Personal Stores Archive #18

Date:

January 30, 2004

Story

Hello All

First I would like to say this sight has helped me in so many ways!!!!! My husband is 24yrs old and has pilonidal. He's had it for 3yrs. I'am Canadian and he is a greek citizen so basically we are going to pay a bundle for his surgery but he really needs to get this problem under control. He is in panic mode right now because Iam waiting for the surgeon to give him a surgery date sometime in Feb. He will be having an open wound surgery and I went through all the pictures in this sight crying out of control because I have read how painful this procedure is. I will be caring for him after the surgery mentally and physically. The surgeon told me about the care he will need such as the packing of the gauzes. Iam just so scared for him. I did not go into detail on what will be performed on him because considering he does not speak english yet .... I just left that part out. I know that if he knew or saw the pictures I've seen on the surgery he would flip out!!!! The doctor told us he does not have a cyst but he a huge chunck the size of an apple of skin removed. I would appreciate any advice from anyone on what to expect so please helpppppppp me I'm sooooooo stressed out!!!

h_vp 

Date:

January 30, 2004

Story

To the person who recently submitted their story and wrote "This [pilonidal.org] site doesn't offer much hope..."

For most people who visit (and participate) on this site's discussion forum, THIS is THE only site that I've found which 'actively' discusses pilonidal disease in all of its entirety. It has helped numerous people deal with the problem of pilonidal disease, including myself. Without it, who knows what I'd be doing right now: probably sitting on a cyst, which, by this time, would have reached my tailbone and wreaked havoc on it, not to mention who-knows-what...

Let's face it: There is no 'definitive' "cure" for pilonidal disease. Them's the ropes, as we Americans say. For someone to emphatically state that this website "isn't any good" needs to fully read all that it has to offer and then make an informed decision as to do or not to do something about their own case of pilonidal disease. If anyone is looking for a 100% cure-all, I'm going to tell you, as will the webmaster, that one does not exist at this time. Surgery is the viable option for getting rid of the cyst. It cannot be taken down simply by taking antibiotics. If someone wants to live with their cyst, then, by all means, do so, but there are measures one must take in order to make it as comfy as an experience as possible, if you could call it that. LOL

Sure, there are what would seem to many as 'horror stories,' but I feel the people are detailing what happened to them in their own words, so it may come off as seeming downright SCARY. Who wouldn't be scared to find blood oozing from their rear ends? It's not the typical place for something to go wrong on the body when most people have never HEARD of pilonidal disease until they've taken a trip to the ER or finally gotten to the point where they are lucky enough to get correct information. I never heard of it until about age 33, and I (supposedly) have a congenital case of it.

To sum it up, when statements are made that "this site isn't doing anything for me," yadda yadda, it would be beneficial for the person making that statement to: first, calm down and take a deep breath. You're not the only one on this 'boat,' and you certainly won't be the last. Everyone's case is different, yet can be classified as similar. I see a lot of people getting angry (and rightfully so) when they find out the truth: that pilonidal cysts can come back, even if a doctor proclaims that he/she "got it all." That isn't anything any one of us wants to hear, but if we're realistic about the situation and have a positive attitude, I believe that we can get through most things.

Thanks for listening,

Hoosier

Date:

January 29, 2004

Story

Hello all, I'm a 23 year old male who first noticed my pilonidal cyst about 2 years ago. At first it appeared to be just a purple spot on my lower back which gave me no pain. Everyone once and awhile my tale bone would get sore but I usually figured I bruised it during my daily routine(never put 2 and 2 together). I go to the dermatologist yearly and during one of my visits I showed the spot to him. He decided, with all his infinite knowledge, that it should be lanced. After the lancing it routinely became infected(about every other month) and would bleed. I researched online, aka this website, and decided to talk to a colon and rectal surgeon. The Dr. I talked to was very knowledgeable and had done a fair amount of these surgeries. He explained how pilonidal cysts developed and the best way to get rid of them with the least cases of reoccurrence. I went with the excision and open healing but here's the catch... he did it with a laser, and I now sit here 3 weeks later with it almost fully healed. He admitted I was an exceptional case but I was at the hospital for a total of 4 hours(I was put out during surgery) and the most discomfort I felt for the next week was a sore throat due to the tube being down my throat. I was never in pain and never need pain medication. My wound still seeps a little bit but I no longer wear bandages. My incision was about 3.5 inches long. I would definitely recommend laser surgery to anyone. The only thing is to make sure you research the doctors you talk to. I spent a whole week on the phone and web finding the most knowledgeable doctor. Also address the problem as soon as possible, one of the reasons my suregery went so well is I had it within 3 years of noticing the cyst.

Date:

January 29, 2004

Story

Hello every1 once again.... a couple of weeks i wrote about my story.... Im Cindy.... the 18 year old girl who was getting surgery on Jan 26. Well I got surgery done...... On Monday i got to the hospital at 8am and got out of there at 8:30pm.... well at 8:30am i was already in bed and they had taken blood and they were gonna put the IV on me.... all of that happened.... the IV wasnt as painful as i thought it was gonna be thank god... i was a bit nervous but they didnt use no sedation or anything.... i was awake and nervous.... around 1pm the anesthesiologist or however u write that, came and he asked about the anesthesia, i thought it was gonna be general anesthesia since i picked that cause i didnt want to know anything that was going on... he said i was too young to put me to breathe through a tube down my mouth all the way to my stomach and then when i wake up id have a sore throat.... he suggested spinal... i freaked out.... lol..... he said dont worry if u dont want to know a thing, you WONT i was like ok then lets just do it, he immediately injected some kind of sedation through the IV and then i was OUT... i have flashes.... i remember when they bent me over to put the spinal... it was painful... i have four shots in my back... i thought i was supposed to have two shots not four lol but oh well i guess they missed.... next thing i know they where putting me back to my bed and i was like are u guys gonna start already? they were like girlll we r done lol... so i was like gooooooddd.. they took to me to recovery and i slept... at 7pm they tried to see if i could walk but i still couldnt feel my legs completely... at 8pm they tried again and i could.... they took my IV out and boom here i am... next wednesday i have to go to the doctor to take the stitches out... i must have around 12 stitches.... my cyst was almost 5cm.... BIG lol Id say HUGE.... recovery hasnt been THAT painful.... I havent had to take the real strong pain killer which is a narcotic, advil has done it for my pain and its hurting now a little bit more because its cold so i get pain but not something I cant handle... when they drained it it was worse than now after surgery...im glad this is over.... hopefully my wound will heal fast and ill be ok....i recommend all of you who have this problem to take care of it.... it was way too painful... dont be scared... i went through it lol and im a scary cat...... my pilonidal cyst is officially GONE YAYYYYYYY i gotta pray so it wont come back..... take care ya'll....

cindy0485

Date:

January 29, 2004

Story

When I was born, my mother screamed. She thought I must have been physically retarded because I appeared to have a second, well, you know . . . :) The doctor told her it was nothing to worry about -- just a "dimple," and that they were unusual but not rare. What I now know to be a congenital Pilonidal Sinus was something I very seldom thought about, and never gave me any trouble. But when I was 17 and on a two week trip to Europe (coach buses 12+ hours a day, every day), the cyst became EXTREMELY uncomfortable. At first sitting was my only problem, so I mostly stood or laid down. I was on a trip through my high school band program, so I was around a lot of other teenagers and was too embarassed to talk about my problem. One day in the shower I realized that the cyst was bleeding. I allowed it to drain and washed off and just continued on with my day. But this happened, increasingly regularly, for the next week, until it would do this every day! The plane ride home was, as you can imagine, grueling to say the least. When I finally returned home, my parents picked me up at my high school. I got in the car and said "Take me to the emergency room." Once there, I finally found out the nature of my "dimple." The ER doctor explained that my cyst had grown hair during puberty and that all the sitting had caused the folicles to become infected. When she put me under for an emergency surgery I thought the worst part was over. The surgery was not a removal, rather she punctured the cyst to allow it to drain, then stuffed the sinus with gauze to prevent it from healing. Over the next week I wore sanitary napkins (great way for a 17 year old boy to spend his summer, huh?) and took regular doses of Vicodin. At the end of the week (during which the surgery was prevented from healing), my family doctor ripped about 12 feet of gauze out of my sinus. THAT was the most painful part. I never had the cyst removed, but in the 3 years since it bothered me again -- I've gotten used to being careful about not putting too much pressure on it when I sit, and taking frequent breaks during long car trips. However, if you have an infected cyst, don't let my scary description scare you . . . you should definitely get an infection like this looked at by a doctor, no matter how embarassed you are.

Date:

January 26, 2004

Story

Hi all... I'm a 19yo female from Australia, (Happy Aus DAY!). After complaining of severe back pain, which i assumed developed from the fractured coxyc i got 5 years ago, i was admitted immediately into hospital for a lancing. after 4 LONG weeks of undignifying dressings and depressed tantrums, i finally got off my sorry sore ass to research my condition. THANK YOU for this site, the sharing of your stories and the sensible information. i have nothing outstanding or more terrorfying than all the sufferers of this condition, just want to voice my thoughts and prayers for you all, at any time of your life that you experience this disease. Night all, rachel.

Date:

January 25, 2004

Story

My husband whos 24 and normally healthly has had this for almost 2 months now . We went in and they misdianosed us and said it was everything but the Pilonidal cyst so when he was in the hospitol getting treated with antibactrialls and pain meds for hemmeroids and then they said anal fistula , I looked and looked on the internet and found you guys What a lifesaver the Dr at our hospitol ran blood test and a cat scan, ultrasound and all kinds of other test . His lump had went a way after all the rounds of antibacterias and the pain was still outstanding . We dismised ourselves do to not having any health insurance and the Dr had a case ofthe dumb asses. We printed out the whole web site of yours and took it the Dr.s that did not know there heads from there asses and now we go to do the surgery next week with a different DR. thanks for your web site Nicole

Date:

January 24, 2004

Story

I am 19 and I had my first experience with the Pilonidal Disease in January of 2002. It was a horrible thing to experience. I had actually had the cyst for a year before I had the surgery. I was just thinking that it was a boil and that it just kept on coming back. Every time I would pop it, it had fluids just like a boil, and stunk so bad. I had just started a job and was only there for 3 days. The night before I had trouble sleeping because the pain was so bad. When I went to work the next day it started hurting so bad that I could barely walk. I had asked to go home and immediately called my mom and she came and took me to the emergency room. They then told me that I had a Pilonidal Abscess and took me up to a room, to where I had to stay over night in the hospital and they had my surgery scheduled for the next morning. After the surgery the next day, I had felt ten times better. I didn't have to feel all of that pressure anymore. It is now 2 years later and I had another bump come back and THIS time I really thought that it was a boil because the doctors told me that they had gotten all of the stuff out of my cyst the first time. Well it started hurting so bad to where I had to go to the emergency room again which was on January 21, 2004. They then lanced it and I felt so much better. Today which is January 24, 2004, I went back for a check up. Im guessing that when I went to the emergency room the other day I was so doped up on drugs, that I wasn't understanding what they were telling me. Today I found out that I have another Pilonidal Cyst and I have to call my Doctor Monday to schedule another surgery. I am now very upset that I have to have another surgery and I am just wondering WHY this has to happen to me. But from reading everything off of this site, I now know that I am not the only one. . Everyone, wish me luck for my SECOND surgery.

Date:

January 24, 2004

Story

I have now had two experiences with pilonidal disease. About 8 years ago right at the end of my last semester in college I started having problems sitting down and noticed I had some sort of a cyst on my tailbone. I called my Mom to ask her about it and weirdly enough my younger brother was going through the same thing. First she told me to soak in the bathtub and use a hot pad to see if I could bring it to the surface. Which of course didn't really work so I went ahead and went to the doctor. I was living in a small town in Texas at the time and of course the doctor didn't know what it was and advised me to keep doing what I was doing and if it didn't open up to come back and he would lance it. It finally did burst but was never cleaned properly. But for long time I didn't think anything about. Until about 7 years later when another one appeared. Thinking I knew what it was I tried to ignore it but went to a Doctor who informed me it was a Pilodial Cyst and she referred me to a surgeon. Well thinking I could just "pop" it again and not wanting to take time off from work I just delayed going to the doctor. BIG MISTAKE! About a month later it became infected and I started running a low grade fever and finally called the surgeon who immediately scheduled surgery for that afternoon. For the first week or so I was in a lot of pain when I sat down but I was antsy and tried to get out of the house. So I was up and moving around after about a week but the packing continued for a good month and a half. Needless to say my husband was not very pleased. It will be a year in March since I had my surgery and I try to keep it clean back there and I luckly have seen an reaccurance. What amazes me most about this is the lack of knowledge on the subject with healthcare providers in this state. The nurse who assisted my surgery was obiviously disgusted when he informed me of what they scraped out of the cyst. Impling I was a dirty person and never cleaned my long hairs out of my bottom. A friend of mine just recently was diagnosed with it and her doctor told her it was because she doesn't keep herself clean after she goes to the bathroom. Who tells someone that?? But I wanted to submit my story so that people know it doesn't always turn into the worst case scenario. Luckily I have great people around me who were very helpful and supportive. It is crazy though how much more open I have become about my body. I guessing having people examine your butt reguarly for about 2 months is going to do that to a person.

