Cyst in armpit and swollen lymph nodes

That's somewhat unusual. What do you mean that you had a scar from it? Are you still getting cysts? Let me know, okay?

my name is andrew im worred about my arm lol its swollen in my armpit i went to the doctor they gave me a week of antiobitics it was the size of a apple but now its the size of a small nut its going down im just 14 im studing to be a doctor and iv found out that if u eat a lot of frute and dont drink soda its may go down mine did its been almost 3 weeks and its got a lot smaller

Hi! I just went to the doctor yesterday because of a lump under my left armpit. She told me it was a cyst but it wasn't ready to be lanced. She put me on antibiotics and suggested an old wive's tale in order to bring it to a head. Being from Russia, she said that I should bake an onion for about an hour and then peel it and put a few of the petals under my armpit and secure it with tape or whatever, and leave it on over night. I haven't tried it but I may tonight.
The doctor even suspected MRSA, which would really suck. I've had these lumps before but never as bad as it is now. Last time the doctor mentioned removing them-I wish she would. I'm tired of getting them. Let's hope the antibiotics work and it just goes away. Glad to know that I'm not the only one who has them! :-D

Ok so here is my horrible cyst story...About one year ago I got my first cyst on my right thigh, it got so bad that I could not work...While I was waiting to see my doctor I formed 2 more cysts under my right arm - One aside another. I am a butcher by trait...I have dealt with alot of pain in my life, but this was by far the worse pain I have ever experienced. The only reason I say this is because it is a steady pain, it did not fluctuate...every time I moved my arms or walked it would hurt extremely bad. I Finally broke down and went to the emergency room where they lanced it and put a surgical gauze inside the wound, to ensure that it was drained completely before healing. I was put on a 2 week antibiotic cycle and my cysts were gone...FOR ABOUT 2 MONTHS!!!! They came back with a vengeance, I ended up having 2 more under my right armpit and 1 under my left armpit. One thing that I found interesting was one doctor said I need to immediately have them removed while another doctor said I could just take antibiotics and give it a warm soak and it should take care of itself. So while I was trying what the second doctor told me something horrible happened all 3 cysts popped one night while I was sleeping, I woke up a mess....From what I am told the puss inside is toxic to the skin, this is why in some cases the toxins will eat away at your skin until it pops due to pressure. Those cysts also went away, this time for 4 months...I got a single cyst on my lower stomach, I went thew the painful steps again. And now another is forming under my right arm again...BUT the last time I went to the doctor I anticipated it happening again just in case....so I asked if I could have extra antibiotics so I do not have to waste my money seeing the doctor if I already know what it is and how to fix it.

I have seen a total of 5 doctors and none of them can give me a straight answer as to WHY I have these things. One doctor said it was because I need to shower, I take 2 showers a day one in the morning and one at night...I also use a betadine solution every time I shower. Another doctor said it was because I work out and have a labor intensive job...so it all leads back to sweating, the doctors were trying to get me to take this medication that would cut down the amount I sweat...I am not one for taking medication EVERYDAY OF MY LIFE so I refused. I am waiting for a logical reason to why I keep getting these things. These things are no joke, they are very painful and I have plenty of scars from them. My advice to anyone who does get them is to clean the area with a betadine solution(Mix it with your regular body wash)while in the shower. Also Use a hot compress and soften the puss inside. NEVER POKE IT WITH A NEEDLE, this will most likely cause infection which will lead to much worse problems. Keep clean and if they are under your arms try to be sure when you apply your deodorant that the stick itself is quite a ways out from the plastic container it is held in...because if the plastic scrapes your skin it will start to form skin abrasions that fill up with debris that eventually become cysts. Also for the record, when the doctor gives you the numbing shots before he lances it is the worse part....In my case the shot did not numb it all the way so I still had extreme pain while he was cutting it, I am a very passive person...but I seriously wanted to punch him or push him away from me because that is your basic instinct, to get away from the thing that is causing you more pain. I just wanted to share my story with you all to let anyone out there who gets these painful buggers that they are not alone.

