By M T Bargeman on January 20th, 2008
How to Lance Boils and Cysts at Home
This is an old method of ridding a person of a boil or cyst. It hurts to have done, but if you follow the instructions, the sufferer will thank you.
Boils have been the plague of mankind since Biblical Times. Cysts are not much better, just less
sore. The following are the things you need to take care of them at home, and complete
instructions. This should only be performed by an adult, and at your own risk. The writer
assumes no liability for any injury or illness incurred.
This method requires assistance. You, the sufferer of the boil or cyst, will need a helper, as the helper has more leverage than you.
Items you will need:
- Clean beer bottle
- Pot of clean, boiling water
- Pot-holder, or rag to use to hold the beer bottle.
- Tongs, incase you drop the whole bottle into the boiling water.
- Hot, clean rag to lay over the site.
Instructions for the helper:
- Begin by washing your hands very well.
- Clean the site with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball or old, clean rag.
- Soak the rag in water as hot as you can stand, long enough to saturate it. Wring it out, then quickly lay it over the boil. Leave it there a couple minutes, till it cools. Do this as many times as necessary, until you see a whitish “head” come up in the center of the cyst or boil.
- Put the open end of the clean beer bottle in the boiling water for a minute or two, long enough to get hot. Hold it with your dry rag. When it is hot, quickly cap the opening over the boil, and press down til the bottle cools. Rinse it under the tap, then lay it back in the boiling water.
- Place a thumb at each side of the boil, and squeeze, hard. (This will hurt,)
- If the boil has not popped yet, reapply the beer bottle, as many times as necessary to bring it up and pop it.
- When it pops, keep squeezing til there is no more pus or any clear fluid coming out. You will have to repeat steps 3, 4, and 5, until a little blood comes out of the site, but no lymph fluid (the clear stuff) and absolutely no pus, or stringy-looking, foul- smelling stuff.
- Wash the area out with 70% rubbing alcohol or whisky, if you have it.
- This method is safe and reliable, in my experience, and I have never had a victim, er, patient, say their boil ever came back. This can be a painful procedure, but it is definitely worth the relief of the boil, which is a lot more painful and dangerous.
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jc | Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
well that sounds like a great solution. trying that this evening. Making the beer bottle empty should also help with the discomfort i’m thinking.
T | Nov 17, 2008 | Reply
As a long term sufferer of cystic acne, I came across this site during a search immediately after a self-lancing.
The ideas suggested in this article would probably work, but at quite a high level of pain. Over 10 years of self-lancing has culminated in a simple yet highly effective solution, that I deem worthy of passing on.
A thumb tack.
I recommend a thumb tack because of the larger size hole it will create, to allow the material inside to come out more easily. The plastic “handle” on the tack also allows for good control, and twisting.
Clean and disinfect the tack of course. Clean the site of insertion and surrounding area with alcohol. Starting with the lightest of pressure, place the tack point on the highest or softest point of the cyst/boil. Slowly twist the tack back and forth, while gradually increasing pressure. Times may vary, but usually within a minute or two, the thumbtack will begin entering the cyst/boil. If the pain is too much, you’re pressing too hard. relax, ease off on the pressure some, and take your time. With experience, this will become almost totally painless.
Once fully inserted, move the tack in a very small circle. Imagine that you’re trying to “stretch” open the small hole you’ve created. Now, while the tack is still inserted, begin applying squeezing pressure to the cyst/boil, and pull the tack out. Re-insertion may be necessary if material has clogged the hole while squeezing out the material.
This is a nearly painless procedure for me (the squeezing hurts more than the lancing) though neither is bad at all. When finished, treat as you would any minor wound. Clean area thoroughly, apply a mild antibiotic, and a clean sterile bandage.
Dan L | Dec 14, 2008 | Reply
Just tried this method and it worked fine, although I didnt get as much stuff out as I anticipated. Tried poking two more holes with no success at all.
anon | Dec 18, 2008 | Reply
no no no, use a sterile 20 ga. syringe for this purpose, wash your hands, use isopropryl alcohol on the skin first and then lance. buy your syringes from cattle / horse supply stores so no Rx in needed.
Patty | Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
No.3 post is on the right track, but instead of a tack (the point of a tack is too big and crude) use a sewing needle. The finer the point, the smaller the hole. This will leave a smaller scar. Most boils/cysts have a capsule which needs to be penetrated in order for the fluid to escape. Clean your “utensil” and the area to be treated with rubbing alcohol. After all the fluid is drained, apply a soaked cotton ball of peroxide, it will foam like crazy! several swipes will be necessary. I’ve found the peroxide is the BEST healer!
Mira | Mar 17, 2009 | Reply
Oh yeah and does the steps at the top with the beer botttle work with the type of cyst i have??? thats the bigie? and what about soaking it in hot water? plus after the doc did it they put this ribbon thing in it that i either had to have someone pull out and shove another one in there to keep it open and draining which HURTS or go to doc every day for a bit and have them do it. so what about that?
lynn | Mar 31, 2009 | Reply
Mine only are between my two butcheeks like close to my tail bone.. I can’t see good enough to try anything.. And I can’t help but feel to ashamed to ask for help. I just bite the bullet and take the pain, its the size of a golf ball. Sometimes I hurt so bad I think I’m going to faint. I can’t work up the currage to go get it lanced. Some one help me please!!
joe | Apr 6, 2009 | Reply
to #7 (lynn), sounds like you have a pilonidal cyst. If they get big enough, they don’t lance it, they remove it. Had one years ago. Hurts to sit, stand, move… Best bet is to go to the doctor and have it taken out. They don’t come back then. Good luck!