Date:

January 23, 2004

Story

HELLO!!I am a 23 year old female i had my first surgery done on the dec 20th. Every thing was ok at first,painful,but ok. now here it is jan 21st and it still isnt healin it hurts like hell and is still draining. i am now havin to go to the doctor twice a week and he is talkin about another surgery. i dont know what to do. i have three cavaties already back and a pocket.it keeps openin and closin,. this thing hurts worse now than it ever did before.i have been on antibiotics and painmeds forever now i am so sick of meds and my doc it isnt even funny. one mornin i woke up and it just started pourin the blood i thought i was goin to bleed to death. I SHOULD OF LEFT IT ALONE. i feel for anyone who has this.. i hope everyone elses experiences ends happily!!!!EVEN MINE ...

CHRISTY KENTUCKY

Date:

January 23, 2004

Story

About 9 years ago, when I was in my late 20's, I noticed a pain in my lower back when I had been for longer flights. Visiting a Doctor, he told me that I had "cystis pilonidalis" (I live in Denmark so this is probably the Latin Medical term). I was sent to a surgeon, and he told me, that the problem was comming from our past - meaning millions of years ago, when we were still having a tail. - Now today without a tail, we might still have some hair left inside us from the tail, and that could cause the pain, when fluids build up under preassure - like from when you have been sitting for too long. I was cut open, had the hair removed and sewn back together again. I recovered well, and have not paid much attention to it since. - Until last weekend. For some time I had a small pain, and it burst open, and revealed an extra hole down toward my anus. White fluids were comming from the hole. On monday I called my Doctor and got sent on to a surgeon. Got an appointment for twelve o'clock, and there he cut me open, removed the sinus and sewed me back together. This surgon told me, that the cause of the pilonidalis was when we were formed in our very early stages in the womb. - The area in the lower back is formed last, and there could be collected pieces of hair and even a tooth. - So now I have 2 different stories, and had surgery twice. With the pain comming from that very soft area, I do not hope ever to have to go through this again. The site here alas - doesn't offer much hope, so I probably will have to add a third experience to this story - sigh.

Date:

January 22, 2004

Story

Hi my name is Shain and I am 26. I had the open wound surgery Jan 12th 04. I realized I had a problem this summer, I had just bought a new boat and on the very first outing something was wrong, I could not sit I could walk and I did not know why. Well while at our cabin I took a very hot shower and squeeeezed and pop the most disgusting smelling thing you could imagine and alot of it all over the tub. Anyway poof the pain was gone, problem solved.... no, the week of Thanksgiving my pain had come back so finally I make a Doctors appointment, I leave work early and get to the doctors office and as I am sliding out of the truck "pop", here comes that disgusting smell. So after contimplating going home I decided to go in and tell the doctor what happened. Now I wasn't too embarassed being it was the same doctor I have had all my life, delivered me in fact and grew up good friends with their kids, anyway, So she looks at it and said call the surgeon and get an appt. ASAP and tells me about this Pilonidal thing which I have never heard about. After hearing about it and asking people I found it was much more common than I would have ever imagined. Anyway so I start looking on the Net for this thing and hear all of these horror stories and about people not healing and not working for Months, so now I am freaked... I go in and have the surgery, rather painless, except for that darn IV, I hate needles. So I wake up and the surgeon says go to work in 3 days and take some 500mg Tylenol if it hurts. So I do. I have been at work for a week working about 4-5hrs a day, because I sit all day my dressing gets a little wet and uncomfortable. Anyway I guess after all this rambling what I am trying to say is have the surgery because in my opinion if there is a chance that it will never come back again it was worth it. So Happy Healing to everyone and if you want to ask me any questions I will give you a straight answer. And by the way Great Web Site, It is nice to see people take such an extreme effort these days to ease other peoples pain.

Shaink Good Luck

Date:

January 21, 2004

Story

Hey it is me again, I saw the plastic surgeon and I have a z-plasty scheduled for 1/30. I am a little bit scared about the procedure so if anyone has any tips after having one I am all ears -cherb

Date:

January 20, 2004

Story

Hi! I am 18 and had surgery on jan. 03 2003. My pilonidal cyst has still not healed, it has been over a year now and all it keeps doing is opening and closing. It just now closed and just when I thought it was all over with it started with alot of pain. This has happend once before and dont really know why, Inside of me around the area where the cyst is it fills up with blood and feels like it can pop any second. I cant sleep at night and is extremely painful, I knew it had to pop but when. I was at work and I felt something wet and went to the bathroom and my pants where filled with blood, I had to go home. I really dont know what to do now and am very confused and scared. I was thinking of getting a sonogram on it because it cantell where fluid is inside you then may have to have surgery again. I wish it would just go away! Please email me with information!! peaches_N_cream_22069

I need help!!!

jan. 20. 2004

Date:

January 20, 2004

Story

Hello all. At the age of 17 I realized I had a Pilonidal Cyst. Of course, like everyone else, I didn't know what it was at first. I remember having pains around my tailbone area and decided to have mommy take me in. When I got there, the doctor checked me out. He did an incision and drained some of the fluid out. He then stuffed it with gauze and sent me home. During the stay at home, on a daily basis, the gauze had to be changed. Now keep in mind, I was not under any anesthesia, so you can imagine the severe pain I was in. We did the changing of the gauze for about 1 week and after that, I was referred to a surgeon. Dr. Phillips was a specialist in this field and was wonderful. When I was there, he drained it and told me that there was a possibility that it would come back. In the event, he would prep me for surgery. Well, needless to say, I had surgery. The surgery went well and there was still a possibility that it would come back. After 7 years, I can now say that it is back. The pain is still there and I believe it's worst this time. Because I am now 25 years of age, I have my own physician and my great Dr.Phillips is no longer around. At this point, I know I need surgery again, but to go through the doctors that were clueless to this disease, scares me. Just a little of advice, keep in contact with your doctor and take care of the cyst immediately with a doctor who specializes in it.

Date:

January 20, 2004

Story

Hey sorry I just submitted my story the really really really long one and forgot to include my email address in case any one wants to contact me ( good thing the bf pointed it out)

Date:

January 20, 2004

Story

Hi everyone. Ok here is my story it is a bit long so I am sorry if I bore some of you but I will try to write an abbreviated version. I am now a 21 one year old female and everything began the summer of 2003. I was at home in New York for the summer when my long time boyfriend finally forced me to get a doctor to look at my cyst. I had it all through most of high school with it draining the bloody stuff on and off and I guess it had finally gotten to the point to where he was getting concerned so I braved it up and had a doctor look at it. He told me what it was and sent me to a general surgeon. I had no idea what I was in store for, I thought he would just do something in his office and it would be over with. So I went to the surgeon and he told me that I would have to schedule and appointment to have surgery at the hospital, I was in shock I was not expecting this at all. So I scheduled the surgery for 2 days after my 21st birthday ( Probably the last time I was able to wear a thong ) I had the first surgery on July 18th 2003 and all I remember as I was about to go unconscious was the doctor fighting with the anathesiologist ( sorry about spelling) about who was gonna perform the surgery because the doctor said it was infected and he had to do it. I woke up a few hours later in a hospital bed on my back in extreme pain ( I still wish they had left me on my stomach ) They gave me a shot of demoral and I just wanted to get home. I went to the doctor a few days later to get it looked at. It was painful but looked ok at the point since it was all stitched up ( Thank god for my boyfriend taking care of my and my mom ) I had been given tylenol 3 for the pain and it wasn't doing a thing I told the doctor and he said I was being a baby and to deal with the pain ( which happened the rest of the time I saw him and he laughed at my when I cried once too it was tramautizing) The doctor from hell took out some of my stiches about a week later and then left a couple in for a month ( I could not believe he left them in so long ) Finally they all came out and it was closed and I thought it was over. Until a couple of days later when my boyfriend said the wound was opening on its own. I went back to the doctor and without saying a word ( no pain meds of course, not even numbing gel after I begged the nurse for it ) He re-opened the wound by ripping it apart with his hands and told me to start packing it. ( My boyfriend was in horror at what he had seen and we were both traumatized) Luckily my best friend's mom was a nurse and she said she would show my boyfriend how to pack the wound. She took off the bandage and sort looked at it in horror she said the woudn was terribly infected and since I was leaving for Delaware in a couple days I better go to the emergency room to get some antibiotics. So my mom called and I got an appointment for the emergency room for the next day under the agreement that I would not be seen by my surgeon because I was terrified of him. So what happens the first person we see there is my surgeon and my dad has a nasty verbal fight with him to keep him away. Thank god for daddy and his nurse looks at it and gives me some antibiotics and vicodin ES ( made my drive tolerable) and it turns out that my dad is good friends with the nurse's family and then her attitude changes toward us and we finally get an apology about the doctor. Well I get to DE and every tells me to go to student health in a few days to check on the infection. Now I can really shorten the story even though it is already super long ( I am so sorry but hopefully it will help someone like this site had helped me and writing this has been very therapeutic) I got a super nice doctor at student health and very nice nurse practioner and student health became like a second home to me ( they all know me by first name) The doctor performed another 3 or so minor surgeries on my under local anesthesia trying to help it heal since it kept flaring up while healing and as soon as the packing gauze was put away I would have to take it out again. ( I can not thank my boyfriend enough to being there to pack the damn thing) During the course of this the doctor sent me to one surgeon who would not even speak to me only my boyfriend even though the damn thing was on my body. He told me I would be fine and gave me some silver nitrate cream. So like I said this began in July and by the end of December before I went on my holiday break the thing was finally healing until one day at student health ( what was to be my last visit before the break ) the doctor took off my bandage and there was that shocked silence again, the thing that had looked so good a few days ago now looked like a completely different wound. They told me to try taking baths over the holiday and put me back on antibiotics (Since July I have been on almost ten courses of antibiotics, damn infection ) Over the break it was painful but I refused to go to an emergency care unit I needed a break from doctors. The first week of January I was back at student health and I was sent to a wound care center. The super nice doctor at student health had a lunch with a friend who was a wound care nurse to speak about me and my problem and to look for a solution. ( oh and I was on antibiotics again) At the wound care center I finally met a nice surgeon ( after the two from hell) He said that he believed there were still some tracts underneath and the cyst was never fully cleaned out. He was now a vascular surgeon and even though he said he did pilonidals in the past he had not performed surgery on one in a while and he suggested I go to a plastic surgeon he works with. Who he called while I was in the office to make sure he felt comfortable working on a pc. So here I am coming near to the end of the January about 7 months of pain and discomfort and hopefully the end is near. I see the plastic surgeon tomorrow and I will see what he says. I read what someone else had wrote about their pc on the site and it sounded like mine that would start to heal and then recede and he ended up getting a z plasty. My boyfriend does not want me to undergo that I really do not want to do that either but I also want to get rid of the cyst. I will write again and tell you what the plastic surgeon says. Wish me Luck! and I promise next time I write it will be short , and I only hope no one else has the problems that I have had to deal with and the problem doctors. Good Luck everyone!

Date:

January 19, 2004

Story

Well I just got a call from the hospital and my surgery is booked for February 11 2004. I'll write back to tell you how it all goes. I am really hoping that I will be able to go to class the following Monday. Here's to hoping.

Date:

January 19, 2004

Story

I had my pilonidal cyst removed 1/16/04. I am on the 4th day of recovery. I guess I'm pretty lucky, since my recovery has been pretty much painless compared to what I've been reading. My Dr. made a 3 or 4 inch incision and I gave me a drainage bottle (looks like a grenade)that stuff is draing in to. The Dr. did not tell me about the drainage bottle or that the incision would be as large as it is. I got the impression it would be much smaller. I was told once this is removed this would be it. We'll see how it goes. The web page has been very informative.

M.D.

Date:

January 19, 2004

Story

I felt a bit of pain at my tail bone so i reach back their and only to find a small lump. (just at the top of my crack) you can't really see it but I feel it just below the skin. it feels like its about the size of a bean. what should i do? should i just live with it? Sounds like after the surgery you end up with a gaping hole in your back. does it ever heal and look like a normal butt? or will it just remain a hole. supernatural04

Date:

January 18, 2004

Story

I'm female and 36, and had my pilonidal cystectomy when I was 19. I still feel guilty for scolding my poor cat when the thing ruptured - I woke to a horrible smell and a soaked and ruined bed, and thought at first the cat had done a nasty on the bed. It took a while to recover - had to drop out of my semester's classes because I couldn't sit in the classrooms. I told friends and family for years that I broke my tailbone falling down the stairs and had to have it removed, to avoid the embarrassment of explaining what it really was. If anyone's delaying having the surgery, muster the courage and do it, because you don't want it to grow bigger, and it will if you just keep lancing it. They can grow like a twisty cavern and get very deep, after which it's hard to get them out. My surgeon used a laser to get everything - it had gone four inches deep with several channels. No recurrences so far, though I'm thinking that must be because there couldn't possibly be a single hair cell back there after that.

Date:

January 17, 2004

Story

I am only 16 and I just found out that i have apilonidal cyst. Apparently it's been there for a little over 2 months. I was babysitting my 2 year old cousin, we were rough-housing around and i was laying on my stomach on the ground as he came up behind me and jumped on my tailbone area with his knee. I though he only bruised it and i thought it was no big deal. But then, it wasn't just a bruise, i couldn't sit, lay down (on my stomach either), or walk. It even hurt to stand. I told my dad and mom about what happened and they thought he maybe cracked or deeply brusied my tailbone. Come to find out, the doctor checked it out and discovered it was a pilonidal cyst. I suffered for 14 days even with medication. No sleep, I had final exams at school for the semester the next week, my school work suffered and i was a bother to a lot of people. I went to the doctor after my medication was done and they drained it. It felt immediatly better. But became infected again and was even bigger this time. The hospital members we very nice during my day surgery. Now I'm actually glad I was hit by my 2 yr old cousin, because if it wasn't for him, I would have never known that I had a pilonidal cyst and it could have been a lot worse.

