Some worries feel heavier than they need to be. Carry it lightly, get the facts, and let the people who do this every day handle the rest.
This photo shows a woman’s upper back with a large, tight red lump just beside the shoulder blade, surrounded by dozens of small dark blackheads and a few smaller bumps.
A lump like this is most likely an inflamed epidermoid cyst. It begins when a blocked follicle forms a small sac under the skin that slowly fills with keratin.
The upper back has many oil glands and is hard to reach when washing, which is why blackheads and cysts so often appear there together.
Once the cyst becomes inflamed it can swell to several centimetres in a few days, turn warm and shiny, and ache whenever a bra strap or backpack presses on it.
A doctor will look at the lump closely, feel whether it moves under the skin and check the blackheads around it to decide what needs treating first.
If it is a cyst, the skin is numbed, the lump is opened through a small cut and drained, and the sac is taken out so the swelling does not return.
The blackheads can be cleared with proper extraction tools at the same visit, and the area is then cleaned and covered with a light dressing for a few days.
Washing the back daily, wearing clean breathable fabrics and not squeezing bumps at home all help keep new blockages from forming.
Carry it lightly and let the professionals take over. The videos below show back cysts and blackheads being treated by professionals.
