OUCH!

I couldn't think of a better title, unless I wanted to use to some curse words.

 

Yesterday I had a dermatologist check up.  I hadn't been in about nine month and last time I posted about it, I mentioned that my doctor has suggested spironolactone.  It's an prescription taken to lower blood pressure and also has been found to help with hormonal acne.

 

However, it's also known to affect levels of potassium in the body and since I was training for the marathon last year, I opted against doing on the drug.  I prefer to keep things topical and am a minimalist when it comes to any medicine; even ibuprofen and Tylenol.  I prefer to just "stick it out", have some caffeine, etc.

 

This is besides the main topic of this post, but the most helpful thing my derm suggested to me to improve my acne was to lower my dairy intake, specifically milk.  For whatever reason, with hormonal acne, milk is know to cause flare ups and redness.  I used to drink a class of milk at least once now a day and now I rarely drink it.  I get my calcium through Tums (maybe this isn't the best option) and veggies.  It has made a HUGE impact on my skin.  If you're struggling with acne, I definitely consider at least trying to go milk free for a few weeks. 

 

In case you're wondering, I do still enjoy cheese and ice cream, probably more than I should, on a weekly basis.

 

Anyways, back to the OUCH part. 

 

There were two areas of concern I wanted to address with derm. First was a raised mole on my back.  I've had it as long as I can remember and it'd never changed color nor grown in size.  However, last Saturday when I woke up, Ben commented that my back looked "gross" (thanks Ben).  I looked in the mirror and somehow my back, including a mole, had been scratched and was bloody (tmi? sorry!) It was on the sheets and everything.  The only conclusion I could come to is that Oscar, who sleeps in our bed, must have scratched it during the night.

 

The second issue was this guy:

 

The clear spot on my upper left cheek.  It developed over the past couple months.  It didn't hurt or anything, but was a vanity nuisance. It was identified as a cyst.  He said that most most likely it wouldn't go away on it's own and it could grow in size.

 

The doc said both items looked healthy and could stay, but he could also remove if I wanted. My back mole was a no-brainer. I didn't want it to get bothered again and I've considered having it removed for age. The cyst I wanted to get off.  The surprise was that he wanted to do everything then and there!

 

I hate hate hate needles and all things medical/poking/prodding, so this was a bit of a shock, but I consented. For my mole, it was numbed with a shot and then "scooped" out.  The cyst on my cheek was a bit more involved.  Local numbing, incision, cleaning, and two stitches, which I'll need for the next week.

 

It wasn't the most painful thing in the world, but I'm definitely still sore even now.

 

I left the doctor's office looking like this (I was uber excited that it was done with)

 

 

Luckily, I found a better flesh colored bandaid.  Plus with my hair down today, it helps to hide it a bit.  If you want to join in the trend, I'll be rocking my bandaid for the next week!