i had a huge bump (like a little marble, looked almost like a nipple) on the my inner left thigh and is was kinda tender, i had one around that area there before but not this big , its been a couple months since i had the 1st one, anyways i tried poppin it cause i thought it might have been a boil, but this time i pulled it away from my skin and man blood shot out, i was grossed out, thought it was like something from a horrior movie o.O lol , anyways i keep squezzin till it slowed down , the blood was a deep red, well the was yesterday and today its almost completly gone, its a lilttle sore, but man i wanna wha the heck that was, thouhght i may have been a ingrown hair but i really dont grow hair there.. anyways if you guys have any suggestions on what that may have been id appercate it .. thanks :-D
One person turns to SteadyHealth for help describing a "big blood-filled bump" that looked like something "out of a horror movie" on their inner thigh. Initially, they thought it was a boil — but now they're not too sure. Others soon jump in describing problems that match the original poster's description. Conditions ranging from a staph infection to hidradenitis suppurativa, ingrown hairs, and Bartholin's cysts were suggested. While people came together in commiseration and solidarity as they thought they were talking with others who had "one of these things", we also have to recognize that the descriptions were in many cases quite generic. Not all these people, we should assume, were dealing with the same problem.
What do the experts say?
The internet now plays a large role in our lives, and that includes the way in which we take care of our health. Some questions can be tackled online just fine. Ask what viruses can cause the common cold, for instance, and you'll be able to find objective, scientifically-accurate, information on the web. Ask whether weight gain is a side effect of birth control pills, or what do to when you find a lump in your breast or scrotum, and the same thing holds true.
This particular question is trickier — we have a situation where multiple people are describing skin lesions that have something in common, like the presence of blood and them being on the thighs or in the groin region. The way in which people talk about their skin lesions makes them sound similar, but we've not seen pictures, and we don't know what's going on with any one of these people.
What could it be?
If you, too, have a "blood-filled skin bump", it could be any number of things, and this list is not exhaustive:
- Ingrown hairs can, indeed, have the appearance of a small blood-filled bump, especially if you've been picking at the site. Ingrown hairs are usually nothing serious and will resolve on their own.
- Blood blisters can result from friction that also damages the blood vessels just under your skin — these can strike the thigh area if your thighs rub together as you walk, or you wear clothing that rubs against your skin. Because sweat make them more likely to appear, some people use talcum powder to keep the area dry.
- A hemangioma is a bloody-looking nodule that is often present at birth but may also appear later in life, and that can occasionally bleed. They rarely cause complications.
- Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic and painful skin condition that looks a bit like a very aggressive, nasty kind of acne and that often affects the armpits and groin region. People with this condition will often notice pus, but bleeding can also take place.
- Boils are infections that surround follicles or groups of them. They can, as several posters pointed out, be caused by staph or MRSA infections. Most boils get better without medical treatment, healing faster if the person applies hot compresses, but recurrent boils or boils that just don't heal do require a doctor's attention. Pus, again, wasn't mentioned much in the thread, but boils are characterized by its presence; it's hard to miss their volcano-like appearance.
- Even squamous cell carcinoma of the skin can cause "blood-filled bumps" that can also start bleeding spontaneously. This demonstrates that not all skin lesions are harmless and medical attention is indeed required if you're not simply dealing with a passing pimple.
What now?
Most people will be able to recognize an ingrown hair, a pimple, a boil, or a blood blister resulting from friction. If you're pretty sure you're dealing with something completely harmless, it is usually not necessary to seek medical attention. The people participating in this thread, however, weren't sure what they were facing — and they were clearly worried enough to have lengthy online discussions about their blood-filled skin lesions. Rightly so, too, as some people reported having them for a long time.
The common-sense next step, here, is to see your doctor; if self-care in the form of hot compresses, a better diet, wearing looser clothes, or washing with antibacterial cleansers hasn't helped you, and you're still stuck with a "blood-filled bump" of unknown origin, it's time to call in the professionals.
They may send you away with the message that you're just suffering from pimples or ingrown hairs and have nothing to worry about, in which case you can stop worrying. If something more serious is going on, however, you'll be glad you saw a doctor so you can receive a proper diagnosis and treatment.
"Should I pop it or wait for it to pop itself?" was another question people asked. The general rule is that you leave pimples, boils, and ingrown hairs alone aside from keeping them clean. "Popping" them may be what makes them turn into a "blood-filled bump" in the first place, and keep in mind that opening skin lesions can invite bacterial infections in. If you are indeed dealing with something more serious like skin cancer, hidradenitis suppurativa, or hemangioma, you really don't want to mess with that stuff yourself.
