Infection

[237SJ]

Just wondering, really. My late Dad had a lump that came up on the back of his neck. It was about the size of a large marble. My Mum said that his father had one in the same place. It was flesh coloured and round with no head or anything unusual about it apart from the fact that it was there. After about 15 or 20 years the lump started to appear inflamed and angry and he went to the doctor`s. The lump had apparently become infected and it was lanced. An awful lot of foul pus came out of it and Dad had to regularly go to have it drained and dressed by a nurse. My question is - why would a lump like that become infected when it has no exit to the outside? Where did the infection come from and how did it get in?

[Sqad]

It was almost certainly a sebaceous cyst.

It becomes infected because it is in an exposed position the the collar of his shirt or coat which would allow a portal of entry for infection.

Yes.....the sebaceous glands do have exits onto the skin.

[237SJ]

It was above his collar. I did wonder if infection could go down a hair follicle. Thanks Sqad. That clears up the mystery.

[Sqad]

;-)

[wildwood]

Ehw, our son has one of those sebaceous cysts, also in his neck but above the collar line. The doc said to leave it alone as it is harmless.

[Peter Pedant]

Sebaceous cyst that became infected,
My father used to take them out under local in his (GP's) surgery
but that was in the fifties.
He also said amazingly because it is linked to your question that as a surgical principle if if there was something (in this case a hair follicle) that should drain naturally and it got blocked, then an infection would occur behind the block. [works well for kidney and gall stones ]

and this seems to be true - I wouldnt be surprised if Paget or Hunter described it first