Date:

January 17, 2004

Story

Hi...my name is Cindy and I'm 18 years old.... i have a pilonidal cyst and Im getting it removed on Monday Jan 26,04. Im very scared but I don't think its gonna be worse than all ive been through already.... Around 3 years ago, i had what they called an abscess.... it was like a huge pimple filled with pus and blood.... when i went to the doctor they popped it and it was very painful... well to make the story shorter... about a month ago... i had pain in my tailbone... i was worried cause ive been through a lot of pain.... I decided to go to the doctor to see why it was hurting so much, on Dec.19,03 I went and they doctor told me i had a pilonidal cyst... he told me that when they popped that abscess that i had....they had left this certain wound open.. and due to this... a hair grew and when inside by the opened wound.....thats how i got my pilonidal cyst..that same day, the doctor made an incision and packed gauze in my wound so it would drain very painful i must say..today Jan 17,04 i went to the doctor and they took blood, and did more exams.... im getting surgery on jan26,04 and I cant wait until its over...Its my first surgery and i hope that it wont be so painful.... wish me luck and i hope i never get this again......

cindy0485

Date:

January 15, 2004

Story

This site is amazing. Thank you so much for creating it!!Officially today I got my phone call for my surgery date (that being Feb 5th!). My story probably most likely began a year ago when I hit my backside on a corner. But I do believe that my cause was from childbirth, I've had my "dimples" for as long as I can remember. But never really took a second thought about them. And plus I can't really see them and they (it) is actually right on my crack overall not in a very noticeable spot! I'm a 21 year old female and on November 4th 2003 my butt was sore. Maybe the fourth time getting sore in the past year, but it always went away. Well this time it got really really sore and I thought that maybe I injured my tailbone. So I then decided I'd better go to the doctors, just in case. Well when she looked she new right away what it was and completely freaked me out by first saying "it's serious and you'll need an operation" then she continued to tell me how it wasn't life threatening but more a pain in the you know what more than anything. So she put me on medication to get rid of the infection. But the next day it was alot bigger and much more sore, and the day after that was extremely painful. On top of the pain there was the sweating, fever and sleepless nights. And that one night I think thursday night I had probably 105 degree fever and most likely should have gone to emergency. So on friday went to the doctor and she said I needed to get it lanced!! By that time it basically came to a head and reminded me of a huge blister. I can't tell you how scared I was of getting lanced, the whole thought of a needle of freezing being stuck in my butt almost had me in tears. But on the way to the hospital, lying on my side in the car, I all of a sudden felt something warm and then a tingling sensation then a relief of pressure. It had POPPED!!!! I couldn't believe it and the smell, I wanted to die right then and there. The puss completely saturated my pants right through to my wool coat. And if that wasn't bad enough I had to stand in line for 45 minutes to see a trauma nurse then sit for 2 hours to see the emergency doctor, all while being in my disgusting, stinky wet clothes (I fealt sorry for everyone else in the waiting room!!). Of that whole experience it was the worst day of my life! The only good thing was I didn't need to be lanced. YIPPEE!! But all in all I am finally getting the surgery because I would never risk an experience like that ever again! And just wanted to say how greatful I am for this site because I am no longer freaked out about the surgery! My surgeon isn't very talkative and I didn't get all the answers I needed but now I feel alot more prepared. And more prepared for what kinds of questions I will be asking him! P.S. My poor wool coat still stinks even after getting it dry cleaned, it is ruined!

Date:

January 15, 2004

Story

Hi

I'm a 27 year old male, 6 days into post surgery. I had pain in my tailbone on and off for three years and of course ignored it, stupid as I am. Finally my father-in law who's is adoctor spoted it and had his co-worker operate on me.

I have an open wound, as this was the best way to keep the cyst away for good. the first three days were painless, but then on the forth day, BOMMMM!! suddenly in the middle of the night I woke up from unbearable pain. for the past three days, I haven't been able to move much or sleep at nights. my wife has been there for me, God bless her, but she hasen't been able to sleep either because of me tossing and turning all night. Pain killers?? what the hell are those. name one I haven't taken in the past few days. none of them had any impact except for sending me to wonderland and back, with pain. I felt like Alice. when I open my wound to look inside, I see a big white wall, connecting tissue is what they call it. it looks groce but I took a few pictures and sent them to my friends. I wanted them to be groced out to. Ha ha ha. The pain is really bad. specially when I try to get up. it feels as if someone sticks a knife in my tailbone. I finally found a way to keep the pain away a bit so that I can sleep. the trick is to keep it warm. very very warm that is. I put on the heater, put thick clothse on and have two comforters on me. pure steam sauna, but it works. I sweat my ass of, but it works.

I know that this is only temporary and will go away, mainly due to my good doctor who did a good job, but for heavens sake, this has made me realize how important health is in life and how fragile we are really. just look at what a tiny little "piss ant" syst has deone to my life. after having read all your stories, I don't feel alone anymore. I wish you all the best and a well recovery, from my side of the wonderland. I will post again after a few weeks to let you know about my good friend the cyst.

take care A.C Los Angeles

Date:

January 15, 2004

Story

Hi This is a respond to the last writer on january 15th 2004.

I know you've seen many doctors, but I recommend that you visit an Iranian (persian) doctor. the reason I'm saying this is that iranians are exposed to pilonidal more than anybody else and as the matter of fact, their doctors are very familiar with it. they know very well how to handle it. I'm sure other docotrs are excellent to but it's worth a try. I was treated by one my self and recoverd very well.

regards. A.

Date:

January 15, 2004

Story

Hi everyone. First I need to say that this website is unbelievable and a great thing for all of us. I know back in 1996 when my disease surfaced, there was barely any info on the web regarding PD. It is definitely comforting to know others are out there dealing with similar issues. My story is that I’m a 26 year old male who has had this disease since I was 19. Over three years I had 6 surgeries including 4 open surgeries, a basic lancing and a Z-plasty. The main problem with my abcesses is the fact that after I had an open surgery the wound would only heal to a point and then recede on me. It was extremely frustrating and finally after seeing many doctors and getting daily packings, a surgeon had the guts to admit he couldn’t figure it out. He stopped recommending that he continue cutting me and found me a plastic surgeon that performed the Z-plasty. What happens in this procedure is the surgeon basically removes the cleft of your butt by rearranging the skin in a Z pattern and sewing it up. By removing the cleft the belief is that the abcesses don`t have an ideal region to develop in. Please don`t get me wrong, the Z-plasty is an extensive procedure that alters your rear end permanently and can be quite traumatic. It was suggested for myself because nothing else seemed to work. Nothing to dive into without exhausting the main options first. However, its been five years since and even though about 4-6 months of that was recovering from the surgery fully (about 3-4 weeks and I was back to normal day activities but swelling and some discomfort doesn`t disappear for several months). So if your at your wits end, maybe this can be an option for you to discuss with a doctor. It will however end your dreams of being an exotic dancer and wearing a thong will never be the same! What is extremely frustrating is that I believe that I have developed another abcess lower down my butt and looks like another surgery is forthcoming. I know that recurrence can happen after any procedure but as the years went by the confidence rose. I`m writing this message today because I really believe this illness brings plenty of emotional pain to the individual and can impact quality of life immensely. Nowadays, I can handle the surgery and the physical pain and have gotten over the stigma of this disease and showing my rear to every health professional in the area is not an issue anymore. However, I think I`m not alone when I say its tough not knowing if things will recur or the fact that there is very little information on the exact cause or treatment of this disease. Personally, I feel like I need to do something to bring this disease more to the medical forefront and help solve some of the emotional issues we are dealing with. We need more research done on this disease and hopefully this will help develop more effective treatments and techniques. They say this disease is more common than it seems and this website proves there are a lot of us out there. I would love to know what anyone thinks about this subject, any thoughts you have or stories you would like to share with me about any aspect of the disease. I will most certainly do the same back. This is a wonderful website and the developer should be very proud of herself.  Also if any one is dealing with this in Toronto, Canada…I had my Z-plasty done there and can give you the name of the surgeon if you like. Great guy. Take care everyone and never give up hope.

Date:

January 14, 2004

Story

Hi!

Here is my Pilonidal Cyst Disease experience. I'm a 24 year old female in Canada who had a very successful PC excision in mid November 2003. This week, I had my final visit with the General Surgeon who performed the operation. I am extremely pleased with the result and have no regrets about doing it. I apologize for the length of this story.

I was born with a pin head sized hole right at the top of my bum crack, where the tail bone is, with 2 or 3 other holes along the crack. It looked similar to the picture at www.surgical-tutor.org.uk only smaller. My father had Pilonidal Cysts and my brother has them in another area of his body.

There were no problems with it until my 20's, which I think is due to the fact I do a lot of sitting when I work on art projects (2 to 5 hours at a time). Initially I noticed just a small dime sized lump at the top of my bum crack. Eventually this area would became very sore, hurt to lightly touch it without oozing, then the pain subsided. This happened severel times between the ages of 20 to 22. I went to my General Practitioner when it began to ooze blood mixed with fluid after sit-ups. There never has been a smell as some people have experienced. My Dr immediately identified it as a Pilonidal Cyst and that there were 2 options: Surgery to remove it or learn to live with it. I declined the surgery due to fear and wanting all the information I could gather on this condition, so my Doc prescribed Keflex for it in the meantime.

After reading all the helpful info I could lay my eyes on, I was still terrified of surgery. All I could think of was the worst possible outcome. I did not want to be butchered. Also, I had never had surgery where I am completely out of it. However, in 2003 my PC developed a sibling. Another cyst appeared on my left bum cheek, in the fleshy part and close to the original cyst at the top of my crack. I thought it may be a bad pimple or boil, but no such luck. This little bugger was about dime sized and eventually oozed blood/fluid without a smell. Both my mom and Doc looked at it and saw that it was shallow. It healed, but the story ain't over.

During September 2003 the top crack cyst was a royal pain in the ass. Multiple flare ups and oozing. By pressing hard forced out a lot of blood, tiny bits that were thick like clotting or pus, and even a few hairs came out. Weird. I had had enough and saw my Doc to inform her I wanted surgery. My appointment was in early October with a General Surgeon. He was terrific and gentle. Has a pleasant and very professional manner about him. His eyes were a beautiful sky blue and an attractive kind face, not that it's important to mention. I'm very shy and hate strangers touching me, but it was so easy to let him examine me. He said the cyst is Pilonidal Cyst Disease and talked out the surgery options and rates of occurrance. His preference is open wound healing which I feel after reading about it and actually having it was the best option for me. The surgery date was made for mid November 2003.

My surgery was considered day surgery, meaning I stay over night at the hospital to be released at 7 AM. I was completely put under, I don't remember if it was MAC or General Anesthesia. My lovely mom picked me up after. Anyhoo, I could not eat or drink anything the night before surgery. I was admitted into the hospital at around 11 AM on a Thursday. I was weighed, had blood tested, and answered questions pertaining to allergic reactions to anasthetics. Then changed into hospital couture (gown) and given a bed to wait in. One noteworthy tidbit is the anal analgesic suppository inserted while waiting for my 1 PM surgery. What fun!! My surgeon prescribed the anal thing because it numbs the area. Although I have no comparison, I'm happy to have the anal area numb. Around 12:15 I was taken to another area for more questioning and waiting. Had to take my watch off, so I don't know the exact time I was wheeled into the Operating Room.

This is when I begun to feel nervous and very interested in what goes on for surgery. Lying naked save for a gown in a large well lit room with several masked and gowned strangers doing their job is unique. I felt powerless and scared, but that is not their fault. My right hand was attended to by 2 people for placing the IV. Then my surgeon entered the OR to look at my cyst, he said it was smaller than the last time he saw it and then he left. Shortly after he left, the anesthesiologist told me the drugs were going to be released into the IV. What an incredibly weird sensation. Felt like cold water being forced into the veins, my whole arm tensed and tingly, my fingers splayed out. Almost immediately after that a masked was placed over my face and I heard someone say something like "Here's some oxygen to breathe." Well I was out like a light after 3 breaths. Hmmmm, probably was not oxygen. I don't remember anything after that.

Waking up around 2 PM, I was groggy, had a scratchy throat (from a tube inserted for breathing) and was dressed in mesh panties and gauze. I was asked if I was in pain. Yes I was. More drugs were pumped into the IV. I cried a bit with my mom. By the evening I was able to walk to and from the bathroom. When I was given dinner, which was broth, juice, tea, and some other liquid, I thought I would vomit. I did not and that feeling went away shortly. Sleeping was very difficult. I switched seemingly every 20 minutes between lying on my hips and stomach until 7 AM. The nurses were great. The packing was surprisingly small. I was shocked when I saw how little there was.

I was released at 7 AM with a few painkillers and an info sheet from my Surgeon telling me what to do and when to see him again.

Although I have a somewhat high threshold for pain, this was god-awful for the fact the only comfortable positions are standing and lying on my stomach. For next 43 days I felt pain 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. During that time I had school from Mon-Fri in which I had to ride the bus to and from there for 30 minutes each way. I only missed two days of school, specifically the day of surgery and the following day and had the weekend to rest as well. I took 900mg of Acetaminophen with codeine each morning but no more during the day for about 2 weeks. The pain lessened over time, yet continued to be 24/7. I could not sleep well until around Dec.27, 2003. It was impossible to sleep on my back. My wound did not need packing, but did need to be clean and kept clean. It drained blood for a few days, and what my Surgeon called fibrin which is white clotting for about 3 weeks. My wound never became infected. The Surgeon told me that the fibrin draining in a way prevents infection. I used sanitary pads to absorb the drainage. My mom helped keep the wound clean. Bless her heart. She said the wound looked like raw beef!