Some people also asked questions about antibiotics. Here, again, you really need a doctor to determine the correct diagnosis and to prescribe them to you if you need them. You don't want to take medication that isn't going to cure your particular problem, and thereby contribute to the worldwide problem of antibiotic resistance.
Discussion highlights
Questions
Inquiring minds wanted to know:
- Anybody know anything?
- like you I popped it with a saring and couldnt beleave how much blood poured out what the hell are these things
- i had a huge bump (like a little marble, looked almost like a nipple) on the my inner left thigh and is was kinda tender, i had one around that area there before but not this big , its been a couple months since i had the 1st one, anyways i tried poppin it cause i thought it might have been a boil, but this time i pulled it away from my skin and man blood shot out, i was grossed out, thought it was like something from a horrior movie o.O lol , anyways i keep squezzin till it slowed down , the blood was a deep red, well the was yesterday and today its almost completly gone, its a lilttle sore, but man i wanna wha the heck that was, thouhght i may have been a ingrown hair but i really dont grow hair there.
- anyways if you guys have any suggestions on what that may have been id appercate it .
- I too would love to know what this is.
- Have any of you looked into Hidradenitis supertiva?
- I'm not sure if that was too much info or if I need to post different kind of information, just feel free to ask :-) please post back asap if you know anything about this PLEASE tell me what the heck this thing is and/or how to treat it because I don't see this thing ever going away I've been struggling to remove it for way too long.
- WTF ok does anyone know the cure for this or what kind of infection or whatever this is?
- I woke up in the am and went OMG WTF IS THAT?
- If someone can find a good way to get rid of this, I would love to know how.
- Who's over weight and out of shape?
- I just want to know if I should be worried or if I should just lose weight.
- lol what happened to that woman that said she "fully intended" to get this checked out and report back?
- I get these things aswell im guessing it has something to do with the staf becasue when i was 9 i had a hernia operation and durng my recovery in hospital i contracted the golden staf so what everyone is saying is theseare normal and i cant get rid of them?
- Are they like a staph infections or what.
- I Just got one of theese i think on my vagina im a bit over weight so idk if its because of rubbing?
- I need to know what these bumps are so I can stop worrying about them.
- ) hows the best way to pop it without it hurting so much?
- Did anyone else experience itching?
- or only pain?
- I have something similar but it is above my pubic region like were my pant button is but I dont know what it is can you help me
- I've only the other day got one of these lumps, but when I got up today it was really dark nearly black and when I touched it it started bleeding,are these serious?
- Should I pop it or wait for it to pop itself?
- Ok so I've had these for a year now, and I just got a really bad one that popped and I got scared when it was bleeding (bbecause I had never popped them before) I was terrified I had some sort of disease, thank you for easing my fears (: now I will lose the 20 pounds I am over weight so I don't need to deal with it!
- What shoul I do?
- i have a boil on my leg that wont go away what can i do?u
- how do I fix it .
- It is still swollen I would like to know what it might be and what I can do for it?
- Will I have more to come on me?
- When I woke up this morning and checked it, it is back to its original size :o(Any ideas?
- Any ideas?
- I don't know whether I should really stab into it or just leave it alone.
- They are worse in Summer cause of the sweat and my thighs rubbing together, I have one right now and it's hard and I tried popping them and its those really burning hurting ones and only blood came out, Any advice or tips?
- I would like to know as well mine is on my thigh it looks like a niple it's just One it hurts when I push on it or my shorts rub on it?
- or in in grown hair and iam over weight.
- did you bleed ?
- I have no idea what this is -- MRSA maybe?
- How many of you smoke?
- Do you still get them
- Did u know what it ever was?
- Where was it exactly?
- Can you get them after you have a baby?
- What should I do ?
- But did the hair come out mine looks like s black hole in my thigh I don't know if it's a deep wound or hairs stuck inside lots of blood and puss though
- You think they can be recurring bit not needing to be taken care of by the doctor?
- How did you pop it
- WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME.
- Anyone else have one that doesn't want to heal?
- How long does it last - the two i have now are not going away they keep filling up.
- Will penicillin work with a staph infection?
Symptoms
People described similar skin lesions in the following ways:
- I got these bumps since I was about 14 & I'm 19 now.I assume I got these bumps because of my period but I was wrong.
- I would get them from my legs rubbing together if I walk to much.I assumed they were just big pimples and I always popped them with a sewing needle.
- (I would clean The needle before hand) usually these bumps do pop up often but usually near The same spots in my inner thighs near my private area.
- It usually happens in the summer months and they leave scars of hard round places under the skin.
