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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Have you ever done a DIY mini op on yourself?

125 replies

yesichangedforthis · 26/10/2017 21:01

If you go to the GP and request they do something and they say ''that comes under cosmetic and you will have to pay'' and you can't afford it, and it's giving you grief, would you
Take Matters Into Your Own Hands?

Okay
So I have a lipoma/cyst/fatty lump on my thigh that is really starting to annoy me. It's been there years so I know it's nothing sinister.
But, it's as annoying as hell.
I've been to the doc and they say it can't be removed on the NHS because it's classed as a cosmetic procedure, and will cost me XXX amount to remove it.
I can't afford it.
So I say, ''I thought you would say that, so I have a back up plan.

I'm going to sterilize the area, sterilize a needle and basically stick a pin in it to drain it.
His reply was ''That won't work, because it will only come back''

My argument is, Yes, it will eventually come back. Ideally the whole thing needs to be excised. Ideally.
However, it will more than likely take quite a while for it ''to come back'' which means I will have X amount of months (maybe even years) before it gets so big again.
So it's in my interests to go ahead, right?
I don't want to go for the rest of my life with a great big blimming lump on my leg.
What to do? If you're poor and can't afford something that's causing you distress?

OP posts:

Witchend · 26/10/2017 23:31

Dsis knew a GP who gave himself the snip while sitting in a warm bath. After that I think what you're proposing sounds positively sensible and painless.
Tell that to the nearest man and watch him cross his legs.

123bananas · 26/10/2017 23:37

DH just had his removed on the NHS referred because it had grown bigger rapidly. It was much bigger than they expected and attached to nerves, an artery and underlying muscle. The surgeon who was initially a bit shirty with him for having a 'cosmetic procedure' done was conciliatory after a 10 min procedure turned to an hour and a half op.

Get it checked again OP and stay away from the needles!

GardenGeek · 26/10/2017 23:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Gingernaut · 26/10/2017 23:48

I had quite a large lipoma on my head, hidden in my hair, just above my hairline.

'Lippy' and I lived in harmony for some years, as he only grew very slowly and hairdressers learned to dress my hair around him, until I got a doozy of a spot on top of him.

Being an avid sporner, I squeezed the spot.

And you know the advice you get about not squeezing spots? You know? Don't squeeze spots. You can spread the infection and cause untold damage?

Yep. Lippy got a dose of spot slime. Infected, I ended up 'milking' Lippy of pus on a daily basis.

Two rounds of antibiotics later and I'm still milking Lippy as per daily routine, when something popped out of the tiny hole.

It looked a bit like an insect head with fangs!! 😱

Each time I squeezed, the 'insect head' popped in and out, until I finally worked out how to keep the hair out of the way and squeeze with the one hand and grab the 'head' with the other hand. Taking the 'head' firmly, I pulled a body free of the hole.

It was a two inch piece of 'gristle' which could be coiled around and the serrated end matched the 'fangs' of the 'head' that I had seen initially.

After cleaning with Dettol, I was able to fit the ragged edges of the hole together and resisted the urge to pick at it.

It healed very nicely and there's nothing to show for it now except a tiny line of a scar.

Useless picture of what Lippy's face looked like.

Have you ever done a DIY mini op on yourself?

Monkeyinshoes · 26/10/2017 23:58

For decades, my dad has had lots of lipomas on his arms. He's had one or two removed in that time as they were in the crease of his elbow and bothering him when trying to bend his arm. The others are still there as they're not in the way. Tell them it's bothering you/getting in the way/rubbing on clothes/hurting/combination of these and should be more likely to get it removed.

mathanxiety · 27/10/2017 00:01

DS operated successfully on a cyst in his own armpit while away at university. It was not pretty. The nurse at the student health centre had sent him away with a prescription for antibiotics for it...

anotherprosecco · 27/10/2017 00:04

My DH had one on his chest for years (20 years or more) which grew bigger and harder. Then it started leaking foul smelling liquid, GP said it was a cyst and removed it under local anaesthetic. It was very deep and the doctor explained that you have to dig deep and get the root out, or else it grows back. He had several stitches, it eventually healed nicely and nothing to show n k w.

anotherprosecco · 27/10/2017 00:05

Sorry, nothing to show now!