Post surgery I visited my Surgeon about once a week until Dec.19, 2003. First visit was 4 days after surgery for stitch removal. That was not very painful. The other stitches are dissolvable. The other visits were very positive, essentially there is no infection and it is healing well. Third to last visit my Surgeon put some silver nitrate on the wound. Brief problem happened when on Dec.13 I found a stitch that I figured should have been removed. The area felt unusally sore on Dec.17, so I had my Surgeon to see it and he cut the stitch down. Pulling on the stitch hurt like a mofo (motherfu****). Around Dec.27 I felt no pain whatsoever and could sleep like a normal person. Last visit was in mid January, 2004 where my lovely Surgeon and I marvelled at my bum and how well it healed. He is an excellent, gentle surgeon. He informed me to keep the area free of hair.

I wanted to tell say to him that I thought he was attractive, but I chickened out when I noticed the wedding band. Yes, it took me until mid January to notice. I got flustered with each visit and forgot to look. Plus I did not think it was altogether appropriate.

I shook his hand and said something goofy like it was nice to have you perform surgery on me. Said good-bye. *big sigh*

I have no regrets about having the open wound surgery. Currently I have absolutely no pain.

Date:

January 14, 2004

Story

Hi, everyone. 26/F here. I had my pilonidal cyst excision yesterday!! Of course, I didn't find this site until today. My story is pretty simple. Back in October I had a soreness on my tailbone - I didn't think anything of it because this soreness had been present a couple of times over the past 5 years - thought it was just an underground pimple :-) But this time the soreness was much worse. The area was reddish-purple, there was something about the size of a quarter under my skin, and the pain was intense. My mom (who is a nurse) suggested it was a pilonidal cyst (I was like, what the?) and to go to Urgent Care. I went, they agreed it was that, and that it was infected and had to be lanced. I haven't been through labor, but this pain was the worst I have ever felt in my life. I cried out when the cyst area was numbed and when the pus was pushed out. I saw my doctor the next day and he talked about the options (leave it or have surgery). I did not want to ever have to go through that pain again, so I said, 'I want the surgery!' I figured that if this cyst had come and gone (filled and then drained) on its own for the past five years, that it was definitely going to return. So my surgery date was scheduled. So far, my experience has been really good. I'm not shy around medical personnel and about dealings with my body. After all, this is my life and my body and I darn well want to know what's going on. The surgery was fast and I was in the hospital for a total of about 5 hours. My mom drove me home and helped me for the rest of the day. I have been taking Vicodin for the pain. I've just been pretty much glued to the couch and the TV. Today, I'm not taking as much pain medication and feel good. I changed the dressing and my open wound is about 2.5 inches long (right down my crack) but only about 0.5 inches deep (I know this fact because I have a caring boyfriend to help me!). I do have stitches. It does help to have someone else to tell you what it looks like, take a picture of it so you know what's going on on your own body, clean the wound with a Q-tip, and tape you up! :) If anyone reading this post is still considering the surgery option, I would completely suggest going for it. I'm still nervous about the after-care, especially after knowing how long it's going to take to heal, but I do feel it's worth it.

Date:

January 14, 2004

Story

After having a pilonidal sinus at my very lower back just above my coccyx( a very un-healthy place for this to appear), for approx 8 months i visited the doctor due to back pains and discharging of blood and infectiuos material. After being told to take a month for it to heal and take these pills i had had enough. After discovering that in-growing hairs were caught round my spine I requested surgery.

As unpleasant as surgery may be, the time after was no better. Having a vacum bottle stitched in to my buttock, and enough packing to form a large nappy, discomfort was not the word. 24 hours after the surgery i was sent home. My dressing was changed by my mum (good old mum :-D) twice a day and pain killers were the only way of falling asleep comfortably.

6 stitches in my lower back, 2 in my buttock and 2 underneath my coccyx.

After 2 weeks my stitches were removed, as they fell into the still open wound, having a doctor with a magnification glass and tweasers starring into my lower back was very off-putting. 6 Months later I am told i may still have half a stitch in my wound!!

After many re-visits to the hospital (A&E due to excessive bleeding) and doctors i am awaiting ANOTHER surgery date to cure my ever growing problem. My wound is still bleeding and creating untold discomfort. I can no longer sleep on my back and driving is painfull as i have a very low sports car. I can not exert direct pressure on my coccyx/back so therefore have not been to the gym in over 6 months.

The next operation i am told will require me to lay flat on my front for 2 - 4 weeks whilst my skin rebuilds itself. As the idea is to remove the skin, tissue and hair tracks.

I hope all goes well for the future as i have had this problem for over a year now. - Wish Me Luck

Date:

January 13, 2004

Story

I am a 20yr old female and have recently found out that the pain and bump I felt at the base of my tail bone is a pilonidal cyst. I had felt both the pain and bump, the first time about a year and a half or so ago. Not really worried about it I decided to wait untill I got insurance before seeing the doctor. Well about a week and a half ago I felt the pain again. Only this time it was much worse. I was talking to my boyfriend about it when he told me that about 2 to 3 years ago he had a pilonidal cyst and had it removed. I hadn't even realised there was such a thing, or that what I had been experiencing could be just that. His doctor refered him to a specialist immediatly and he was able to have it removed shortly there after. Well last week I made an appointment to see the doctor. After some painful probing she determined that it was a pilonidal cyst. I have been put on antibiotics since the cyst is too deep for them to lance it in the office. I have another appointment in a few days to determine if the antibiotics worked and if I am to be sent to a specialist to have it removed. Well 5 days into my antibiotic treatment and while there is no pain, well at least it isnt as bad as it was last week, The cyst has not decreased in size. I have a feeling that I will need to get it removed. I know that I am deffinetly not keen on letting someone just cut it open in the doctors office. Well I'll put up another post in a few day to let you all know if a surgery is in my horizan's!!

Date:

January 12, 2004

Story

* 18 years old and this is already my 3rd surgury in the past 11 months. I first got my cyst in February 2003, and of course I had no idea what it was. I went to the doctor and that idiot of a doctor told me it was a cracked tail bone with swelling. And after a week of not siting down and sleeing standing up in the corner, it got to the size of a soft ball.

Every time it's just about to close, they find something else to dig out. I think Im going crazy ---

But its great to read everyones story, especially Samantha's- being a 18 year old female with 3 of these under her belt.

Good luck to all of you! :)

Date:

January 12, 2004

Story

I must be very lucky. i had a pilonidal cyst a few years ago. I went to the Express care and the DR. there gave me the name of a specialist to see. I went to see him and he told me i would have to have surgery, but first the cyst had to go away. or at least the infection. Well, that was horrible. I am sure he put me on an antibiotic, but i don't remember. What i do remember is that the pain was awful. there was one day that i could not sit or stand. i was literally crying, and i have experienced labor. this pain was worse! But..... the lucky part was that after my surgery, i didn't need drainage tubes or anything like that. i went to work about 2 days later. healed up nicely and thank god haven't had another flare-up. Sheila H. ILLINOIS

Date:

January 11, 2004

Story

I just discovered this site after having surgery 6 days ago to remove my cyst. I was always way too embarrassed to go to the doctors and had it for 6 years before I managed to tell the doctor. He referred me to the specialist and he was very good and told me exactly what he would do. I think he used the method were he comes in from the side and removes it that way so I have stitches rather than an open wound. It does hurt a bit and I was in hospital for 5 days but I would recommend anyone that is to scared or to embarrassed to see the doctor, they will have seen it before and it is no big deal to them. The doc told me that it is infact very common, he also said it was more common in young males with dark hair, dark hair is thicker than fine hair so it jabs into your skin more easily. Has anyone else ever heard this before ? This site has been a good help to me and I wish everybody luck if they are seeing the doctor or having surgery.

John

Date:

January 09, 2004

Story

I have been suffering with this pain in my tailbone off and on for the past 3 years. It doest not hurt all the time. I do have this foul smell sometimes. I feel this trickling sensation in my anus sometimes and it itches. I even remeber my buttocks having this sharp pain. I have been to the dr's and they don't think it is a cyst. After reading these stories, I really feel like I have this disease. I have been trated for yeast infections and still am becuase of the itching and foul smell. Now I am wondering if they have been treating me for the wrong thing. I even had a hysterectomy because I could no longer deal with the pain. I did feel better after surgery for about 6 months. Now that I think about, it probably felt better because they did give me a antibiotic to fight infection during surgery. I hate to say this , but I hope this is what I have. At least now I can take care of it. Can anyone help. Does it sound like I have his disease? Please help!!

JS

Date:

January 09, 2004

Story

Hi there! I am an 18 year old female dealing with my pilonidal sinus for the third time. NOT to be confused with a third surgery. I first discovered my sinus when i developed an abcess that was very VERY painful at the beginning of my senior year (August 2002). I was then and still am in marching band and trying to march with a pilonidal cyst the size of a quarter is NOT FUN! At that time i went to my family physician who then referred me to a colon and rectal surgeon. I visited my first colon and rectal surgeon and he examined me and then lanced my cyst. We then discussed further treatment. He mentioned the possibility of surgery but did not make it sound like a necessity. So, my parents and I decided that we would wait and see if my pilonidal ever gave me problems again, and if problems did arise we would then look into other options. At the time that was the best choice for me. My life was not conducive to having surgery of any kind and taking time off for recovery, and i knew that if i had it then i would have felt rushed to get back into action at school with college applications and graduation whatnot. I did not have any problems with my pilonidal for over a year. I was a lucky one i guess, either that or my body was offering me a bit of false hope. In November of 2003 i noticed the familiar pain of an abcess forming, but this time i caught it early when it was bearable. So i made the appointment with my c/r surgeon once again and went in to have in lanced when it was still small. Instead, when i went in he said there was no need to lance it at that time. He then probed around in the sinus to see how large it was. I firmly believe that it was his probing around in the sinus is what put me back in his office again three days later with a cyst three times the size of the one i had come to him with only days before. Needless to say, this time it WAS unbearable. Luckily, my original doctor was booked solid. So I was referred to another doctor in the same office. That was the best thing that happened to me! My new doctor was amazing. She spelled out exactly everything i wanted/needed to know about my pilonidal, and after examination and lancing my parents and i decided on surgery as the best option. I had my surgery on January 2, 2004. Happy new year right? It has been a week, and i honestly feel great. So I guess we will have to wait and see what happens....i return to classes on Monday, and hopefully i have seen the last of my pilonidal. ~Samantha

Date:

January 08, 2004

Story

Hi people!

I'm 20 years old female and I discoverd that I had Pilonidal Disease in mid-november when my tailbone started hurting. At first I didn't do anything because I thought that I had just hurt my tail bone, and when a bum developed I thought that I might have hemroids. Needless to say I was too embarrassed to go to the doctor. A couple days after the bump developed I woke up one morning and there was puss all over my underwear and I noticed a hole the size of a pin prick which freaked me out. That was when I decided to go to the doc. I go to university so I went to our clinic and he drained it for me and I had been having it packed all the way up till Christmas. He never once mentioned the surgery option and he made it seem like it would go away easily. Only when I went home for Christmas did I find out that it would probably come back and after thinking about it I realized that I had had it in the summer, but a bump didn't develop. Once again I had thought that I had hurt my tailbone. So today I had an appointment with a specialist and he is in the midst of scheduling surgery for me either in February or March. I'll definitely be back to tell you all how it is going. I do have a question for those of you who have been through the recovery process. I was wondering whether or not the pain would harbour me attending my classes. For the most part I only have about abt 2 classes per day with the exception of friday and they are less than 2hours.

Date:

January 07, 2004

Story

I had two surgeries to remove my cyst, both over ten years ago and one year apart.

My first one wasn't too bad. The doctor closed up the wound so the healing took only about a week. However, a year later, it came back.

Next year, I had to have it done again. Because it came back, the doctor decided to leave the wound open saying that this way, the chances of it coming back are virtually zero. But this was a horrible experience. I spent two nights in the hospital after the surgery, lost a lot of blood, and recovery took about six to eight weeks.

I recently felt some pain again on my tailbone and noticed blood on my underwear. While I will be going to see a doctor soon, I have a feeling it is a false alarm, as after taking a closer look, I noticed I had a nasty cut inside my butt, likely from rubbing too hard with toilet paper. There is also no bump of any kind.

In hindsight, I think I did the right thing. The first experience wasn't so bad compared to the second one. But I only would go through the second one if I really had to. For some people, I think closing the wound will prevent it from ever coming back. I would be curious to know if anybody who had the wound left open like I did the second time had their cyst come back.

Date:

January 07, 2004

Story

Hi! I'm a 44 year old female who had my first experience with this "problem" a little over a year ago. I saw a surgeon at the time and he did recommend surgery but due to some other cicumstances in my life, I couldn't have anything done. Now a little over a year later, it's returned several times and I know it's going to have to be taken care of before too long! It's so painful and I can only imagine how it'll feel after it's cut open...I guess I'm a big chicken. 8-) Anyway, does anyone know if it can do any permanent damage if you don't have anything done? I hope your experience with this dreadful problem is not too tough on you! God Bless.....Mavis in Central Ky

Date:

January 07, 2004

Story

I am 32 and I went to the doctor several years ago for the pylonidal cyst right at the top of my rear end near the center. The doctor said he pulled a hair form it and sewed me back up (I was asleep during the outpatient surgery per my demand).

The cyst has never been that painful, just aggravating and I do not feel comfortable doing sit ups.

The doctor said a week or two later when i went back for a follow up visit that drainage was normal and it would go away.

