"How soon
can I get back to sports/working out?" - That depends on how big
your wound is, which method of healing you are using and your own
common sense. What you DON'T want to do is do things that are going
to disturb the mending tissue in your wound during the first 4
weeks. If there is a high probability that you might fall and hurt
your tailbone area then you shouldn't be doing it.
- Bike riding is good (on a quality saddle that takes pressure
off the tailbone, not those wide granny seats on bikes at the
gym. And no sitting upright on the seat, lean forward.)
- Yoga is good.
- Gentle weightlifting is good, just remember that heavy lifting
causes tears in your muscle tissue which the body has to mend at the
same time as it's mending that big wound on your behind.
- Most of all, be sensible and listen to your body - if something
hurts, stop doing it!
It will also depend on
your tolerance for risk. Many people's willingness to risk
infection/recurrence is less than zero, which means open healing and
no activity that might affect that nice, new healthy tissue filling
in the wound...
"Can I go swimming
while I'm healing?" - The official line on this is NO for pools
and/or lakes (icky things in the water + open wound = infection) and
POSSIBLY for ocean. If you have an open wound, be smart. Salt water
is good for wounds, but how clean is the water at your beach,
really? We've had some doctors give the green light for ocean
swimming and some say to not risk it. The one thing all agree on is
NO POOLS.
"Explain this Packing
thing?" - For people having open healing, you get a lovely 8
weeks of packing the wound while it heals. Packing is an overview
term for the cleaning and dressing of the wound. At least twice
daily you will need to flush the wound out with either water or
saline to remove debris and dead tissue from the healing process.
After flushing the wound, you will insert a moistened piece of gauze
inside the wound to keep the sides from touching each other and
mending together. Fold the piece of gauze over at least once but
don't make it so bulky that it hurts when it it's in there. Then put
another piece of gauze or pad over the top to cover the wound and
tape it down.
"I had no pain for the
first few days after surgery but now here on day 4/5 IT HURTS!"
- Most probably your surgeon used a long-acting anesthetic in
the wound. This deadens the nerve endings for several days and when
it wears off you get the joy of post surgery pain, although it will
be less since you are most of the way through the inflammation
phase of wound healing, which is the most painful part. Remember to take your pain
medication when you start to feel the slightest twinge of pain
during this period. Pain meds work better when taken before
you are seriously in pain.
"Why isn't my wound
healing?" - The possibilities:
- You are either healing slowly because of nutritional
deficiencies/impaired immune system.
- There is an infection present. An infection can come from
several sources: debris/hair in the wound bed, a sinus that was
missed during surgery or the surgeon not removing all the
infected tissue. Don't mess with surgical wound infections, they
can lead to Sepsis, which can be fatal if left untreated. See a doctor immediately.
- Not enough oxygen is getting to the wound bed. This is the
single biggest problem with Pilonidal surgery, the placement of
the wound in a location that gets very little air and too much
moisture/debris.
"My wound isn't healing
and my doctor can't figure out why" - Much as we love them, a
surgeon specializes in cutting; healing wounds is not their
specialty. The next best step is to find a Wound Healing Center,
most larger cities have them. Call your local hospital to find the
nearest one. Wound care centers specialize in healing difficult
wounds, it's all they do, and they are on the leading edge of wound
management, which your surgeon probably isn't. We usually advise
people to find a Wound Center if they are still unhealed after 3
months.
"Should my scar hurt
and itch?" - After your wound has healed the new tissue will be
very fragile for a year or longer. You can use topical anti itch
creams, vitamin E, vitamin K or antibiotic ointment to help soften
the scar and make it less irritable. It is important to watch how
much pressure you put on the scar, many people experience slight discomfort
when sitting for several months even after their wound has healed -
a coccyx cushion is the answer. We also advocate swabbing the wound
area once a week with No Bump RX to keep any inflammation at bay
after you are fully healed.
"Hair Removal....HELP!"
- See the
Hair
Removal page.
Also see the rest of the
Aftercare section...
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