- they arnt as blood filled but they still hurt really bad.
- I also break out with one or two really bad pimples.
- The deeper set ones that take about a week to disappear.
- I also saw another one that I tried to pop but the more I squeezed it the bigger it became.
- It literally looks like there's a marble under my skin.
- It hurts whenever my pants blurb up against like when I walk or anything.
- Sleeping isn't very fun for me either since it hurts no matter what!
- He always believed they were just ingrown hairs.
- The only way to relieve pressure for him is by popping them.
- I started getting one 2 months ago now where my underware sits on my butt towards my inner thigh.
- Felt squishy in the middle and was a very dark purple.
- For the record my husband and I are both very overweight as well.
- I just popped the one on my bum because it was getting painful to walk, and now I am sitting on a heating pad hoping my body will absorb the rest of it.
- Like I said, my appeared where my underware rubs on my butt.
- Well i think i also have the same problem it was as big as a marble and looked like a nipple lol it was by my buttocks area i only found out this morning cause it wasnt there yesturday So when i sqeezed it blood was everywhere it had so much power that it got on the mirror (Yikes.
- wow i thought it was just me also they started when i was pregnant with my son 9 years ago well that's when i noticed it i thought it was because i was letting my pubic hair grow out due to the fact it was hard to shave well they still come and go to this day 9 years later i have never said a word to anybody about them to embarrassed they are like lumps i can feel like a ball in them there always on the inside of my thighs or like getting close to my cooch not a medical word for it but they have never been on it but like on the little part like of ur booty like if u sit with ur legs spread and look down and grab ur back side that little area that's like buy ur cooch but more like ur booty well there there i pop them and it hurts bad i have even bruised my skin from squeezing so hard and the same stuff comes out bright red blood but there is pus sometimes also green in color or like whiteish and the bright red blood around it.
- i have no idea what they are i have been tested i know its not a std they come and go and i think stress makes them come on i don't know they feel better when i pop them once but after that its painful to touch
- I just discovered a bump around my inner thigh very close to my private part and it disappeared a couple weeks ago but I found it in the same spot again yesterday.
- But this time is looks like a nipple, I had MRSA before and I'm hoping I don't have it again.
- I have had 3 of these things on the same place they were very painfull I have 150mg of morphine each day and this thing still hurt .
- Its kind of like a ball of blood under the skin, and sometimes when you sit down and you have one on the underside of your thigh they hurt as you sit on them.
- I have a really painful one on my upper pelvis the just keeps returning every 2 months.
- Even the skin around it felt stiff with whatever was in there.
- It was about the size of a quarter, very tight and tender, and very warm.
- Mine varied in size and were full of dark blood.
- I can get them in armpits, breasts, inside thighs, even in the area where the top of pant is, and any areas of skin folds (usually mine is the tummy).
- They are huge and I would get at least two, sometimes around 5 or even more at the time.
- My wife has had these weird pus/blood-filled bumps on her inner thigh for years.
- I have one right now the size of a golf ball.
- I have dealt with it for over 20 years.
Speculation
Members also jumped in to speculate about the possible causes of blood-filled skin lesions:
- I too have hydroadenitus supertiva and although there is no cure there are preventative habits and surgeries.
- I have been getting them since I was a kid so I know it is not a STD.
- I finally found a doctor that told me it is actually a common problem.
- Hey yeah, if you're visiting this page right now, with a medium or normal sized boil of some sort on your skin, its NORMAL.
- Its either due to friction and the building up of heat.
- Its the bodies way to combat heat.
- The boil normally appears on places that are under a lot of pressure or places that are constantly getting rubbed.
- These are NOT ingrown hairs.
- Believe me, I've had ingrown hairs before and the area around them is swollen and red.
- If you pop an ingrown hair you will often find a long, curled hair inside that was the cause and then it goes away.
- I do not believe these are caused by mrsa (staph) infection, because most people here mention nothing about pus in them.
- I'm sorry I don't have more information on this, but know that you are not alone.
- I get them too and I am so glad that I looked this up and at least I know I am not a gross freak or something.
- He use to work with a plastic surgeon in London and he says this happens all the time, and mostly to women.
- This must be common because he gave me enough antibiotics for three boils.
- I am so happy to find out this is not a HIV lesion, or some wierd STD.
- My mother is a nurse and had one of these on her thigh years ago when she was overweight.
- It's just from friction, that's all!
- The arm an area rubs with tight clothing, or just skin on skin, you are likely to develop one.