It certainly didn't! I visited another doctor who was much more communicative and told me 1 out 4 army guys/girsl get it and all they do there is lance them and send the people back out in to the field. he said it was a 50/50 chance it would go away permanently with surgery. He said the theory is that hair burrows into the skin and causes an infection.

I have not had it operated on again since then, because I was so disappointed with the first result.

I have had it now for several years and it is a dark nasty spot just above the center of my rear end - and yes, it is definitely embarrassing and I wish I had a perfect body again, but know it will never be, even if I get rid of it, because of the scar from the surgery and additional scarring from the infections/lesion.

I too have noticed it decreases somewhat when I have taken antibiotics for sinus infections. It really decreased noticeably from taking steroids once when I had poison ivy, but I could not take steroids for a prolonged period, because they make me feel wired and drugged.

Anyway, I hope this helps others who have it and maybe some day doctors will make more of an effort to find a treatment that works permanently and effectively - - and ill get the word out to people!

BD, Florida

Date:

January 07, 2004

Story

Hi, Here is my update after going to the surgeon today. It's actually alot better than I expected. He wants me to continue on the Cipro until the infection is healed (about 10 days). Then I will have the surgery. The wonderful thing about it is he will be stitching it closed (with a small hole left open for drainage). He says I should be back at work in a week or week and a half. YIPEE!!!! He is giving me the option of local anesthesia and the surgery done in his office -- or general anesthesia done at the hospital. I have to think about that. I'll post again after surgery and let you know my experience!! Michele

Date:

January 06, 2004

Story

HELLO AGAIN!!!!I had my first surgery on the 30th and boy was it fun!!!First thing first my doc said that it was so small it would only take like thirty min so there was no reason to put me to sleep i said ok.....BOY WAS HE WRONG!!!I went in at 8 oclock that mornin and if i would of knew what i was in for i would of stayed at the house FO REAL...He numbed it before he started but i still felt everything he was doin...AND I FELT ALOT OF PAIN!!!!He said he would numb it somemore which helped alil NOT MUCH..He said now youshould be ok yea right..he had to scrape the thing of my tailbone WHICH HURT LIKE HELL!!the cyst was alot bigger than he thought.It took almost 2 hours to get it out and i have a 4 inch cut on my ASS..I decided that the drainage tube would be the best so as of right now everything is ok ..I have to go monday and get the stitches taken out..It is still draining alil but not too bad...THE NEXT TIME I WILL HAVE TO BE PUT TO SLEEP BEFORE HE EVER TOUCHES ME .....dont let em lie to you all it hurts like hell OH YEA THAT SORRY THING WAS AS BIG AS MY FIST AND HE SAID IT WAS A SMALLER ONE!!!My husband said he thinks i need a new doc. what do you all think??? well later and i hope everyone elses experience isnt as bad as mine.

CHRISTY KENTUCY

Date:

January 06, 2004

Story

Hi, I'm a 32-year-old female who has had a pilonidal cyst since I was 14. I am currently going through my 6th flare-up and went to my doctor last night. This is the first time I have told him since I have always been too embarrassed to show my ass to my doctor. He put me on antibiotics (Cipro) and gave me a referral to a surgeon, who I go to tomorrow morning. I am petrified at having surgery after reading the horror stories about the prolonged recovery time. I am single and live alone. How will I change the packing by myself? How long do I have to be out of work? I am nervous, but will post an update after I see the surgeon tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Michele

Date:

January 04, 2004

Story

Dear virtual friends

I had a cyst two years ago that was operated. You might know the feeling, the shame, the pain....It took me 5 months to get back to a normal life. The surgeon told me..."from now one you will not have any recurrences. I've done a great job" BUT I had 2 recurrences that I treated by myself. I found a natural treatment that works. YES there is something that made the cyst to disappear. In any pharmacy you can find cheap castor-oil plant(Ricinus communis) and bandages. Home you clean the area with oxygenated water and you put a bandage(dressing)with this oil, than you put a piece of plastic( it can be a part of a clean plastic bag) and than something to keep warmth( a little towel). You have to renew this bandages once at 3 hours- you repeat the procedure. It will take like three days and you will observe that than cyst will go down.Amaizing! Keep doing this procedure two weeks after the cyst disappears. Good luck! and if you get well without surgery drop me a line at koder@bumerang.ro. Best wishes!

B

Date:

January 03, 2004

Story

WELL EVERYONE, SORRY, BUT THIS STORY IS NOT AS ENCOURGING AS ALL THE REST!!!!! I AM A 22 YEAR OLD FEMALE. I FOUND OUT THAT I HAD A PILENIDAL CYST AT THE END OF MAY 2003. IT WAS A TOTALLY SUDDEN THING. I WAS EXERCISING A LOT AND ONE DAY, WHEN DOING SIT UPS, MY ASS WAY SORE. I THOUGHT IS WAS JUST A PIMPLE FROM THE SWEAT OR SOMETHINGS. WELL IN LIKE 2 DAYS THE PAIN WAS SO BAD THAT I COULDN'T MOVE. SO, I GO INTO A PROMPT CARE AND THEY LANCE AND DRAIN IT. CAN I JUST SAY THAT IT WAS THE MOST PAINFUL THING EVER!!!! ANYWAY, THEY REFERED ME TO A SURGON RIGHT AWAY. MY SURGON ACTED LIKE THIS WAS A SIMPLE SURGERY AND I WOULD BE HEALD IN A FEW WEEKS TO A MONTH. HE GAVE ME 2 OPTIONS. 1. REMOVE THE CYST AND LEAVE AN OPEN WOUND TIL HEALD OR... 2. REMOVE THE CYST AND HAVE WHAT THEY SAY A "Z-PLASTY" CLOSURE AND HAVE SOME DRAINAGE TUBES. HE SAID THAT THE SECOND ONE IS WHAT HE WOULD DO AND IT IS USUALLY A BETTER/FASTER RECOVERY. SO, I WENT WITH #2. SO, I GO IN FOR THE SURGERY. NOT A BIG DEAL. IT ONLY TOOK LIKE 2 HOURS. I CAME HOME WITH 2 BIG DRAINS HANGING OUT OF MY TAILBONE AREA AND LIKE 27 OR SO STITCHES. AND A CRAZY ZORO LOOKING Z ON MY ASS!!! (BY THE WAY MY DOC SAID IT WAS THE LARGEST CYST HE HAS EVER SEEN, ABOUT THE SIZE OF TENNIS BALL,IT WENT THROUGH ALL LAYERS OF SKIN, THROUGH FAT AND MUSCLE AND WAS TOUTCHING MY TAIL BONE) I WASN'T IN TOO MUCH PAIN, ALTHOUGH ON HEAVY PAIN MEDS. ANYWAY, HAD THE DRAIN IN FOR ABOUT 2 WEEKS. THE STITCHES CAME OUT ABOUT 3 WEEKS LATER. I HAD TO KEEP BANDAGES ON IT BECAUSE IT WAS STILL DRAINING. SO NOW WE ARE AT 5 WEEKS (DOC SAID A FEW WEEKS TO A MONTHS AND IT WOULD BE TOTALLY HEALD) WELL, I WAS IN MY FRIENDS WEDDING A MONTH AFTER THAT AND WENT TO HAWAII WITH GAUZE AND TAPE ALL OVER MY ASS ANOTHER MONTH AFTER THAT. SO NOW WE ARE AT LIKE 3 MONTHS!! BECAUSE IT WAS STILL DRAINING MY DOC PUT A SMALL DRAIN INSIDE ONE OF WHAT THEY CALL "SINUS TRACTS" THEN THAT WAS REMOVED. HERE I AM 8 MONTHS AFTER THE SURGERY AND STILL DRAINING. I STILL HAVE TO CHANGE 4X4 ON MY ASS EVERYDAY. STILL HAVE TO WORRIE ABOUT IT LEAKING, WHICH HAPPEND A FEW TIMES(TALK ABOUT EMBARRASING) STILL HAVE TO WORRIE ABOUT PEOPLE BEING ABLE TO TELL THAT I HAVE PADDING ON MY ASS THROUGH CLOTHS...I AM NOT IN TOO MUCH PAIN, I GO TO SCHOOL, WORK, AM ABLE TO GO DANCING AND EVERYTHING. ALTHOUGH IT DOES STILL HURT WHEN I RUN. BUT IS STILL A "PAIN IN THE ASS!!!!!" JSUT SOME PILONIDAL HUMOR!! ANYWAY, I HAVE BEEN TO ANOTHER DOC SINCE, AND THEY DON'T REALLY TELL ME ANYTHING. THEY JUST SAY "IF IT NEEDS TO DRAIN, IT IS GOING TO DRAIN" THEY EVEN TOLD ME THAT IT COULD DRAIN FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!! YEAH, WELL THAT IS JUST NOT AN OPTION FOR ME!!! THEY ALSO SAID THAT ANOTHER SURGERY MIGHT HELP. SO AFTER PARAMEDIC SCHOOL I AM GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER SURGERY.THOUGH AFTER READING SOME OF THE STUFF ON THIS WEB SITE I MIGHT TRY VITAMINS AND SOME OTHER WAYS OF HEALING. (BY THE WAY- THEY HAVE TESTED IF I HAVE AN INFECTION AND I DON'T IT IS JUST DRAINAGE FROM THE SURGERY) SO, ANYWAYS, I HAVE HAD/AM STILL HAVING A HORRIBLE EXPIERENCE WITH MY CYST AND THE RECOVERY. I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST OF LUCK WITH YOURS!!! I WOULD NOT WISH THIS ON ANYBODY, IT IS THE MOST HORRIBLE THING TO GO THROUGH.

Date:

January 02, 2004

Story

I'm a 20-year old Massachusetts male who just had surgery to remove a pilonidal cyst from the top of tailbone this morning. Although antibiotics worked to shrink the infected area, surgery was the best option for me (and most of us) to get rid of the problem once and for all. I was heavily sedated and the surgery took no more than 45 minutes. The total time spent in the hospital was about 4 hours. I'm happy to report that I'm feeling pretty damn good, all things considered. After the novocaine wore off, I began to feel moderate discomfort directly on the tailbone area, but I've been walking around the house, up and down the stairs, etc., all day today. It's not the most comfortable feeling in the world but I'm doing alright. I have a prescription for painkillers but I've only taken a few, just in case I needed them. It's hard to bend down and get real comfortable sitting or lying down but I'm dealing with it. There is hope for everyone out there! I'm having a visiting nurse come to change the dressing and pack the wound but I think I'm going to do just fine. After reading about all of these horror stories about terrible pain and prolonged suffering, I'm happy to report that I came through just fine and I'm hoping for a speedy recovery. After all, my 21st birthday is in just a week now, so I'm gonna have to be able to celebrate in style! I'd love to hear from anyone else that's been afflicted with this problem - encouraging stories are welcome!

Date:

December 31, 2003

Story

Hi. I had my cyst removed surgically on the 30th. This will be my first new years that i will be in bed recovering. The surgery went well, but the whole turned out to be pretty big since my cyst was also large. I'm only 19 and having pilonidal cyst kept me from my every day activities of working out and running. I'm very optimistic and looking to recover in 3 weeks as my doctor promised so i can again hit up the gym. I will post a message in another 2 weeks reporting on how my wound is healing\

BRV

Date:

December 30, 2003

Story

Hi, thought i'd post my story as this web site has helped me so much over the past few months. After first discovering the cyst in feb 03 i hope to be all healed by feb 04. I had the open wound method surgury on 15/12/03 and havn't had much pain at all since. Don't be scared by some of the horror stories you'll read. Now being New Years Eve I am getting ready to go out & party with all my mates only 2 weeks after surgury. The wound is still very much open but has no pain what-so-ever. I had an excellent colorectal surgeon and he recommended I use Calcium-Alginate dressings. These are great. Not only do the keep the wound moist they are also a breeze to change. Most of the time they fall out in the shower and you dont even notice until you look down. Packing them is also no problem as they are just gently pushed into the wound & I am now packing & dressing the wound myself. Being from Brisbane, Australia I love the surf and being summer here my biggest fear was not being able to go go swimming or surfing. Again wrong. My surgeon advised me swimming in the sea is the best thing for it being salt water and all, though I think surfing will be a bit too much for a few more weeks. I will honestly say having the open-wound surgury is the best option for anyone with this problem even if you do have slightly more pain than I. If anyone from Australia would like my surgeons name please e-mail at ooma1980@hotmail.com as most of the surgeons on this web-site are from the USA or UK.

Cheers all

Date:

December 30, 2003

Story

i'm 20 yr old male. I am recovering from surgery. IT wasnt too bad like some of the stories. However i might not be able to go back to college full time next semester becasue of the discomfort. The only part that really hurts is sitting down square on something hard, so i just sit on a pillow. The WORST part of all is unpacking and pacing twice a day. that sucks really bad and wouldnt wish it upon anyone. But it only takes my mom a few seconds to do that then i can recupperate while lyiing in the bath tub. I really can bend to do much like picking shoes up off the floor is a challege at times. I thought surgery was going to kill me and now that i'm through it i am not regretting it. I just hope i feel better before school starts again.

