Skin biopsy- so painful

[TeaRoseTallulah]

I had to have a skin biopsy last week on the side of my nose, a barely there lump kept bleeding so they wanted to do a biopsy.

I don't know what I was expecting but I had a 4mm punch biopsy and it was agony. The actually cutting and sewing was ok but I had to have 6 anesthetic injections which were agony. I'm usually really hard core and grit my teeth and get on with things like this but omg this was next level. A week on and it still feels like I've been punched in the face and I'm taking painkillers.

I might have to have further treatment and see a plastic surgeon if it is cancer and I am in an absolute state about having the painful injections again, this is so unlike me,I'm quite cross with myself. I was up until 4am this morning as couldn't switch off at all.

Does anyone know if there's something that would numb the skin first, would Emla cream work? Honestly,I'm going to need hard drugs to get me back in that hospital again!

Yes to the Emla cream, even if it makes you feel more secure. Once the first shot of local, lignocaine is in, you shouldn’t feel much more.. get yourself some headphones and calming guided meditation.. balance app lets you pay 5 pounds for a year.. can you put ice cubes in 2 plastic bags to see if it helps the pain?

Whereabouts on your nose, the bony part or the fleshy part, I didn't know they had to cut the skin and do a punch biopsy together.

My 86 year old FIL had this a couple of weeks ago, I actually posted about it on here, looks like he did 6 rounds with Frank Bruno - massive bruises all over the face too - 14 days on it’s looking a lot better but yes it sounds small procedure but as he said it’s not comfortable at all

No. I felt every injection just like the first one, halfway though I could feel her stitching me up and she gave me another couple of shots and the pain was awful.

Yes, I am icing it regularly.

It's the side but where the nose joins the face at the side, sorry ,hard to explain.

Ouch poor thing! I'm very dark beneath my eyes too which is bruising .

What do they normally do,I've never had one before,just used the chemo cream ?

Wow, that sounds rough! I had this exact thing a year ago, but mine was on the bridge of my nose, and I agree that the injections were truly horrendous (not surprising really, there's very little flesh there). It took quite a while for my scab to come out because of how deep it was, and the stitches didn't come out on their own either (even though I gave them a good tug).

Good luck, I hope the results are good and that it heals soon.

Ouch,ouch,I bet that hurt on the bridge!! My scab came off today along with some of the stitches,bled but I used steri strips and seems to be ok.

Did you use Vaseline? This hospital didn't mention it but dh had one done at another hospital and they talked about the importance of it to aid healing and minimise scarring.

No, I didn't know about Vaseline! My nose is definitely a bit scarred/got a dent in it - perhaps it would have been less noticeable if I'd used it! (Fortunately I'm not too bothered about my appearance )

I'm not that fussed tbh, a bit of concealer will cover it I'm sure.

Baseline also helps with removing external stitches, hope you feel better soon

Thank you 😊