- If you are overweight, like me, and you have these bumps and they get worse with walking/running, mainly during warm climates, the only way to make this go away is to bear through the pain until you loose weight, then your thighs will no longer rub together causing the bumps.
- Sounds like a staph infection or mrsa.
- It's called Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Wikipedia has a really great article about it.
- This is just a blood blister from rubbing on skin and heat.
- They are a type of bacteria naturally found on the skin.
- I have read numerous reports of how ingrown hairs can cause these in both genders, and have actually seen a hair erupt from one of mine (which made it go away really fast, like 2 days or less).
- I Have one on my inner thigh , and it's nice to see I'm not the only male with this issue , Infact it's nice to see that I'm not the only person with this issue , and it has calmed me to know that it isn't threatening to my life , Well , From what I know it isn't.
Suggestions
What can be done about this problem? Members made the following suggestions:
- But I highly recommend the surgery to relieve pain for those with chronic problems.
- Aside from the surgery I have been able to keep them under control by eating healthy.
- The cure is to release the adductors below the pimple.
- Massage and foam rolling help, but ultimately you will have to strengthen your glutes contralateral to the boil and address rotation in the pelvis.
- When you have restored alignment and proper circulation to your lower body, these pimples will stop appearing.
- It will still happen but you can cut it down alot by using hibiclense daily.
- Go to tour doctor and have them prescribe a anti-biotic.
- Just pop it and take a nice shower to make sure the area is clean.
- Even trying to rinse out the infected area.
- The best way to get rid of these boils is to take an empty wine bottle or liquor bottle and pour boiling water inside, then a few seconds later empty it and place the bottle mouth over the boil.
- Pour cold water over the bottle and the blood/puss will come out easily with a little pain.
- Its quick and clean as all the blood/puss flow into the bottle.
- After the blood/puss has been taken out, clean the popped boil with soap and water.
- Applying a damp hot compress definitely helps, but this can be very difficult to do, which is why many doctors suggest a hot bath.
- Heat always activates white blood cells, which is why you'll hear of doctors telling you to drink hot herbal teas when sick, or applying a hot washcloth on an infected area.
- Take a hot bath, soak for awhile if it's on your special lady area, or opt for hotter showers if you don't have time to soak in a tub.
- I used the exfoliating wipes about once per hour to ensure skin/pore cleanliness.
- I also use Lemon Grass with tea tree and orange peel soap in conjunction with pure lava soap which seems to help.
- I hope this info helps somebody to beat this issue and better their life :)Hibiclens Antimicrobial & Antiseptic Skin CleanserPond's Wet Cleansing Towelettes Morning Refresh with Citrus & Cucumber, Exfoliating Wipes
- I sterilized the area, and a knife and stabbed that s.o.b.
- Do not attempt to lance these yourself unless you can sterilze all your utensils and wash the area before and after with a soap called hibiclens or any soap that has iodine in it.
- If you are getting pus out of yours, then you need to go to a doctor and have them culture what is coming out of your bump.
- When I get one that is not ready to be lanced I put a bandaid on it and it makes it much easier to walk and a lot less tender.
- I will take the band aid off at night, wipe it with some peroxide and then put some antibiotic ointment (polysporin) on it.
- i would recommend going to the doctors asap just to avoid extra pain, they'll give you antibiotics for about a week and hopefully should sort out the infection.
- Get the bump stopper 2 formula, its stronger and works in about three days.
- a doctor told me to try cleaning after exercising (which isn't always possible.
- I recommend antibiotics, gentle exfoliation in the shower and an antibacterial cleanser in the shower.
- And don't forget to let the areas breathe at night.
- If you don't feel comfortable draining it yourself, go to the doctor.I really can't believe this is something that has so many baffled.
- Allow it to drain and clean it really well.
- I found that by switching to all cotton underwear (check the label for elastine, lycra etc) most of my problems went away.
- My best recommendation would be to talk to a dermatologist.
- Use Hibiclens to help prevent staph or mrsa
- Best to clean the skin with alcohol and wait for them to pass.
- I find using tea tree oil once a day after showering keeps them from forming.
- Soaked in an Epsom salt bath and hot compressed it until it broke on its own.
- Have it bandaged as best you can in that spot.
- OR go see the gyno who will numb you with some lidocane and either squeeze or lance it depending on the size.
- Stay away from foods you're allergic to and you'll be good.
In conclusion
Anyone dealing with a blood-filled skin lesion that worries them, isn't going away, and may be causing them pain should see their doctor for diagnosis and, if necessary, treatment. Self-care may be the answer for uncomplicated pimples or ingrown hairs, but if you don't know what you are dealing with, you need to get off the internet and into your doctor's office.