Jack | Apr 30, 2009 | Reply
I get boils on the bottom of my feet sometimes because I work at a job where I sweat all day and my feet sweat a ton in socks and work boots! So, If I forget to wash my feet more than a couple of times a day then I can get them. I’ve been using #2’s suggestion for a long time actually. I have a whole thing of thumbtacks that I keep just for this purpose, along with cotton balls and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. It’s the least painful way of doing it. It’s important to make sure you are very thorough cleaning the area afterward. If you’re not then you can spread the infection and just have more boils you have to pop. I know from experience.
Charlotte | May 5, 2009 | Reply
Lynn, you need to see a doctor. My friend had a pilonoidal cyst (sounds like what you’ve got), and had to have it removed. First, they had tried to lance it, but it just re-filled with fluid. After they cut out the “bubble” the fluid filled into, it never came back!
ass hurts! | May 7, 2009 | Reply
ive got one between my nads and my tail bone close to my anus. ive had it for about a week now hurts to sit. thinking about slicing it with a razor, but the needle thing sounds less painless. ive had boils in other areas that have been lanced at the hospital, but this one is in a very imbarassing spot.
Jay | May 24, 2009 | Reply
i have one on my tailbone been giving me grief for a long time now, today it finally popped and i think im managed to drain most of the pussy blood stuff out, iv shaved around the area and cleaned it as well as i can, is there any more i can do? its been giving me grief for a while now and iv ben to the doctor he gave me some pills to take and it made it better but diddnt take it completley away, that was around 5-6 weeks ago now.
any more help would be very much appriciated
Peter Gillan | Jun 1, 2009 | Reply
Wet a washcloth with very warm water. Ring the washcloth out, and apply it to the boils, leaving it in place for at least fifteen minutes. To make sure the washcloth remains warm enough, rewet it with more warm water every few minutes.
What to do when boils pop.
Once boils have popped, applying saltwater can dry out the pus, which will speed up the healing. In a sink, combine two cups of hot water and two teaspoons of table salt. Wet a washcloth in the water, ring it out, and apply to boils. When the washcloth cools, dip it in the saltwater again, ring it out, and reapply.
Never squeeze or lance boils.
You want boils to drain, but trying to force the issue by squeezing boils, picking them with a pin, or slicing them open with a razor isn’t the way to go. When you do any of the above, you risk spreading the infection. Stick to using warm compresses, which will bring boils to a point where they’ll drain all on their own.
When boils drain, the infection can spread.
Jack | Jun 2, 2009 | Reply
Peter Gillan, I agree with most of what you’ve said and you’re right about popping the boils. I’m the exception though! I get them on the bottom of my feet sometimes. And I’m on my feet all day everyday working! So, letting them pop on their own just isn’t an option for me. I can’t walk on top of painful boils for 2 weeks waiting for them to pop on their own. Any other place on my body and I would. Read my post above about what I have to do. It’s not the best way for boils in general, but I have no choice with my particular case.
Rich | Jul 18, 2009 | Reply
I’ve had a boil, my first, on my rear going on two weeks. At one point the knot was about the size of a tennis ball. It started draining 4 days ago. Still doing the hot compresses, alcohol cleanings, black drawing salve. It’s down to the size of a ping-pong ball now, but yesterday I developed two more on the other cheek. The bandages leak through and must have spread to the other side. This is a real pain in the ass.
Rich | Jul 19, 2009 | Reply
Update:
After compresses I had my wife try the suction method. Used a small dia. glass. and it started pulling out puss. Then she pulled out an empty sack about inch long. Also used a bulb form a turkey baster. Now I hope it will heal without having to pack it. This treatment would probably cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Sure glad I have a wife willing to do this.
Karen | Aug 8, 2009 | Reply
But what if there’s no pain? For the last couple of years I’ve had a lump, maybe the size of a quarter on my butt cheek, right in the center, but always forget about it because there’s no pain, no discoloration, just a soft lump under the skin.
And Rich, you better hang on to that one and spoil her.
Frank | Aug 25, 2009 | Reply
As a large gentleman Ive become quite proficient at lancing various sores over the years, most of them forming in the folds of the skin. Its best if you find them fast and deal with them before they get too big . . the bigger they get the more painful they become, and the less likely you will be able to deal with it yourself.
I usually start by microwaving one of those hot/cold compresses and placing it over the boil, the hotter the better, And removing it after awhile depending on how much the pain has gone down.
I then swab the area in alcohol (usually isopropyl 99%) it stings like a bastard but i know its disinfected.
Then i use a needle to repeatedly lance the boil, the needle is so sharp you don’t feel a thing, make sure you use a larger gauge needle however (I made the mistake at first to use Insulin Needles which have a very small point 29ga, they worked but i had to do a lot more holes as they got clogged easily)
Then either use a cloth or paper towel to absorb the puss and infection, in my case because i lance them before they have a chance to grow there’s usually a bit of blood.
Once the boil is empty I usually swab the area with alcohol again (Don’t pour the alcohol on the skin you don’t want isopropyl alcohol getting into the wound, pain is an understatement) to make sure the infection doesn’t spread and then attach a bandage to the lanced boil for a couple of hours to catch any fluid that hasn’t drained.
I have never had a repeat boil and Ive had them in very sensitive areas and have never had to go to the hospital, if you do however they should prescribe some anti-infection medicine, keep whats left just in case.
Noodle | Oct 16, 2009 | Reply
I have large pimple on bum. I sit on it it burst. Now yellow stuff all over me bum. I also have large growth on me balls. It has hole in end and sometime white stuff come out. I try get rid of growth but it still on me ball. Help.