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General HealthDiseases and conditionsAvoid infection in a facial cyst
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Avoid infection in a facial cyst


question
I have a small cyst on the side of my face. I went to my GP about it, and he prodded it and managed to get some white cheesy stuff out of it but it still hasn't gone down much. Could you recommend a herbal treatment or something that I can make myself?

answer
A. You have a sebaceous cyst – the 'white cheesy stuff' is sebum – or excessive grease that has become trapped in the production gland. Often these things will become infected, especially now that there is an opening to the wide and dirty world. They are often recurrent, too: in other words, the gland will fill up again.

I would advise you to try to keep the gland open, bathing with hot water and saline solution only, without any antiseptics, to give it a chance to settle down. Any other agents applied could just encourage infection, which can cause scarring. If it does become infected, you will probably need a course of antibiotics to clear it up.

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