i am 19 years old and i am in the military and physically active :-D ... in the past 4 months i have had 2 cysts underneath my right armpit. :-( ANOTHER one is back and this time i have it underneath both armpits >:( ... they are extrememy painful. every time i go see a doctor i always have to get it drained and packed >;) . is there any other way to remove them ? ? because i am in the military the drainage affects my career %-) . and i just want them to go away and never come back... any suggestions please? because i enjoy my job in the military and i dont want this to effect anything i do any more. it is really starting to become annoying and even my superiors are getting aggrivated with this as well... please help me..... :'(

Just had surgery to remove mass? cyst? infected hair follicle? I've had bump for three years,(armpit) Im not sure if it was cause by ingrown hair, since I once instead of waxing, plucked instead. The bump would get large and huge sometimes, about 5 times in 3 years, i would put hot compress on it but it would NEVER come to a head. The pain would go away, but still that little small bump would be there. I finally got it removed, although Im not sure what he even removed, he took out this yellow looking resin thing, and said that was the wall of the skin? and then he found some hair in there, just a few pieces. They gave me local anesthesia (which hurt like hell when they inject) then burned it to close (which shocked me by the way, since its electrical wires) didnt give me any antibiotics, or pain meds. It just hurt alot 5 hours later, and not much after that, didnt provide me with any advice how to clean? I just want to be done with this already, I'm scared of even sweating or getting it infected..any advice?

I would call them to find out some advice on how to clean it. I really wouldn't want to guess and get you infected or something. I mean I imagine it would just be some disinfectant and changing the bandages, but...yeah, I'd ask! Let me know what they say!

I also get these "cysts" the doctor recently told me you get them from eating too much junk food. I just had surgery to get it removed and I accidentially pulled the stitches and now i'm affraid it won't close!

general question...do you guys use antiperspirants? supposedly it comes from that...i get the same issue about 10 times a year and they go by themselves as i stop with the antiperspirant....I went to a dr. once a couple of years ago he also prescribed me antibiotic pills but truth be told they did nothing...this is the first time that there has been swelling and numbness for me but so i started browsing the net for remedies....i was sick the night before and sweating like crazy i assume its related.

The solution for me...
Increase showers/baths
Decrease or eliminate antiperspirant and/or deodorant use (its usually the scented ones that cause the problem but i suggest not using anything)
Reduce your stress
They go away after a little while max 2 weeks I would say and you don't even feel them disappearing.

Let me know if it works for you too...also if anybody has had the swelling and numbness stemming from one of those red lumps let me know!! It seems to be going away every day so im a little less worried now...if it persists i will go have it checked out.

I have this condition, had it under arms got surgery was fine for 5 years and now I have it in my groin area. very painful but coping.

I believe most of you who have this in more than one place are suffering from a condition called hidradenitis suppurativa. There is no known cause, although many believe it is caused by food allergies. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hidradenitis-suppurativa/DS00818
is a link to mayo clinic about it. I have been suffering from this for over 10 years. There is no cure. Yahoo does have a support group for this.

My lumps/cysts came on after nursing my 6 kids. My armpits would always swell so much that i couldn;t put my arms down completely for 2 weeks after giving birth. Then my milk would become regulated and the pain and swelling under my arms went away. That was until the birth of my twins 8 years ago. It never went away and the cysts are numerous and large. No puss or drainage but become painful and sore at times. Right now I have a red spot that I thought was an ingrown hair from shaving but it has been a week and the red spot is still there and there is a very large hard lump underneath. Over the past 5 years I have had yearly mamograms, seen a plastic surgeon, general suregeon, breast specialist, OBGYN and family physician about this area. They have run numerous tests and all feel it is not cancerous or anything to worry about and feel the milk calcified and formed cycts in my armpit. I am terrified of surgery and have dealt with it all these years but can't any longer. It is getting worse and the right side looks almost like a small breast. This makes me so self-concious that I can't wear a sleevless top or bathing suit. This new symptom has me worried and i am making an appt. Monday w/ my OBGYN or family doc. to check it out. I am also moving forward and seeing a different plastic surgeon to get it taken care of. The first plastic surgeon told me it would be about a 4 hour surgery and the incision would be 4 - 5 inches wide and the risk of infection is high due to the area and that you have to have drains for about a week. This all freaked me out so I want another opinion. Everyone I have seen has never seen anything like it so they are not real sure what they are getting into with the surgery, which also scares me.

