What is atheroma? The only treatment for atheroma

The work of the sebaceous glands of the skin can be disturbed with the appearance of atheromas on the skin. Atheroma is a tumor-like formation and refers to epithelial cysts of the skin. Skin cysts are divided depending on the histological structure. But in terms of clinical manifestations and methods of treatment, cysts do not differ, therefore they are united under the general name - atheroma. What is atheroma, and what is the method of treating atheroma, read in our article.

What is atheroma? Possible complications of atheroma

Atheroma is a round-shaped formation with a capsule, inside of which there is a thick white – yellow mass. This mass consists of the keratin protein produced by the walls of the capsule. The frequency of occurrence of atheroma is 5-10%. It was not possible to prove hereditary predisposition to atheromas.

Atheromas can appear on any part of the body, most often it is the skin of the head, face, back, neck and genitals. Patients turn to the doctor with complaints of a tumor-like formation of an elastic consistency, mobile and painless when trying to displace.

In this case, the skin over the atheroma may ulcerate. Read more about other complications of atheroma on estet-portal.com. In rare cases, atheroma can communicate with the skin, which is accompanied by the release of curdled masses with an unpleasant odor.

Before treating atheroma, a differential diagnosis is made with all soft tissue tumors – lipoma, fibroma, dermoid cysts and osteoma. The importance of treating atheroma is to prevent complications.

Possible complications in the absence of atheroma treatment:

• redness of the skin over atheroma;
• increase in size;
• edema;
• suppuration;
• Atheroma during suppuration can spontaneously break out, which is accompanied by an unpleasant odor;
• Infection in atheroma can spread to the surrounding soft tissues with the development of phlegmon.

Extremely rarely, atheroma, if left untreated, can transform into a malignant tumor.

The only method of treating atheroma – surgical removal

Atheroma is treated only by surgery. The operation is performed under local anesthesia and can be performed in several ways. The main goal of the operation is to remove the area of ​​skin that is associated with the tumor, as well as the complete removal of the entire tumor capsule. Sometimes atheroma is removed after making an incision in the skin over the tumor, without opening the lumen of the atheroma.

In other cases, with large sizes of atheroma, the contents of the capsule are first removed, then the capsule itself is removed. In order to carry out surgical treatment of atheroma, you need to make a 3-4 mm incision. The sutures are removed a week after the treatment of atheroma. It is forbidden to wet the operation area for 2 days. It is recommended to treat the postoperative wound daily with antiseptics or betadine solution.

What is the misconception about the treatment of atheroma?

Before the treatment of atheroma, the hair on the head is preliminarily cut off. When atheroma is localized on the body, it is advisable to apply a bandage after surgery. A bandage is not required on the head, as there is no friction of the wound against clothing. After some time, the place of surgical intervention becomes completely invisible.

There is a misconception about the possibility of treating atheromas without surgery. It's impossible. Treatment of atheromas with a radio wave or laser scalpel also refers to surgical methods of treatment.

After all, to remove atheroma, you need to make an incision, and without it, the treatment of atheroma is impossible. Therefore, one should not hope for atheroma treatment without surgery, but one should consult a specialist.