Personal Stores Archive #23

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Date:

November 29, 2004

Story

Hi I'm a 27 y.o. non-obese,non-hairy butted female whose first experience with this pain in the butt was at 21 y.o. I had been spending hours of studying for nursing school and in class on my rearend, and one day developed that tender spot at the top of my buttocks. When I went to the doc on campus, it was diagnosed as a case of mild hemerrhoids. Needless to say, the pain became excruiciating, and I was crawling around my apartment like a four legged animal because walking normal(sitting, even just breathing)was just too painful. Back to the clinic to see a different doc, who diagnosed me correctly, gave me some IV antibiotics+local,and performed an I+D (incision and drainage)of my wound. My wound healed, and I had the outta sight,outta mind mentality since the doc had told me it wouldn't come back. Well, guess what? 5 years later I felt that unmistakable tenderness again, and headed off to my PMD who couldn't lance it in his office, and referred me to an emergency center. The doc there injected local and was trying to aspirate the fluid via needle. Well, he poked,and poked without any success. So, of course the cyst reared its ugly head in revenge, and got more painful. I wound up going to a different emergent care center, and the cyst was I+D again with a partial excision under local. The doc there gave me 6mo.to a year before reoccurance, and advised me to see a surgeon. Well, I did some research(lots of thanks to this website) and thank god I did because that tender spot came back 1 year later. I was able to destroy it with warm baths. Like hell I was going to let it come back again!!! I went to see a general surgeon who was not very receptive to my questions, told me to not get the full surgery because I had 30% chance reoccurance,and asked would I like her to just excise the pits right now in her office with local? I didn't think so, so I decided to see a colorectal surgeon who was very knowledgeable about the disease. He took the time to answer all my questions, and made me feel comfortable. I had surgery 1 week ago to excise the cyst and pits. The surgeon marsupialized the wound (a combo between open and closed procedure) w/o packing and it is healing well. I had conscious sedation for the procedure, and it was great cause I don't remember a thing!! I'm lucky,my wound is fairly tiny, 2cm longx1" deep. I hope this helps others suffering from this and any questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Date:

November 29, 2004

Story

Hello, I am a 20 Year old female and discovered my cyst maybe about a year ago. I was working my first desk job and thought the pain I was experiencing was from sitting too much. The pain got worse and finally the cyst ruptured and bled like crazy. I had my boyfriend look at it (poor guy) and he described to me the scene: a small hole the size of a pea. I thought maybe I was growing a tail it hurt so bad! Anyway I went to see a doc and over and over again she insisted I take antibiotics. This was not working at all, my problem never went away or even subsided. I put up with it as long as I could...which wasn't very long. I found this site through google and was very relieved to know that I am not the only young female with this "Hairy-butted Male" condition and that I could actually get some difinitive answers and some other options. I signed up for the surgery immediately. My surgery was November 19th and I am feeling okay. The day of surgery was pretty easy going, I wasn't in any pain because of an anesthetic they applied directly to the area that lasted for hours(false sense of hope), my throat hurt really bad from the breathing tube however. The rest of this last week has been mostly irritating, not a whole lot of pain but pretty uncomfortable. I still can't sit very well and can't lay on my backside. I do get the stiches out tomorrow and I am hoping that will help a little and make it not so annoying. Hopefully it is healing well and I can put this nasty experience behind me, no pun intended. Good luck everybody and if you have any questions I would be happy to help, email me at kateiten@yahoo.com

Date:

