I wanted to post this online because I googled A LOT before my baby had a dermoid cyst removed, wondering what the scar would look like and agonizing over the surgery, if it was safe, and if he would be scarred for life. So, after he had it done, I took pictures and decided to post them with our story.
This isn't an uncommon condition or procedure, and I found a lot of other moms posting to message boards looking for the same thing: pictures. I hope this sheds some light and alleviates some fears for other moms of babies with smaller dermoid cysts.
From the beginning, here's the story.
My son was born in early July of 2016, and I noticed the tiny bump over his left eyebrow immediately. No one else noticed--it wasn't big. I was just being a mom, studying and loving the face of my new baby. It felt like a grain of rice under his skin.
I bet you can't see it yet.
My husband didn't even notice it until I pointed it out, and then he started to worry. I wasn't worried. I read online that it was probably a swollen lymph node, and it would go away. It didn't go away.
After more reading, I found it was probably a cyst. It would need to be surgically removed. I told my husband I wasn't worried. (Yes. I was worried.)
Instead of panicking, I brought the bump to the attention of our doctor. She wasn't concerned either, and noted the size, and said it was probably nothing. The bump had been tiny when he was born, but at his 1 month visit, the bump was about the size of a small BB pellet.
At age one month...I bet you still can't see it, but it's just above his left eyebrow.
It continued to grow, but slowly. At his three month visit, the bump felt like a small pea under his skin. The doctor referred us to a dermatologist who suspected it was a dermoid cyst, and said it would be easy to remove, and we shouldn't worry. (...And here was this guy, telling me he wanted to cut into my 3-month-old's face and not to worry about it. I played it cool. Hell yes, I was worried.)
At age 3 months, when surgical removal was recommended. This was about the age when friends and family started noticing and asking if he'd "hit his head."
We decided to have surgery done at 7 months. I asked repeatedly about the safety of the surgery and the resulting scar, and the doctor would only say that the surgery was routine and his scarring and healing was more dependent on his personal genetics than the surgeon. I'm pretty sure it was a canned response so as not to get parents' hopes up in case the scarring is worse than expected.
Day of the surgery (age 7 months). The cyst has actually doubled in size from the 3 month picture, but it's hard to tell because baby's head grew a lot during that time, too.
He had his surgery in early February, when the bump was about the size of a large pea.
I got to stay with him while they put him under anathesia, and my husband and I got to be with him while he woke up. He slept most of the day after the surgery, and we used Tylenol when his incision seemed to be bothering him, but he was back to normal the following day.
The surgeon used liquid stitches to help reduce scarring. It looked like he had a smear of grape jelly on his temple until it fell off about a week later.
The day after surgery with his purple liquid stitches.
The scar stayed puffy around the incision (kind of puckered up and swollen looking, but not red or infected) until about 5 weeks after the surgery.
The "puffy" scar after the liquid stitches came off.
When the "puffy" parts went flat, I was impressed with how clean the scar looked.
After the swelling was gone, and the incision line was still red.
It's been about 3 months since the surgery now, and the scar is completely flat. The incision line is still visible, but we're following the doctor's directions (sunscreen and lotion) to help it heal and disappear. Most people don't even notice his scar now unless they're looking for it. I'm pretty sure it will be unnoticeable in a few years.
The scar after the incision line has started to fade to a normal color.
I bet you can't see it again. :)
