Gross but need to ask - the hole left by this acne ... stone?!

[lborgia]

OK, you’ve been warned. My teenage son has been complaining about a spot on his back for weeks. I had a look a couple of times, but it was obviously a blind spot so there was nothing we could do about it. When I say blind, if you ran your finger over it, you could feel a really deep big lump, but the skin was only slightly red and raised. Like day 1 of a spot.

just now, he came in looking a bit sick. He had scratched at it, and suddenly it resolved itself, but out came, I’m not kidding, something that looked like a tiny grey chip of rock!

It was cracked down the middle so I pulled it open, and I”m pretty sure it’s just layers of cells and dirt, but it’s left a real hole in his back!

I’m pretty sure it’s not going to go, but is it OK just to wash it and cover it up? There is blood, but it’s not fast. So I’m guessing that at some point it will scab over.

Anything else required? Maybe this is more health than beauty? Assume if it scars there’s not a lot we can do about it.

Thanks anyone not too repulsed

I agree with dilated poor of winer, aka a very giant blackhead. They are superficial and the "hole" closed up over time.

Get it checked by a GP. It could be cancer, or a benign something, but get it checked.

I once picked a scar I'd had for four years and a sesame seed came out. That was a weird one.

Just seen you got the object out, yes it's likely a cyst. Had one of those, mine was white and like hard cream

If it's a dilated pore, it may well refill.
The only permanent solution is to get a dermatologist to excise the area and then stitch it up.

I would have loved to have squeezed this.

So glad you posted a photo.

GET THIS ON THE SPORNER CORNER!!

Oh god 🤢🤢🤢🤢 this definitely belongs in sporners corner...

Pore of winer. Its not a blackhead its made up of keratin. I'm a sporner of the highest order but just googled images (not envy).

I'm too scared to look, but what is sporner?! It did occur to me it could be a tumour, so am holding on to the evidence for the dermatologist! Poor kid has already had his share of illness (including another tumour), so I'm not taking him to anyone until it's essential!

Spot porn. Once you go there you’ll never go back. Has it’s own special corner of MN

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sporner_corner

Oh God, I can't get past the titles! I thought I had a really strong stomach, but cleaning up son's shoulder made me quite queasy.

there’s a gross out fascination.

Surely it will be just like the hole that’s left when you pick a verruca out of your foot? Leaves a hole but it’s gone within a few days, skin is remarkably good at healing.

Was that a tick?

Was that a tick?

OP, that does look like a tick! DH is a GP and has removed a few (patients come in thinking they've got a mole).
He needs to see the GP and get course of antibiotics. He should also get tested for Lyme Disease. Sorry to be a downer.
If you still have the specimen, show it to the GP!

Ticks only bury their mouth parts, the OP described that the site looked like a ‘blind spot’. The of body of the tick would have had to have been knocked off and left the mouth part in the skin. The debris that came out looks too large for that, and does appear to be skin cells.
By all means ask the GP but I don’t think that’s a tick.

Seriously, I live in the highest tick population in Australia, I know ticks. As previously mentioned, there was nothing to see for weeks. No hole, no spot, no mark, nothing, just a slight lump. When this finally came to the surface it had no part of it that looked remotely like any part of a tick. As in, it was entirely smooth, with no place where it may have had legs/ jaws/ etc attached.

This seems very likely to be a Pore of Winer, as a main cause of that is when surface skin cells end up trapped and unable to shed... but they keep proliferating in the confined space.

BUT, I really do appreciate your concern, and you taking time to write. Both my other child and I gave been extremely sick with ticks, so I understand your point.

I just Googled Pore of Winer.
I wish I hadn't. Holy smokes!
As for the hole left, it'll heal up quickly but probably leave a slight scar.
I had to have a raised lesion removed, sort of 'dug out' (gross) of my wrist which left a large pothole in my skin. Again, gross! I am very fair-skinned, but it left a keloid purple scar for about ten months. By one year, the scar flattened out a bit more and became flesh coloured, slightly keloid but that might be just me and how I scar.
So eventually, that hole will 'fill' and look normal again.

I suppose I thought it would behave like a blackhead? I think the pps who said it will need a stitch might be right. Bit of a crater! I'll start with the colloidal plaster.

A lot of the extractions people see on videos are begun with an incision, or a tool has been used that has damaged the surrounding skin which then necessitates a stitch to repair the hole.

If it comes back can you make sure you video the next removal

Dr Pimple Popper does not always stitch them.
I think she says they will fill in . He has age on his side too !