Date:

December 26, 2003

Story

Hi thought I should put an update up.. I am 20 years and female, I had pilonidal "disease" since I was 12 so many sinuses accumulated and I decided to have the surgery. I was concerned because it was going to be under general anesthesia, since I was so fortunate as to have so many sinuses it made it a more invasive surgery. Well dec 3, 2003 I had the surgery. The nurse couldn't get an I.V. in, so the anesthesolgist had to do it in the operating room, (everyone has problems trying to get my viens when it comes time to stick a needle in) and I barely felt it . I had to stay in the hospital a little longer then expected since my blood pressure and temperature were a little low, but I came to. Everything felt like a dream to me between the muscle relaxants, anesthesia and novocain given to me before and during the surgery. My throat was sure from the endotracheal tube (when your out under general anesthesia they put a tube into your trachea to make sure you keep breathing), but that went away within a day, it basically felt like I had slept all night with my mouth open, but no matter how much I drank, the feeling wouldn't go away. I felt almost no pain the first day. They removed the entire cyst, so I had a whole the size of a fist in my tailbone, it was left open so that I can change the packing all the time. For the first 5 days the packing the surgeon put in remained in, I had to take sitz baths, then after he took the packing out I had to change the packing and take sitz baths 3 times a day, now I also put hydrogen peroxide in three times a day following the sitz baths. My surgeon said this will keep it from ever coming back since an open wound and packing keeps any dead spaces from forming. It has been 3 weeks now since the surgery, and the first two weeks were horrible, the pain was terrible. Pain medication works best when taken before the pain starts. I honestly wanted to die during these first two weeks. But now a week later it is healing so fast, I still can't sit , not normally anyhow but this is because I had so many sinuses and all were removed. Basically the surgery depends on the individual, some people have problems and some don't. I had such a problem because I had the problem for years and it got worse each time the sinus formed a cyst. I suggest if you are diagnosed with pilonidal "disease" get the surgery done right away, the fewer the sinuses the faster the recovery. If i had the surgery when I was 12, the recovery would have been less than a week, big difference compared to the near 2 months it will be before the wound fills in now. The anesthesiologist and the nurses watch everything during the surgery, your heartrate and breathing, they are prepared for the worse so that in the slightess chance something should go wrong, they can fix it immediately. Also, get a compassionate surgeon, the first suregeon I went to was not nice, so I went to another one who was recommended. When I went in for the surgery I was so nervous, my surgeon even held my hand before the surgery and all the nurses were kind to me, having a compassionate surgeon makes a huge difference and so does having people to encourage and support you. Here's to best health! ~Jadzia

Date:

December 25, 2003

Story

Hello again kids! I posted my story on Oct. 5, 2003, and I'm here to give the Christmas update! I had the surgery to remove my lovely pilonidal cyst on Dec. 16. It was a painful ordeal, but it's nice to know that I will not get the cyst back again. The incision in my buttcrack is about 6 inches long! Talk about weird! My surgeon closed the wound, so hopefully it heals well. It seems to be so far--it becomes less painful each day. I can even sit now with minimal pain! I have another follow-up appointment with my doc in January to check on the progress. Fun times. To get to my point here, I recommend the surgery to anyone who doesn't want to deal with this problem again. It seems to be well worth it so far. Goodbye and God bless.

Date:

December 25, 2003

Story

Hello,

I visited this site first time approximately 3 months ago. This is when I heard the words "Pilonidal Sinus" and "Pilonidal Cyst". Somewhere in August, I had this small boil below my tailbone, in the curve above the anus. Nothing much to worry about, applied some skin inflammatory creams. I continued trying out different creams over the next 3 weeks. During this time period, the pain sometimes increased so much that I could not sit on a chair or drive my car without discomfort. Also had loose hair and foul smelling liquid when I wiped the infected area with an tissue. I didn't think too much about it except wondering it was lasting too long. Fast forward to September, I was at my GP (doctor) for a cold, as an afterthought before walking out I said "oh doctor, I also have this small thing behind me. Could you have a look?". Doctor had a look and said " you have a pilonidal sinus, bad one and you will need surgery". My first reaction was to laugh and say "come on you must be joking, it's just a small painful boil". Anyway he prescribed me some antibiotics and recommended I immediately visit a surgeon to get this checked out. Before leaving I took down the spelling of this condition.

Over the next few days, I researched the net. Hit upon this marvellous site, What an amazing wealth of information, truely most exhaustive and amazing site. This one really helped me a lot.

Mostly I found that the only option if I need to take is surgery with open wound healing. This was also confirmed during my visit to the surgeon. Recurrence rate is quite high in the future. Out of work for minimum few weeks. Nobody likes surgery right.

I am from India, I came to know that Ayurvedic treatment has an option without Surgery. This is called " Kshara Sutra" . This involves inserting a coated thread into the opening which heals and closes the wound, with an much much lower recurrence probability than surgery. Visited the Ayurved doctor, great visit. The procedure could be done in 20 minutes with general anesthesia. Subsequently,once a week followup for few weeks. No need to get bed ridden. Great Option.

You can get more information on this by searching the net using key words "kshara sutra".

I don't know how many of you have heard of "Homeopathy". Before deciding when I should go for the treatment. I happened to call my Homeopathy Doctor. Over the phone I explained him the issue at hand. He was very confident and said "nothing doing, I will courier you some pills. You will be ridden of this forever in the next 15 days. The inflammation will go and the opening will close". Honestly speaking I was doubtful of the same, how could this be possible with all that I had read and knww of this. But well, I didn't care, could lose nothing much by trying it out, if it did not work I would go in for the Ayurvedic treatment. He sent me the pills to last me a month. I took them.

Early this month, I was in for my medical checkup and pointed out to the surgeon that I seem to have a pilonidal sinus. He checked me up and said "I don't see any opening, you do have a small pimple like thing but you can visit me again when you have the leak (which had stopped) or the inflammation, right now I cannot see anything wrong" GREAT NEWS.

YESTERDAY, I visited my GP (who was the first one to point this out to me and by the way had also checked the depth of the sinus/cyst by inserting a probe into the opening). He was amazed yesterday, he said its sealed and the opening does not exist. I could see that unbelievable look on his face. He said "Man, your homeopathy doctor seems to know his stuff".

Well so looks like I have gotten rid of it. I am yet to call my Homeopathic doctor and give him this update. Remembering my initial conversation with him and his confidence, I am sure he will not be surprised just happy for me.

That's the end of story (hopefully permanent end).[:8)]

Friends, I know what I went thru in the beginning, I called up my insurance company to get the paperwork for the surgery approval, spoke to my company to give them a heads up of the upcoming surgery and medical leave. The mental struggle of doing nothing wrong and still needing to suffer, etc.....I am aware there are many many people who are undergoing much worse conditions than me, if there is anything I can do to assist or provide more information, please let me know.

I have posted the same story in "I'm Healed and OUTTA HERE!" forum.

Deepak

Date:

December 23, 2003

Story

Hi. Well Here is my story. At fourteen, I had surgery for the cyst. So young and embarrassed. Butt in the air. My mother at the time brought me humorous brightly colored underwear that had crazy sayings in the back to make me and/or doctors laugh. So then, years later at 23, with a 3 yr old son to take care of, I have a recurrence of this. Well at the time, I was poor, divorced and had let my insurance lapse for about a month when it flared up, badly. I had gone to my family doctor and she said she could lance it, but very costly. Too costly. So I waited. Some of you know what happened. About 3 to 5 inches away from the most painful site i developed a bubble. By this time, I could just reach back but couldn't move a inch hardly. My fever was 103, I was moaning and hallucinating. Thankfully I lived with my mother , and she had came back from work, picked up my son at day-care (she had been taking care of him for these 3 painful days of hell), and I'm laying on the couch. Within 30 min I feel the need to go to the bathroom, and I shuffle there, and while slightly bending, my "bubble" burst open with the most awful stuff imaginable. My son, unfortunately was sideways to me and had gotten a eye and and nose full. He remembers only lots of blood. His first memories every he tells me. Well, it was the perfect lance the doctors told me, and I was so grateful that the good lord gave me that feeling of releif. 2 weeks later, had the surgery, yippee.

Now here it is, my son is 17yrs old now. He was to embarrassed by his sudden pain in the ass to tell his old mom. Finally, the pain overcame his inhibitions. I was like, "Oh crap". He is now in his 3rd day of increased size of cyst, pain increasing rapidly. Pillows on the chairs while we set up surgery. Runs in family? I think so. Good luck.. Oh PS. I had the 2 surgerys , and I do expect another.

Date:

December 22, 2003

Story

Hey, its me Casey (15 yr old female) back to share my srugery experence from this morning. Everything went fine, I did feel nervous nausea this morning in the waiting room though. They were comforting, though i wasnt very talkative with my nurse or chaplain because of it. A wonderful transporter took me to preop where i met my anethesiologist. He was a polite man (and thank god a gentle one, the needle he put in my hand for my IV was huge). He told me when he was putting "happy juice" (Versed) into my IV drip and i did start to feel it. Though, he did tell me that I woulnt remember anything and I do. I could never open my eyes, either that or my visual memory was wiped because i dont remember seeing anything. I had major pain complications, they could tell because I was unable o speak, however I did being crying and had seizure-like twitches and chills from the unusual drugs (and pain). Don't worry, I had double surgery done, and the surgery on my wrist caused these problems. My pilo cystectomy was very successful and the easiest part of the operation. I remember the needles used to numb the area were rather painful on my back... and ive likely realized why I remember so much. Because I'm 15, I was given a childs dose of Versed... in reality im 6 feet tall and 180 lbs so the drug didnt have enough effect for my body. I did end up with 2 anethesiologists... because of complications they end up bringing 2 people. Everything is pretty blurry... but I remember there being supportive and very comforting nurses by my side and it was very wonderful to have. I was unable to physically respond due to IV meds, but I do remember them. After being covered in war blankets... my 2 hour surgery was over and I was in recovery. My left wrist is in a cast...I have a lovely IV bruise on my hand... and a (very small when compared to other PC patients) incision right on my lower back. I am unable to sit up... and must always keep my wrist elevated (I forgot to mention I got a Ganglion cystectomy on my wrist... but they discovered it was actually something else, a malignant problem? I don't remember the details since I was high on Versed) After a short time in the recovery room I felt amazing, and even thought of grabbing lunch with my mom... however after being wheeled to the car (i was unable to walk), a horrible nausea came over me... and thank god for extra plastic bags. By theay, when they say NOTHING to eat or drink from midnight to surgery... they werent kidding when they said not even water. Water can even find its way out of your system 10 hours later. Most people get the post-anethesia nausea, nothing unusual. After an hour nap on the couch... I felt good enough to go into school for a short time to check on a paper and say goodbye to a good friend who was moving, overall though it wasnt a good idea since I near collapsed once and was very disoriented when talking to people in school. 10 minutes later I went back home and slept for another 2 hours. I can't sit up...(im prone on the bed, thank god for wireless keyboards) without terrible pain... but anyway, my best advice to anyone who does outpatient: Take it easy, and leave the recovery to go home as soon as you are able, because you want to sit up in a car while your surgery local anethesia is still kicked in, otherwise you'll be miserable. Also, be sure to get good prescription pain meds. Because of both surgeries... especially my wrist.... I was given Perceset (equal to vicodin) and wow... it feels good.

Date:

December 22, 2003

Story

My name is Jeremy and I am 16. I have had a pilonidal cyst for about three or four weeks know. I am having surgery on December 23rd. I started getting the effects of it about 3 weeks ago. One night, I began to bleed and I did not know why. I went to the doctor to get checked out and at first I did not know what this thing was. Then the doctor told me I had a pilonidal cyst on my tailbone. A couple of weeks later, I went to a surgeon to get it checked out. He told me I have to have surgery. He put me on medication so it would not get infected. A couple of days later I found out I had to have surgery before Christmas. I am very scared because this is my first time having surgery. The good thing about me having surgery is that this thing would be done and over with.

whathehey16

Date:

December 21, 2003

Story

I'm a 30-year-old female who developed a pilonidal cyst at around 20; like many others, I thought it was a large pimple until it swelled to the size of a raquetball. For three days I couldn't sit, I couldn't stand, I couldn't lie down--visited the doc and he told me what it was, offered to lance it (I refused, being so chicken I've actually grown feathers). I was in the midst of carefully lowering myself to the couch later that day when I felt the most incredible tearing pain, then immediate relief. I spent the next couple of hours squeezing an amazing amount of brownish-reddish-yellowish thick fluid out of it (streaked with brighter veins of blood); I'd estimate it at about half a cup total. I kept it clean and every day managed to force a bit more pus out, until finally it healed. Two years later I had a mild recurrence, but it cleared within a day; I also had a smaller one form about an inch below that area, but it never got as bad. I now have two "bridges" of scar tissue that connect the halves of my butt--they're not large, but they're there. I haven't had a flareup (of that particular kind) in eight years; I'm VERY careful to keep it clean, to never wipe that high after a bowel movement (and if I'm worried about it, I disinfect after I wipe), and to use peroxide if I feel the slightest hint of soreness or itching.

What makes this strange is that I also have hidradenitis suppurativa and multiple sebaceous cysts (labial); the HS has never moved in that direction, but I feel strongly that it could be related. The stories posted on Oct. 8 and 21 are remarkably similar; I'd urge those folks to research HS, because it affects more people than I ever would have thought possible. My inner thighs, inguinal crease, and labial are all quite scarred, and many times I've gotten an abcess underneath an old scar (which makes it pretty easy to drain, as the tissue is weakened and thinner). I've had one under my right breast and two in my armpit, but those never get nearly as bad as the crotchal area ones. I had a delightful one for my wedding--it made wearing pantyhose a nightmare, as it was right on the line where the stiffer elastic meets the nylon, and that was right on the bump. That alien grew to the size of a golfball before I was able to pierce it with a needle and drain it.

