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What Causes Hard Circular Lump On Left Buttock?

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Posted on Mon, 8 Sep 2014
Question: Hello, I'm a 19 y/o male, height 5,10, weighing 176 lbs. A couple of months ago I experienced a really painful hard brown circular lump on my left buttock. I was not sure what caused it seeing as I hadn't fallen or anything I could only assume maybe I leaned and put a lot of pressure on that area while sitting down as I play piano quite a bit. After about 3 days the pain and swelling went away but it left a noticeable dark scar and this has happened on and off for the past 7-9 months on different areas of my left buttock. I haven't experience this anywhere else on my body. Today I woke up and I could barely even sit and yet again there was a lump but this time it's much bigger than the ones prior being about an inch in diameter, no hair growth inside the circle, the skin looks dead and it is obnoxiously painful. Any ideas what this might be or how I could get rid of the problem? I might even have to take off of work tomorrow because it is just that painful!
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
Kindly send good resolution pictures

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Welcome and thanks for posting your query to the forum.

I can understand your concern for the problem of painful hard brown circular lump on left buttock. It is really very distressing sometimes to find anything which hampers our day to day life.

There can be multiple possibilities of the lump and to diagnose the exact entity I request you to kindly upload few good resolution pictures of the affected area so that I can analyze it better.

Kindly send good resolution pictures focusing the area of concern which can be seen on higher magnification. For uploading the pictures you have a facility on the right side of the page or can send on:

YYYY@YYYY

with "attention:Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia"

The pictures will be confidential and would not be available for anyone else to see except me.

Hope to hear soon from your side.

With regards,

Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia
MD- Dermatology & Sexually transmitted diseases
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia (4 hours later)
I have emailed 5 photos of the best quality I could personally take. The pain has not subsides overnight as we'll. Hope to here from you soon!
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
"Recurrent Folliculitis": maintain hygiene

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Welcome again and thanks for posting your pictures.

After reading your query with diligence and correlating with pictures it seems that you are suffering from the problem of "Recurrent Folliculitis".

To tell you simply - This is a condition of inflammation and infection of the hair root and oil gland attached to it.

To explain it medically, we have hair all over our body which have opening of the oil glands attached to it. By many a factors these hair root and oil gland can become inflamed and infected leading to folliculitis.

The reason for the inflammation and infection of the area is due to the fact that our body harbor multiple types of bacteria on the skin which are known as “Normal flora” of the skin. A bacteria “Staphylococcus aureus” is also a part of that flora, but as soon as there is some break in the skin or trivially also due to bit ups and downs in immunity, the bacteria gets access into the skin and causes the aforesaid process of inflammation and infection. Buttock area is prone for friction therefore is more prone for such kind of infections.

When it is superficial it heals without any problem, but when it is deep it causes lot of pain and swelling around the area. In general these persist for few weeks and heals without any problem. After a period of time our immunity prevents the further formation and inflammation. The main concern is when it is occurring frequently and regularly.

There are certain important tips regarding your problem:

1. Do not pinch, pop or even try to touch any of the area.

2. Kindly avoid scratching any area of normal skin also, as it leads to minor entry points for the entry of bacteria.

3. Wear cotton clothes and cotton undergarments to be changed two times a day.

4. Maintain proper hygiene and take two times daily bath.

5. Avoid any kind of stress, even for this condition also as stress is one of the very important factor playing role in our immunity (making it low) so prone for infections. Yoga, meditations and simple walk do help a lot in improving immunity.

6. For the present condition now, you can do warm saline compresses (1 glass of water and pinch of salt in it) for 2-3 times a day.

If I were your treating dermatologist then would have suggested you to apply plain antibacterial cream such as fusidic acid or mupirocin (latest is retapamulin) and to take pain killer tablet such as Ibuprofen or paracetamol by mouth for reducing the intensity of pain and redness.

If these are enlarging and painful, then along with above mentioned measures you would require a course of oral antibiotics (best after culture and sensitivity of pus) under medical advice. If at all you take oral antibiotic, then do take proper dose and full course of antibiotics (as improper dosing and schedule leads to antibiotic resistance and then recurrent nature of the situation).

Eat healthy and nutritious food to improve your immunity at its best because is the most important factor in reducing and eliminating any infection from the body.

Hope I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be happy to help or if not then can close the discussion and rate the answer.

Wish you good health.

Regards,

Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia
MD- Dermatology & Sexually transmitted diseases
Note: For further inquiries on surgery procedure and its risks or complications book an appointment now

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia

Dermatologist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 4165 Questions

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What Causes Hard Circular Lump On Left Buttock?

Brief Answer: Kindly send good resolution pictures Detailed Answer: Hello, Welcome and thanks for posting your query to the forum. I can understand your concern for the problem of painful hard brown circular lump on left buttock. It is really very distressing sometimes to find anything which hampers our day to day life. There can be multiple possibilities of the lump and to diagnose the exact entity I request you to kindly upload few good resolution pictures of the affected area so that I can analyze it better. Kindly send good resolution pictures focusing the area of concern which can be seen on higher magnification. For uploading the pictures you have a facility on the right side of the page or can send on: YYYY@YYYY with "attention:Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia" The pictures will be confidential and would not be available for anyone else to see except me. Hope to hear soon from your side. With regards, Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia MD- Dermatology & Sexually transmitted diseases