November 27, 2004

Story

Hello I am a 15 year old male. I just got the surgery for Pilonidal cyst. I noticed the "hole" right away and told my mom to bring me to the doctor, so she did ( we went to urgent care). He said that it would heal natural, which it did not. He gave me antibiotics 1000mg (yea alot). It was not going away so my mom took me to a dermatologist, and she saw it right away and told me to go to the hospital and set up an appointment with a surgeon. Well I got my surgery October 14, 2004. I will admit I was nervous, but the nurses reassured me. Before the surgery I was givin an I.V. It was not bad at all ( no pain). So as i was getting rolled in to the O.R. they gave me some anesthesia in my I.V. It felt like I woke up like an hour and a half later. It was really quick. All that really hurt was the tube tha was in my throat. I had very little pain (3). Nurses had 12 hour shifts. They checked my I.V. every hour. The food was not too bad, and they had cable so I was fine. I was hospitalized for a day and a half. The surgeon originaly closed me with a suture and surgical glue. I have a home bound nurse she comes every day. Unfortunately I had to get re opened (sutures removed) and it hurt! My hole is now 4 inches long by 1 inch wide, and a centimeter deep. I can sit stand all that good stuff. If you have any questions you can email me at mcrismon@aol.com

Date:

November 26, 2004

Story

I am a 32 year old female, and just for the record, I do not have a hairy behind.The first time I experienced the sharp pain near my tailbone was about 2 1/2 years ago while I was in nursing school, where sitting in 3 hour seminars and practically living in front of the computer is the norm. I thought maybe I had fallen, or banged into something and chipped the bone, it hurt that much. I have always had two small, pinhole sized holes in my natal cleft (butt crack), but never had any problems. When i felt that pain, I had never even heard of the word Pilonidal cyst, but as many of you know, that word strikes fear in my heart and has become the bane of my existence! The first exacerbation was minimal, solved by antibiotics. The second, I managed to get under control by means of antibacterial soap, but the third time (three's a charm!??) I was spending an hour commute each way to work, and the cyst blossomed like a crocus in spring. Only it wasn't spring, it was two weeks ago, and I still can barely sit on my heiney. The first visit to the doctor, it wasn't "ready" The second visit, I was in tears, unable to sit, but unable to stand up either. My doctor was able to set up an appointment, but not until the next day. Meanwhile, he kindly provided me with a script for morphine, and that night, I spent about two hours in the tub, refilling it over and over with hot water. That seemed to work, in that the cyst began to drain, relieving a lot of the pressure that was causing the pain. However, it did still hurt when i went to the surgeon the next day. SHe said it was mostly drained, but that there was a large cavity where the pus had filled the cyst. Never have I felt such excruciating pain, as when she gave me the lido-epi shot. My vision literally went white, and I began to sob. She told me I was doing great, but I must say, I did not feel at the top of my game. Anyhow, now I am dealing with the packing and dressing two times daily. My boyfriend has been doing the dressing cahnges, and when he's out of town, my mom (who's also a nurse) and my pop (oy vey!!talk about trauma!) have done a few. This weekend, while my man is away, my brother is coming to do it. That really sucks. I did attempt to do it myself, but i don't think I packed it really well. You can only do so much with mirrors! Wish me luck! Elana

Date:

November 26, 2004

Story

I am an 18 year old male and jsut dealt with this cyst from the devil. About a month or 2 ago i fell down and immediatly knew I was going to feel it. I proceeded home and went to bed. The next morning i got up went to classes and just felt sore until I discovered it was excruciating to sit down. So i went to my room and laid on the floor stomach down. Needless to say my friend came in and stepped on my back right on the cyst. It popped and it was so painful yet relieving it also smelled and i was a little embarassed as i had white shorts on. This was on Friday. By sunday it was back When i looked at the cyst it was jsut like a bruise looking pocket so i thought nothing of it but from me having known people that have broken their tail bones i went and had it checked out. The doctor told me that i had it and pilo meant hair and nidal was nest. I immediatley was on anitbiotics and thought it was going to go away. I drove home that friday from college and it was just a little uncomfortable by the end of the drive. Low and behold it was back that saturday morning so i went in the tub and bent over to put pressure on that area and squeezed it to pop it so i could actually move. I went to the doctor and he gave me more antibiotics and told me jsut to take warm showers 2 and 3 times a day and keep it draining by rubbing it. This worked and it went away for a month or so. During clubbing 2 days ago i fealt a pain and i knew that was it. So i came home again and by the time i road all the way home it was back. Went to the doctor and the nurse jsut set me up for it to be cut open. They opened and puss chunks came out.it is about a 1/2 inch cross cut i have piece of gauze hangin out that they kept in so it would heal inside to out. It is gettin better and im on 2000mg of antibiotics a day. I have found that rubbing it with a towel when u have it and then putting a warm wash cloth helps it also sitting on a beanie type pillow helps to drive or sit. If u think u have one just tell them to get rid of it

Date:

November 23, 2004

Story

I had full surgery back in March 2004 and it is now November and I still very tender in the wound. I know the web site says it takes about 18 months to fully heal... so I presume my experience is normal?