I had a small lump which was painful to the touch develop under my arm overnight. The next day it got bigger and that evening it came to a head and drained. I figured it was just a big pimple... all done with... so I thought. Two days later I had a larger one develop in the same area (but not the same place exactly) and then the next day two more for a total of now of... one large one and 2 pea size ones. Going to go see a doctor tomorrow... after 3 days these things are very painful:!

Now here is the kicker! I started smoking about 2 weeks ago after being off for 10 years. I think it may be a reaction to the nicotine or one of the other chemicals in the cigarette. We shall soon see... I quit yesterday. If I ever think about starting again, I'll just light my armpit hair on fire... thats what it feels like now.

I had three of these cysts/abcesses in the armpit area over the course of two years. The third doctor that I saw suggested that I may be allergic to an ingredient in antiperspirants. I have since stopped using antiperspirants and switch only to deodorants and have not have one of these armpit nightmares since. I have had some painful things happen to me in life. None of which are more agonizing than having these cysts/abcesses drained and packed.

Here's my 2 cents for those who are interested. As a disclaimer, I'm a highly educated professional and not a quack, weirdo, new ager or anything along those lines but what I'm about to advocate is certainly not mainstream.

I had a cyst in my left armpit that came and went for about the past 5 years. Sometimes it was very painful, mostly there was a moderate discomfort but it was always there. I did go to a doctor once to have it checked and he suggested I quit using deodorant. Period. Not very helpful for someone who is very active like myself. I did try switching to natural deodorants or going off and on for a couple days without deodorant and there was some improvement but because of BO issues I decided I would just have to put up with it.

After visiting family over this past Christmas and New Year and eating and drinking to excess I felt it was time to clean myself out so I began doing research on detox diets. As I said, I'm pretty active, in good shape and not overweight but I just felt...unclean on the inside. After a lot of reading I settled on the Lemonade detox diet. I won't go into the details here as there is plenty of information easily accessible on the internet. It's recommended to follow this detox for 3-10 days and I lasted 6. Not too bad I suppose. During this period, in addition to feeling great overall, I could see the cyst decreasing in size and pain. That was really the catalyst for how I began to view my overall health, the types of things I put into my body and on my skin. This lead to further research and a lot of change in my overall health.

My next discovery was (hang with me, it's getting stranger) oil pulling. This is simply a process of swishing an edible oil (organic, cold pressed sesame and sunflower seed oil work best) around in your mouth for about 15 minutes each morning then spitting it out. Somehow this has the effect of detoxing your body. I don't understand how it works but it does. I'm 32 and have had acne problems my whole life but in the approx. 6 weeks that I have been doing this my skin has improved so much that it probably hasn't looked this good since before I hit puberty. In addition, the cyst continued to decrease in size till it was merely a small red mark.

By chance, while searching for "natural" deodorants, I came across some posts about using Milk of Magnesia as a deodorant. I've only been doing this for a few days so far but the results have been equally impressive. I just had an international flight and had to go directly to the office afterwards so I went nearly 24 hours without showering and perspired a fair bit between the hot plane, pulling luggage and etc. When I went to take a shower I was shocked to realize that I had almost no body oder. Even using "extra strength" deodorants in the past I could never have gone that long with no odor. As an added bonus I have noticed absolutely no irritation or enlargement in the area where the cyst used to be and I'm not covering my body with even more toxic chemicals. And yes, most deodorants and skin care products do contain toxic chemicals. Shocking but true.

That's more or less my story. I will also add that I have begun using organic, cold pressed coconut oil both in my diet and on my skin and have been very very impressed with the results (google the health benefits of virgin coconut oil). Now, I can understand that this may seem strange but if you do a little digging on the internet you will find many testimonials to corroborate everything I've said. I hope I've just managed to consolidate the information for those who will find it useful. Of course, you could always opt for surgery and who doesn't like to be shot up with drugs, poked with needles and spending time in the hospital? It's almost certainly what your doctor would recommend but I prefer to treat the source of the problem rather than the symptoms. I think that's really th bottom line on this. A cyst is only a symptom of an underlying problem and unless you correct the cause of the problem you won't get rid of the symptom. That's why so many people post about having multiple cysts popping up all over their body or having the cysts return after surgery.

One more thing...I never EVER post on message boards despite spending a lot of time reading them for info. But I feel very strongly about the changes that these simple steps have taken in my life and I'm hopeful that even one other person can benefit from them. Good luck to all of you.