What should you know about cysts all over body under skin?

A skin cyst is often a rounded lump beneath the surface that may feel mobile and contain keratin or fluid. Several lumps may occur in different body areas, but a person cannot confirm the cause by touch alone. Lipomas, enlarged lymph nodes, inflamed follicles, and abscesses can also feel like under-skin bumps. Note each lump’s location, approximate size, firmness, mobility, tenderness, and whether the overlying skin changes. [Skin Lumps](/symptoms/skin-lumps/) describes the symptom more broadly. A family pattern or repeated inflammation is useful history for a clinician.

Do not squeeze, puncture, or massage the lumps. Make a simple body map and photograph any visible change so you can describe which appeared first. Keep irritated areas clean and avoid friction from tight clothing. A clinician may monitor quiet lumps, recommend removal of a troublesome cyst, or consider an [Intralesional Steroid Injection](/treatments/injectables/intralesional-steroid-injection/) for selected inflammation. Drainage is not the same as removing a cyst wall, so ask what procedure is being proposed.

Arrange a medical review when lumps are new, multiplying, enlarging, firm, fixed, or persistently painful. Seek prompt care for redness, warmth, pus, fever, or rapidly worsening tenderness; these features can accompany an abscess and may require [Abscess Drainage](/treatments/minor-procedures/abscess-drainage/). Get urgent assessment for severe illness, rapidly spreading redness, or a lump that interferes with breathing, swallowing, or movement.

Ask whether the lumps have the same cause, whether imaging or sampling is needed, and whether [Cyst Removal](/treatments/surgical-dermatology/cyst-removal/) would reduce recurrence for a troublesome lesion.