A few things I've found helpful: not wearing undies. I know this sounds yurky, but EVERY time I've desired to be normal and put on a pair, I get a bump. Using antibacterial soap is essential, and I've found that shaving the outer labia seems to keep the bumps in check (altho I've gotten a few bumps that seem to stem from ingrown hairs due to shaving). Hot Epsom salt compresses help to bring the abcesses to a head. Needles are indispensable--make SURE to sterilize them fully. Tea tree oil on a ruptured abcess is very soothing and seems to aid healing. The sebaceous cysts are normally not a problem--until one develops an infection, at which point I wait until it's large enough, then try to drain it and the cyst simultaneously (mighty gross). I'm dealing with one now behind my ear, of all places, that's drained twice in the last 24 hours and is still red and inflamed. That was just a large cyst until it abcessed.

I'm so grateful to my husband for being the most caring and supportive person alive; I don't know what I'd do if I had to deal with this all on my own. Keep the faith!

Date:

December 21, 2003

Story

Hey everyone. I'm a 15 year old girl from the great white wisconsin, and I go in TOMORROW for the Pilonidal surgery!! My sinus/cyst is not very large, so I'll be doing conscious sedation with local anethesia. I was just wondering (besides packing my ass every day, sounds like fun...) what discomfort might come my way. If I get conscious sedation, and the operation tomorrow (monday), what are the chances that I'll be able to stop into school on tuesday? Are there any after effects to conscious sedation? If you've had that done, please email me asap, I'd like to know how you felt afterwards, how long you were in the recovery room, etc. I've probably had the sinus for a year, it flared up more frequently since September. About every 2 weeks it drained, yet nothing had happened for a month now. Hopefully it wont be a recurring problem, but any information and advice from anyone would be appreciated! I'll be sure to post with updates after tomorrow's surgery. On a sidenote, I'm doing double surgery and getting a ganglion cyst removed from my left wrist tomorrow as well. I guess I'm a cyst-former by nature. Happy holidays everyone :) ~Casey

Date:

December 20, 2003

Story

Wow, This site is like therapy! I never spend time on the computer but it is now the end of the third quarter of the Jet game and I've been glued to this site since before the game started. It has been almost two weeks since my surgery on Dec. 8 2003. I, noticed this son-of-a-bitch about 5 years ago but never did anything about it b/c it never hurt. A stain on the underwear every now and then but no pain. Three weeks ago I wake up sore and by the end of the day can barely walk. Three days later the pain is unbearable so I call a buddy who recently had been the subject of much ridicule about his "ass surgery" amongst our friends. He assures me it is a pilonidal cyst and refers me to the general surgeon he used. the next day I'm in his office and after 30 seconds he he confirms my friends diagnosis. The doctor was very confident that the only solution was surgery. He explained the two possibilities 1. closed with adrainage tube or 2. open healing. No brainer, I'll go w/ #1 and the quick heal. Needless to say he couldnt close me up b/c the beast was so big and infected. Before educating myself on this site I thought my recovery was not going well b/c I am stillunable to drive to work after two weeks and have some bleeding still. My doc is on vacation until the 29th and i have so many ?'s. I have been bathing once a day and my wife , (god bless her) packs the wound but should this be done more frequently? Should I still need to wear maxi pads in my underwear to absorb the blood? Should I be shaving my extremely hairy ass? Am i going to be playing softball in the spring? Does my doctor suck? Reading this site has helped.

Date:

December 18, 2003

Story

Hello again, i posted my story on dec,16.Yesterday i went for a follow up ,surgeon said my wound was healing.He shaved around the incision () cleaned the inside with a Q-TIP,which for some reason didnt hurt,the first 3 days afer the surgery i was verry sensative when the packing is put in.I'am getting some really ichy sensation, around the cut.Carefully i relieve myself with a Q-TIP.Last night i couldn't sleep well from the discomfort,could of been the guaze rubbing around the wound. Anyway the critter is out,an gone!i hope,and if it comes back i'am ready to battle. NY

Date:

December 18, 2003

Story

Hi there, My name is Emma and I'm a 16 year old girl from Scotland. I had my pilonidal sinus for a year and a half and I finally got it removed on Monday. I have an open wound and it has to be packed and cleaned only once every day in the morning. I am honestly shocked at the hype that seems to have been created because of people's sinus'. My wound is quite deep (roughly 3 inches), it does not cause my severe pain or discomfort. If I was to offer any people advice it is to go and have surgery under a general anaesthetic and request to have an open wound which has to be packed. The surgeon told me that there is a 20% chance that it might reoccur but with careful after care it isn't likely. The way I look at it is that there is an 80% chance it won't reoccur. I will be off school for 3 weeks and I go back to hospital for a check up in 4 weeks. If you are going in for surgery do not panic! Ladies - It does not matter if its 'the time of the month'they still do the operation! Things will not be as bad as you expect them to be! If anyone needs any advice then please e-mail me - EmmaBrit116@aol.com Merry Christmas everyone!

Date:

December 16, 2003

Story

HI my name is jerry, and i am a 33yr old man. I have had a pilonidal cyst since i was 17.And like many of you lived through the pain .5yrs ago i had it removed by a dermatologist.Which was the worst experince i have ever had.He gave or speared me with needles,with every injection i wanted to jump off the table.I had surgery dec 5,it's been 2week's now and twice a day the packing is being changed,still alot of drainage.I guess and hope for the best of this outcome.My surgeon told me there could be a recurrence. NY

Date:

December 15, 2003

Story

A reminder...

Sometimes, I get ready to respond to someone's questions via email, but the poster forgets to type in their email address, so I cannot do anything but wait to see if the poster makes it over to the forums...

Also, questions that require answers should be directed to the Message Board/Discussion Forums. The forums are active all of the time, so you're sure to get responses to your questions.

Hoosier

Date:

December 12, 2003

Story

I was told I had a "hole in my tailbone" as a child. At 22 and pregnant, it developed into a huge cyst about 4 inches in diameter and my ex-husband refused to take me to the Dr. I did not know what it was so I soaked in the tub with baking soda and eventually over a period of days was able to squeeze the poison out.

Recently have been bike riding and is very painful so I brought it up to my Dr. during my yearly physical. He told me it was common and referred me to my surgeon. I am female, (of course!!!, I was pregnant!!! lol) and 46 now.

Will see surgeon Jan 28/04 and will bring post up to date then.

Thank you so much for this website! Your experience has calmed my fears and the pictures helped explain what is wrong and the Dr. said they do a procedure called Marsupialization here in Canada.

Thanks for all the stories, I thought I was the only one!!! Angela in Canada (Alberta)

Date:

December 12, 2003

Story

I was fifteen and thought I had brused my tail bone. After my father telling me to suck it up, I convinced my mother to take me to the hospital. That was just a short six years ago, which is considered the dark ages for this pain in the butt disease. (pun intended!) So of course I was told that it was the "hairy-butt-man" disease. I was embarassed, mortified, you name it. I was a fifteen year old girl, so you can imagine!! I had to stick my butt in the air and have a male doctor poke and prod me. I got over it though as he did a quick and painless operation. He administered a local anesthetic, drained the cyst and packed it with gauze. I was set! Now all I had to do was stick my butt in the air twice a day so my mom could change the gauze until the wound healed. Which didn't take long. It healed from the inside out within two or three weeks. Three years later my best friend ended up with the same disease! Boy did we have a good laugh at our troublesome butts!! I'm 21 now, and it has reoccured. But now that there's great sites like this on the net, I have come to rest easy and be better informed. I didn't even know the name of my disease until a couple days ago. I agree that there are still so many doctors out there that will see a pilonidal cyst and try to pop it thinking it's a pimple, but hopefully they'll get their healthy butts in gear and learn a thing or two about this disease! I'm lucky enough to live in large city that just so happens to have a few brave doctors that specialize in butts! So I'm going to head out in a few minutes to get this darn cyst drained. I'm confident it won't be any worse than it was last time. Here's hoping for the best!!

Date:

December 11, 2003

Story

I am 21 years old. I have been living with a pilonidal cyst for as long as I can remember. I wouldn't tell anyone about it until I was 18. Shortly after my 19th birthday I had surgery for the first time and I had my cyst removed. I was totally unaware of what to expect. I had a very uncaring surgeon. I had a procedure which left my incision open, and I required a home visit from a nurse everyday to change the dressing. They and I both assumed it would not be that long of a treatment. It took alomst 9 months. Following this I was pain free for another nine months, until the week before Christmas of last year when my scarred area became extremely painful and swelled. I again visited the same surgeon who lanced the area assuring me it would heal quickly. After having nurses everyday for another 3+ months, I had the surgery again in April to have a cyst removed again. This time I had it done by another surgeon. He did a closed procedure with stiches. I had the stiches removed two weeks after the surgery, which was more painful than any other part and the incision was not healed together. That was April, it is now December, and I am still not healed from that surgery. I have had an open incision since December 18 of last year. Thats a year next week. On Monday I am visiting a surgeon again to figure out what to do next. I am extremely frustrated and don't know what to do. It seems that the doctors don't really know what to do either. A

CNickerson Nova Scotia, Canada

Date:

December 11, 2003

Story

My name is jeremy I am 26 years old I have been dealing with my pilonidal cyst for 5 years now.It all started after I had a motorcycle accident.I hit a deer with my motorcycle going 55 mph.I was thrown to the pavement slamming my right hip and shoulder off the road,I didn't break anything!But about three months later I was back out riding my motorcycle again.After a long day of "safe" riding,I noticed that my ass hurt! The top of my butt crack started to swell up and get sore.I thought I had a cyst or blister from riding too much.So I let it go gor a week.What a mistake!!It got worse and I headed to the ER.At the ER they told me that when I was a in my mother's womb forming.My originale rectum closed off and I formed a new opening just below where my old rectum was.Thus my old ass was aching? I never trust a doctor with good hand wrighting! The doc sliced me open and packed tape into the hole he made and sent me home with some good drugs.It healed and about 2 months later it was back again! This time the doc cut me open and packed gauze into the wound.The doc told me that a nurse would come to my house and pack gauze into the wound twice a day untill it healed.This went on for like 2 more month.I was unable to work or sleep thru all of this.So the pain in my ass heals,Three months go by I'm fealing good,I get back to work,Then guess what? IT'S BACK AGAIN!This time I or a full blown surgery!!!!The Doc cuts a huge chunk out of my back,More nurses for 3 more months,More drugs that screw up my stomach and put me out of touch with reality..After all that,After all the time's I have been cut open!!IT'S BACK AGAIN!!!I will be putting a link to this site on my web site for all my friends that pick on me for my ass problems to read!

Date:

December 09, 2003

Story

Hello, Hello, My cyst has been around for about ten years. It has flared up approx. three times. The first time was no big deal. I just took some antibiotics and called it a day. The second time required a drain. It healed fairly quickly. That was about four years ago. It's most recent appearance was this summer. This time was the worst yet. Though it did not need to be lanced, the infection was incredible, as was the pain. I was on antibiotics for the better part of a month. I did see a surgeon and well, she suggested surgury. I have not been scared or worried until now. I had my post-op. appointment today and now have second thoughts. A big part of me is saying don't do it. I know it's because I am afraid of being part of that small percentage of people who ends up with a horror story. I am a very active person and quite honestly it depresses me to think I won't be able to do much for two months or so, not to mention my dr. said I could have pain due to scare tissue formation. I am trying to rid myself of pain. What's the point in getting it done if I will be in pain all the time versus once every two to three years. I have had three opinions. All of the doctors said have it done. I'm just so worried. Not of the initial pain, but of being so sedentary and pain due to scar tissue. Can anyone offer me some peace of mind? I am at six's and seven's right now. I don't want to regret having it done or the reverse of that. If anyone has any in put by all means... Thanks, sbm, annapolis, md

Date:

December 08, 2003

Story

HELLO EVERYONE!!!I feel your pain believe me. I have had my cyst for almost 11 years now. I am only 23.When my cyst first flarred up we thought i had broke my tail bone it hurt but not that bad. Then it took it like 2 years to flare up again i went to the doc and she set me up on antibiotics and sent me home. Now here we are 11 years have past and i am stuck with this huge thing on my rearend i went to the doctor today and he was amazed at how big and nasty it was. He said that i had a dimple in my tailbone and that is why i have this thing.I told him I didnt care why i had it but I wanted it off there. So i have to go dec 18 to see a specialist because they think that it is too close to my spine. WHO KNOWS. All i know is i want it off. This is the most painful thing (most people dont understand). I will keep everyone posted on what happens and how everything goes.BUT LETS HOPE AND PRAY FOR THE BEST!!!!! MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!!

CHRISTY KY

Date:

December 08, 2003

Story

All,

I had surgery to remove my pilonidal cyst November 14. I had my cyst for over 10 years. I had thought about getting it removed for a long time but always hoped it would just go away. Over the past two years it had gotten a lot worse and truly unbearable. Even my surgeon remarked it was a particularly large and nasty one.

In preparing for the surgery and after-care I did a lot of reading on the internet. A lot of what I read really freaked me out and gave me pause. There were a lot of stories of long and painful recoveries and botched procedures.

I'm here to tell you that my surgery and recovery have been just fine. Surgery was exactly that, surgery. I had arthroscopic surgery on my knee 7 years ago and the pilonidal excision went just the same. General anesthetic at an outpatient facility. I got there at 11 and was out by 4. My surgeon, who has over 30 years of experience with pilonidal cysts closed the wound with 7 sutures and inserted a drain. He has found this to be the best method - least likelyhood of infection, recurrence, and a 5 week healing period.