Date:

November 23, 2004

Story

I'm a 30 year old woman and I delt with this back in 1999 at 25 years old. I was at a wedding 9-15-99 and felt a pain on my tailbone area when sitting down. I shrugged it off and drove 3 hours the next day for a work related seminar. That night in the hotel I took a bath to try and relive this back pain. The next day I sat and sat all day and the next 3 days after that in this seminar. By the time I got home, I could not sit anymore. The pain was immense and I couldn't go #2 because the pressure of sitting down hurt so much. By the end of the week , I was unable to take the pain and went to to the ER. I told them my symptoms and the Dr. checked me out my butt and all. I had a infected cyst and I had to have it removed STAT. I guess the infection had entered my blood stream. SO within the next couple hours I was prepped and had surgury. Morphine became my best friend. I was able to sit up after surgry but as soon as the medication wore off........I was dying with pain. Went home after 2 or 3 days and had to have nurses come twice a day to change my dressings. That is the most pain I have ever experienced in my life. Even with childbirth, this was more painful. They would pack in what seemd to be miles and miles of gause. My open wound was about 6 or 7 inches deep (yes, this baby's got back!) The nurse showed me with her long q tip thing how far the wound went. I took a shower later that first night after coming home and my dressings were falling out. I was soooooo scared to see what it looked like and I almost fainted when I saw what looked like a black hole on my backside! I cried and cried and have been left with a pretty hidious scar about 1x2 inches long. The doctor scoooped out as much as he could so It wouldn't come back. I was laid up for over 3 months. Thankfully it has been almost 5 years with no signs that it's returning. Glad to know I'm not the "only one" with this embarassing problem.

Date:

November 23, 2004

Story

I'm a 30 year old woman and I delt with this back in 1999 at 25 years old. I was at a wedding 9-15-99 and felt a pain on my tailbone area when sitting down. I shrugged it off and drove 3 hours the next day for a work related seminar. That night in the hotel I took a bath to try and relive this back pain. The next day I sat and sat all day and the next 3 days after that in this seminar. By the time I got home, I could not sit anymore. The pain was immense and I couldn't go #2 because the pressure of sitting down hurt so much. By the end of the week , I was unable to take the pain and went to to the ER. I told them my symptoms and the Dr. checked me out my butt and all. I had a infected cyst and I had to have it removed STAT. I guess the infection had entered my blood stream. SO within the next couple hours I was prepped and had surgury. Morphine became my best friend. I was able to sit up after surgry but as soon as the medication wore off........I was dying with pain. Went home after 2 or 3 days and had to have nurses come twice a day to change my dressings. That is the most pain I have ever experienced in my life. Even with childbirth, this was more painful. They would pack in what seemd to be miles and miles of gause. My open wound was about 6 or 7 inches deep (yes, this baby's got back!) The nurse showed me with her long q tip thing how far the wound went. I took a shower later that first night after coming home and my dressings were falling out. I was soooooo scared to see what it looked like and I almost fainted when I saw what looked like a black hole on my backside! I cried and cried and have been left with a pretty hidious scar about 1x2 inches long. The doctor scoooped out as much as he could so It wouldn't come back. I was laid up for over 3 months. Thankfully it has been almost 5 years with no signs that it's returning. Glad to know I'm not the "only one" with this embarassing problem.

