Which antibiotic for infected sebaceous cyst?

[ciaobella55]

I have a cyst on my back which has been there about 5 years, now it's red and painful and the dermatologist says it's infected. He has given me 10 days treatment of Tetracycline, I have only taken 4 days so far but there doesn't seem to be any change, is it normal to be so slow? When I take antibiotics for other causes I always feel better with 48 hours. I just want to be sure I'm taking the right one.
Is it really necessary to have it surgically removed? After reading about scars and recurrence, I'm not sure whether I should just leave it alone once the infection goes.

[ciaobella55]

The tetacycline antibiotics were useless, not only did I feel nauseous all the time but the infection got worse during that week. I went to another dermatologist who opened the cyst and drained it. It's healing nicely and I have more antiobiotics which don't make me sick.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Generally for sebaceous cysts no treatment is required but they become painful then it means they are infected,Then surgical excision by traditional wide excision, minimal excision, and punch biopsy excision may be required.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.