There was obviously pain after the surgery. He gave me Vicoden for pain management and it did the trick. The biggest challenge was just getting in a comfortable position with the drain and sutures. By the following Monday I was moving around the house and wasn't in much pain at all. The site was tender, so no sitting on my butt, but lying and my side and stomach was comfortable. Thankfully, I had my girlfriend around to change the bandages and I had to empty the drain twice a dain. No big deal.

I went back to my surgeon that Friday, a week after surgery. He said it looked good but wanted to leave the sutures and drain in until Tuesday. Fine with me. The following Tuesday I was back at the surgeon were he removed the drain an sutures. The next day I was back at work.

I can now sit down with very little pain. My butt is still a bit tender and I need to get up and move around every 3 hours or so. Other than that the wound is healing nicely. Right after the surgery my butt looked like Frakenstein, but now everything is evening out and starting to look fine.

Today is Monday, Dec 8 and I go back to the surgeon Thursday Dec 18 for my final checkup and discharge. I should be able to do athletic activities in about 3 weeks. The first big test will me to start running again. If all goes well with that I'll be snowboaring by mid-January. I'll write back after my first snowboard trip just to say all is well.

I completely recommend the surgery. Just make sure you have a surgeon that has a lot of experience with pilonidal cysts. I'm more than happy to endure 3 days of discomfort and 6 weeks of taking it a little easier than normal to be rid of this thing for the rest of my life.

Good luck to you all and don't worry.

Date:

December 06, 2003

Story

Hello again everyone. I posted my story on July 7th of this year and I thought it might be time for a little update. My name is Misti and I had my surgery on June 19th of this year (you can read all about it in my first posted story) and i feel great. I have had absolutely no pain since I had my stitches out. I am so glad that I had the surgery. My only worry is that the site where I had the cyst removed and the Z-plasty done is.....well let me put it this way.....to me it's not right. I know my doctor did a very good job but with me being a "pleasantly plump" lady I think he had more skin to work with then he knew what to do with. I have a lump of skin on one side that protrudes and I feel that people can see the shape of it under my clothes. They say they can't but people will tell you anything to get you to stop talking about it. If anyone reading this has had the same problem I would love to hear from you. My e-mail is mrsmirage03@yahoo.com, please feel free to contact me. Again I must say that this is the most informative site I have found on the web. Thanks.

Date:

December 05, 2003

Story

Greetings to fellow sufferers, I am a 16 year old male who had suffered from Pilonidal Cyst this summer. Thanks to a successful surgery and dedicated aftercare, my condition was healed within a few months and I am glad to say that with any luck, this ordeal is over and done with. I am forever in the webmaster's debt for the information and wise advice your website has provided me and my family.

I first discovered my situation at the end of my school year, I had trouble sitting down due to extreme lower back pain. At first I theorized that it was due to a bad fall I had took several weeks eariler, or a consequence of carrying a large amount of schoolbooks. My pediatrician and the nurse dispelled these myths while examining the area; Fortunately, the abcess had already opened and started leaking. The nurse drained my abcess and exclaimed: "Straight to the surgeon!". My pediatrician perscribed Fucidin Cream (Generic name: Fucidic Acid) and I was scheduled to meet my surgeon. Later I was to discover he was abroad on a trip, replaced by his rather unlikeable assistant. The infection cleared up temporarily, due to the application of the cream and frequent sitz baths.

Several weeks later, my condition recurred. Upon consultation with another surgeon, which was meant to obtain a second opinion, my parents and I were convinced that surgery was the preferred course of action. We went ahead and scheduled surgery two weeks prior to the beginning of the school year. In the meanwhile I was put on antibiotics (Fucidin, administered orally) to clear the infection. Finding antibiotics I could tolerate proved to be a problem, as there are certain types of antibiotics I am allergic to, and the first one that was perscribed for me caused serious diahrrea as a side-effect.

My surgeon, the pediatric department head in a public hospital in my city, was competent and experienced. That day was riddled with all kinds of funny occurences, like the office receptionist's inappropriate cleavage, and my anesthesiologist's accent, which rendered his medical questions all but unintelligible. Going under the knife is a stressful, emotional experience, so it's always important to retain your sense of humor about it. Getting back to the more relevant details, although he initially hadn't planned on stitching the wound, during the course of the surgery he opted to partially stitch the wound with three stitches: at the edges and in the middle. I was released later that day, and somehow waddled around the house, improvising all kinds of arrangements of pillows on the couch so I could sit with minimal pain. Luckily the lion's share of the pain ended after the stitches were removed about a week thereafter, but I had to wear large bandages and take frequent sitz-baths. Before you buy a large amount of any type bandage tape, at first buy small amounts of all kinds of types and brands; Some bandage tapes are so strong they pull hairs out, so find out which ones don't before doing this purchase. I also experimented with a myriad of antibacterial soaps; I recommend Dr. Fischer's Dermax soap, which does the job without being too runny or smelly. Quite literally, just what the doctor ordered.

Starting the school year with a large bandage above my behind required some adjustments; For several months I was excused from gym class, for about a month I came to school without textbooks, and one evening my family and I went to the mall and bought especially baggy clothes, to hide the large bandage. Over the bandage we used waterproof pieces we cut out of diapers for adults, to prevent leakage of exudate and disinfectant. I also brought a makeshift tailbone pillow, not unlike the TushCush this site links to, to school daily. I had to answer a lot of repeating questions and disspell a lot of misconceptions. Most of these concerned hemorrhoids, which apparantly, according to some people, is a humorous condition and information about it should be in public domain. Setting aside a few secluded incidents involving callous people, in hindsight it was not as difficult as I had anticipated, and most people were very caring and understanding.

In conclusion, just a few weeks ago, I was on a strict three sitz-baths a day regimen, improvising solutions at school and at home for my condition, and in ever-recurring need for either my Mom or my older brother to change my bandages. Today all of the maintenence required for the Pilonidal issue is not anything beyond the occasional shave. I know how difficult it is to keep up with the hygiene and the aftercare, but one must remind oneself: If I want this wound to heal, and make sure it is unlikely to return, I MUST DO THIS RELIGIOUSLY. Keep a sense of humor about the whole issue, and surround yourself with people who care about you. Before you know it, this will all be over.

Date:

December 04, 2003

Story

Hello. I am a 37 yr old female. I have had a pilonidal cyst since I was 16 yrs old. I remember right before Xmas of my junior year of high school feeling pain in my tailbone. I told my mom I had pulled a muscle in my back and began loading it with Ben-gay......wow, was that a mistake. I suffered with it for about a week. I remember going to bed one night and it was so painful I wanted to die, literally. In the middle of the night I awoke and actually thought I had peed the bed. Then I realized I was no longer in pain, and that the pulled muscle was not a pulled muscle. I got up the next morning (Sunday) and went and woke up my mom and told her I didnt think I had pulled a muscle. When I pulled my pajamas down and showed her she was shocked to see it. The next day she took me to our old country doctor, who immediately knew what it was. He told her how it was common during the World Wars from GIs riding in jeeps, etc. He also told her I should see a surgeon, but not until the massive infection I had was cleared up because no one would touch me with it like that. Well, Christmas came and went, I was feeling 100% better, and you know what they say "out of site and out of mind".....I felt good and convinced my Mom I didn't need a doctor. 3 Months later is reared its ugly head again. This time I knew what it was. I tried soaking and hot compresses. I got worse as the days went by. I remember boiling water, filling my Mom's hot water bottle with it, putting a wet washcloth on my tailbone, and then setting the hot water bottle on top. Anything to open it up. I finally confessed to my Mom, and she insisted I go to the doctor again. By this time the old country doctor (Who by the way seemed to know more than most I have come across) had retired. My mom took me to a new doctor who to me didn't know much about it. He asked me how the old dr had treated it. I told him he had given me penicillin and told me to see a surgeon. He didnt want to give me penicillin and instead chose Duricef. He also wanted to lance it that day, but being the chicken I am I begged him not to. He told me if it hadnt popped on its own in 1 week I would have no choice, it was already the size of an orange. He also told me surgery was the only way to go. Well, 1 week to the day later my little grapefruit on my butt popped. It was the biggest relief I ever felt in my life, lol. I have been so lucky, because here I am 21 yrs later, and I haven't had another episode. I occasionally would get sore, but no swelling or excess draining or anything I couldn't live with. I sit here and read all these stories and feel so blessed. At the present, my tailbone has been sore for 2 weeks without letting up.....but still no swelling or infection. I know I have a hole there now and I think thats why it hasnt bothered me. From time to time I get a clear drainage, nothing serious, but I think it keeps it from abcessing like it did in the past. I do think if it came back full force on a regular basis I would go ahead and try having the surgery. This is nothing I would want to have to live with. My twin sister had the surgery when she was 20. She had the closed method. Unfortunately hers came back, and used to bother her monthly, but usually it would be sore for one day and then drain. I wish you all luck with your disease. Maybe someday they will have a better fix for all of us.

Date:

December 03, 2003

Story

im an 18 yr old male i discovered i had a small bump on my upper tailbone, i went on for about 2 weeks not saying anything meanwhile in almost unbearable pain, i finally went to the doctor, she then sent me to the surgeon, he booked me for surgery that night to drain the cyst it was'nt known that it was pilonidal sinus until my 2nd sugery. When i went to see him for a check up i knew another cyst was forming but on the other side in the same spot. He said in fact it was pilonidal disease. The 2nd surgery we went in and cleaned everthing out putting me in the hospital for 4 days on morphine pump.Everything was going good until my next appointment when he said some of the area had not been shaved by my homecare, and granulation tissue had formed. So last night i went in for a 3rd time for him to clean it all up, as of know it has to be shaved once a week and a special cream to be put on, and wow the pain, i have never experienced this type of agony ever,and thats not even the worst part my surgeon is moving in 3 weeks so im quite uneasy to see who he sends me too . thanks tyler

Date:

December 02, 2003

Story

Hi all, I'm a 43 year old man with a now reoccurring Pilonidal Cyst. I was operated on when I was 16 years old and like many of the other stories I've read from this website I waited a good 6 months before I told anyone about it, including my mother. I didn't know what it was and I was embarrassed by the smell of the pus and the staining on my clothes being at the tender age of 16. Eventually my mother found the drainage on the back of my underwear when she was doing my laundry and confronted me with it. She actually knew what it was because my aunt suffered from this same thing some years ago. She then sent me to the doctor. I went through the operation with a three-day stay in the hospital and I was packed with a wick (six feet of gauze) which was painful when my dressing and gauze was changed. My wound was the size of a softball and it was at least six weeks until I was completely healed. I went to see the doctor on a weekly basis after the surgery so he could shave around the wound to keep hair growing into it. The surgery is now an outpatient procedure. My brother had the same thing a few years after mine. I am now experiencing the pain and drainage again and I need to see a doctor. Hopefully I won't need the surgery but if it's what it takes to get rid of it for another 27 years I'm going to go for it. This reoccurred once when I was 28 and it was three days before the pain (and the cyst) broke. This is now the first in 15 years since I've had any reoccurrence. I was told from my doctor that there is a 25% chance the cyst can come back. The pain I have now is a nuisance. I can't walk for any long distances or stand for long periods of time without pain. Good luck to all of you out there suffering.

Date:

December 02, 2003

Story

Hi im an 18 year old femaile and i strated to feel some discomfort at the beginning of April 2003, so i went to the dr's and the told me that it was a bruised coccyx, anyway the pain intensified, and eventually my mum took me to he hospital (in the beginning of May 2003) where i was given morphine for the pain, my abcess then burst. The stench was unbearable, the next day i was operated on and after another month, the wound wasnt healing. I found out that it was infected, so they booked me in for an operation, the earliest i could have an operation was 8weeks away (September 3rd)I was not impressed. So i went in for the second operation and the wound still hasnt healed 3months later, there is no infection as they have run tests. No one will tell me what they will do if i havent healed by the time i see the surgeon again which happens to be in 1 week. The surgeon told me that the wound should have healed no questions asked by the 10th December 2003, and it hasnt?? Does anyone know what they will do?????

Date:

December 01, 2003

Story

I am a 26 year old male. A 3 years ago I developed a large boil on the tailbone area of my backside. I did not know what a pilonidal cyst was and had no idea how this would affect my everyday life. Needless to say, this "boil" got larger and larger, I pushed on it one day in the shower (clenching my teeth from the pain) and a bunch of nasty pus came out. Immediately my pain had lessoned but it was some of the most foul smelling stuff. I was in Europe at the time, so upon returning to the US I immediately went to a doctor and was given a prescription for some antibiotics. I was told this was a pilonidal cyst and this was the first time I had heard of this. The next day the swelling was much less and within a week the infection was gone. I forgot about it as the months went on and earlier this year it started acting up again. There were minor infections every few months, but they went away on their own. About six weeks ago it got infected again, this time I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics because it wasn't clearing up on it's own like it had been. I did some research and found out all about pilonidal cysts. I was sick of worrying about this, so I scheduled a surgery for a pylonidal cysectomy (the clinical term for the removal of this cyst). I am now on my tenth day of recovery and am feeling better every day. The procedure took about 30 minutes, I was under local anastecia so I didn't feel anything and I was left with a hole, slightly smaller than a golf ball on my backside. A day after the surgery I had to go back to the ER because I was having profuse bleeding after I changed the packing and dressing. The doctor cauterized the wound and the bleeding stopped. The first two days I didn't eat much as I would feel nasuea, I think this was due to the hospital meds still in my system. After a few days I felt much better and can now eat anything I want. The first week I was basically lying around on my stomach and my side. It has been ten days now and I am feeling much better, I am looking forward to resuming all of my normal activities. I also look forward to being able to sit again and sleep on my back!