Bunnyfuller · 27/10/2017 00:08

I had one on my back. They weren't interested until it got big then whipped it out. Google lipoma and cyst, they're very different things.

stillherestilltrying · 27/10/2017 00:10

I self drained a gum abscess recently... disgusting but satisfying... yet to come back... go for it!

Floralnomad · 27/10/2017 00:12

My dh has had lots of lipomas removed , one of our GPs does that kind of minor op . He has had 2 done in the last 4 months and they weren't overly large , one was on his chest and the other the back of his neck .

AngeloMysterioso · 27/10/2017 00:23

I should add, with mine I just went to the gp, he cut in and squeezed all the cottage cheese out, when I got home I could fill fluid building on top of it so I had another good squeeze and the whole thing popped out and it was awesome. Sterilised some nail scissors, cut it away, gone!

randomuntrainedcuntowner · 27/10/2017 06:54

A lipoma won’t drain like that. It needs cutting out. Please don’t do that yourself.

randomuntrainedcuntowner · 27/10/2017 06:57

So what other “bollocks” do the nhs spend money on then? Example please? I think you need to grow up. It is a harmless lump of fat in an inconspicuous place. It IS cosmetic. If you have it removed you will have a scar that you will probably moan about anyway...

WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo · 27/10/2017 07:33

random maybe emergency treatment for people who have operated on themselves...

girlandboy · 27/10/2017 08:12

My DH had a lipoma removed from his neck under the NHS because it was growing and was deemed unsightly. In fact he had it removed twice because it grew back!
My son grew a breast as a teenager which definitely caused him distress. This was deemed to be a cosmetic problem and wasn't covered by the NHS. It used to be but not any more. Fortunately I was in a position to pay for him to have a mastectomy done privately. Surprising what's covered and what's not!

MrsPestilence · 27/10/2017 08:24

random what CCG do you work for?
It is not inconspicuous, people have commented on it. OP has had it for years and not worried about it while it gave her no grief, like many others on this thread.
Now it is annoying her, so she wants something done. It is annoying her so much, she is almost willing to self operate. Op comes across as having enough skills to understand scars and infection risks. It has gone beyond cosmetic.
When do you think it becomes non cosmetic? When Op can no longer wear jeans? Or sit on a low settee? Or walk only 800m? When she is so disabled by it she takes pain killers and reduces to part time hours at work? When she gets assaulted on the street by people who think the lump is a male appendage? When it requires an hour and a half operation to remove it?
Now seems a sensible time to remove it.

Floralnomad · 27/10/2017 10:45

It is not purely cosmetic , they grow which means more difficulty removing them which may end up not being an operating GP but an actual daycare surgery . One of dhs was pretty big but the GP was telling him about one he'd done recently that was the size of a satsuma and didn't fit in the usual size pot they use to send them away for testing .

Justaboy · 29/10/2017 22:36

Gingernaut Did you put all that on Yooutube

Fantasticmissfoxy · 29/10/2017 22:39

Go back to the GP and tell them it's started causing you pain - tell them it is badly affecting you and you want it gone because it is sore.

Funnyonion17 · 29/10/2017 22:42

Removed my own coil to conceive DD, was easy but obviously I'd not like to encourage others.

why12345 · 29/10/2017 23:00

Dr Pimple Popper on YouTube. My guilty pleasure. Go watch and learn 😂

Garlicansapphire · 29/10/2017 23:14

I had one in my hair which moved if you pushed it like a solid lump. I told the doctor it was hurting and bothering me when I brushed my hair (which it wasnt). They burnt/cut it off and it bloody well hurt for 24 hours. I was warned it would very likely grow back - but it hasn't.

Gingernaut · 29/10/2017 23:23

Justaboy, no. Nothing to show for it.

LegallyBrunet · 30/10/2017 00:36

For God's sake, leave it alone! My GP has told me that I can't have a very large, very noticeable mole removed from my bloody FACE because it's a cosmetic procedure and it's not a cancerous despite the fact I'm in pain whenever I catch it and I'm very self conscious of it. Am I going to do DIY surgery? No, because I have no idea what I'm doing and could make it worse.

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