble each other during the early stages. Cysts grow more into bumps with a drainage hole where you can see a white discharge. They feel like rubber or egg underneath the skin.

People with acne-prone skin are more prone to sebaceous cysts, which are rare compared to skin cysts. Sebaceous cysts occur when the grease glands are blocked. The grease gets collected as it fills up the gland, thus making this type of cyst more challenging to manage.

Lipomas

Meanwhile, lipomas grow deeper into the skin and can be moved slightly. Are lipomas painful? Sometimes, but they are normally soft and feel like they can be easily squeezed.

Do Lipoma and Skin Cysts Need to be Removed?

Cysts and lipomas are benign. However, they are often misdiagnosed because of their nature. At the same time, rare cancers can appear in the form of skin lumps that are very similar to the appearance of cysts and lipomas. If you experience this, you need to get an expert medical opinion.

Can lipomas go away their own? It’s very unlikely for lipomas to disappear nor turn into infected lipoma. Most people ignore them unless they experience infected lipoma complications. On the other hand, cysts are likely to get infected and have a discharge.

It is easy to remove small cysts, and the surgery scars will be small. If these small cysts grow larger and become infected, it is harder to treat them. At this point, they will also have high chances of coming back even with scarring.

Doing Photoshoots

Surgery is needed to remove cysts before they grow large and get infected. Just like reducing swelling after a facelift, there are different means to hide your lipoma or cyst before a photography session. Consult your photographer for photography tips on how it can be covered. There are photography tips that can benefit fashion designers, and so can you.

Another option is to touch up the photo or crop it. Still, lipomas and cysts occur to almost anyone, so it is fairly normal to have.

“Do I have a cyst or lipoma?” It doesn’t matter if you have a lipoma or cyst. Embrace your flaws and enjoy your photography session. If you feel pain radiating from your lipoma or cyst, you can consider consulting a doctor to have it removed.