<klaxon> grape sized lump... hurts to sit down...

[KatoPotato]

Wahhhh...

I've had this lump on my labia for many years now, hard but painless.

Since a few days ago - I blame spin class - it's got really big, red and painful. It's the size of a large grape and is mostly hard. I've had mag sulph paste on it, germolene, hot baths, tentative squeezes... nothing - It's hard to dress too, thanks to the location.

I've had similar before, hence my mag sulph knowledge, but this just doesnt seem to be coming to a head, paracetamol and ibuprofen are not touching the pain.

Any ideas???

How do I pick the optimum spot?

I just go for the middle. Have been known to numb it with ice too. Full on surgery in my bathroom.

I had a big one once that was under the skin and had to get antibiotics.

Centrally? I get these, and the sheer relief when they pop is amazing!!

Stab or prick slowly?

Slow but firm.

DO NOT INTERFERE WITH IT. Sorry for shouty caps but even the cleanest genitals are teeming with bacteria and fungi (sorry).

Go to the doctors even if it bursts as sometimes the cell walls can remain in place causing it to refill.

You need it surgically lancing and best will in the world, most people on here are 1) not medically trained and 2) not accountable for any side effects of their 'treatment regimes'.

YY Mignonette is right. If the sac isn't removed properly it will refill.

I had one that was so bad I went to A&E, and the doctor there advised me to pop it myself.

Why would you mess with this yourself?!

Sounds like an infected cyst. GP definitely.

Yeesh sounds very sore :(

I'm going to have a case review before bedtime

I don't think you should be taking penicillin for it, not sure it will penetrate well enough and you would probably need flucloxacillin for something like this.

Surely a sac refilling is only if it is a sebaceous cyst rather than just an infecty thing?

Has anyone else in the house given you an opinion?

My mum has over the phone... She's a nurse

Take some antinflammatories if you are allowed to take them.

Wear a soft pad in bed and use hot sterile compresses - not held under the hot tap.

Yes secondary infections aren't terribly common but by god if you get one you will really really wish you'd never messed with it. Merely squeezing it is not what it is about- there is a technique to emptying these abscesses to ensure they are properly discharged and to ascertain what kind they are.

The practice nurse can help too with this.

BTW any abscess near the buttocks or buttock cleft should always be seen by a HCP. They may be the equivalent of an ice berg- what lies beneath can be pretty extensive and treatment a la squeezing absolutely inadequate.

My mum has over the phone... She's a nurse

So am I, which is why I just sort it out myself, although most of the time they aren't that big. Think you should see the GP though instead of taking random antibiotics. And let's not get into why you have left over antibiotics....!

Yes I've

Taken a telling off for left over anti-b's!

Gp being phoned in the morning

I am too would err on the side of caution with such a potential for further infection. Genitals are hard to keep clean once their defences are breached. You have lymph nearby too.

Place marking! Where are you OP? I'll pop that bad boy!

Hope it goes away soon though.

Morning OP. How is it today?

Hows your bollock today op. Did you manage to get comfy enough to sleep ?

Marking.

Mornin' folks!

So do we reckon it burst in the night?

Hmm, could have done, be a relief for the op.Had a friend once who had a boil there that the head had formed in the middle of it and had to be dug out by a hcp.