Date:

November 22, 2004

Story

I was at my brothers 21st away from home when the pain first started. I thought I had hurt myself after a coincidental fall but the next day i could no longer sit and even walking got painful. I caught a plane home a day after this and it was impossible for me to sit the whole time which was very embarrassing to explain to flight attendants that i had a pain in the butt! That night I got no sleep at all and couldnt lie down anymore, my walk to work took 40 minutes instead of 5 and i realised something was very wrong! i did a search on the net for "tailbone lumps" and this website came up. I read through the symptoms and personal stories and wished more than anything I didnt have a pilonidal abcess. I went to the doctor who confirmed my worst fear, and I was off to A&E. I went through a day and a half waiting for surgery, dosed on morphine. I have broken many bones in the past, including my back and it was no where close to the pain of this. I dont think the morphine even helped much. After surgery, the pain just got easier to deal with but the packing every morning was torture all over again. The common comment from my district nurses was "how did you end up with one of these on this!" I am very thankful for this website as it made it somewhat more of a comfort to read the "especially for girls" section and I knew more of what to expect during the whole experience. It has been just over a month since the operation and things are much better, I am almost all healed.. Back at the gym again and hope like hell i will not have to go through it all again!

Date:

November 22, 2004

Story

I was originally diagnosed with Pilonidal cysts in 1972 when I was 15 years old. An in-patient surgey to remove 3 cysts that were inches deep and hospital stay for 4 days then ensued. What followed were months of pain, drainage, and embarassing odors; which didnt make me very popular with the girls. The surgeon kept telling me that everything was fine. Unfortunately, the cysts came back within 2 years. I elected not to deal with them surgically, instead choosing frequent hot baths when they bother me, and antibiotics on occasion. I am now 47 years old and get a flair-up about once per year. So far the hot bath regime for 3 - 4 days seems to always restore control of the situation. Regardless, the area has always remained somewhat tender. There things really are a pain in the butt!!

Date:

November 21, 2004

Story

Like someone else, I also noticed a pain in my tailbone during situps at the gym. I did nothing about it for years just thinking that it was poor technique, until it flared up on Monday 15 November 2004 which made sitting and walking impossible. I was diagnosed with the problem and sent to the Accident & Emergency the same day. In the British system, it really stinks cos your deemed to be at the very lowest priority of the emergency lists, so all new and existing patients come before you. After one day of waiting and one and half days of no food or drink, I finally had my 15 mintues of fame with the surgeon. It is an open wound and the packing process pain can not be understated. When they push that gauze to the bottom of the wound, it is pure pain. To such an extent that you have to not think of the next packing as it too disturbing a thought to have it so frequently. The only relieving thing is that day by day the depth reduces. My butt has been seen by more nurses in the last week than with women I scored in my 31 years. However I wish it was a more pleasureable experience. I am not sure how long the packing will go on for, but I am grateful to this site for an indepth education to this condition. Nadeem.

Date:

November 19, 2004

Story

I'm 17 years old and I just encountered the dreadful pilonidal cyst. I hate to say it, but it truly was the most awful experience of my life. I'm very dedicated to field hockey, and as a senior in high school it meant a lot to me. I had to sit out my very last playoff game ever. I coudlnt walk, and I couldnt sit, no less run. I partly blame myself for that. As soon as you have pain, go to the doctors to get on antibiotics. I think had I gone to the doctors when my mom said so, then i MAYBE would have been able to play. Soo next, I had surgery. Absolutely awful. They gave me a blood test! I've never had that before. Also, the anesthesia wore off before the muscle relaxers so when I woke up I felt completely paralyzed. Next they pumped oxygen into me .. and as a scared teenage, I was petrified! So they fed me some toast and ginger ale, and after an hour or two, they put me in a wheel chair and I was out to the car. The next week or two is a blur haha, I don't remember a whole lot. But then I had to go to the surgeon again. Again,it was awful. I passed out! They ripped out my stitches. Oh yeah, also .. when I had surgery, they removed a mole too. Interesting, eh? Okay, so they removed my stitches because they were bleeding too much. And all in all, the experience was awful. I've been on vicoden for a month, and my surgery was 2 weeks ago. I'm currently writing this from my bed, on my stomach, on the laptop. I've been out of school for a month, and I still can't sit comfortably in a car. I get bored with my time, although I sleep a lot because of the vicoden. My first mistake was to go to this website, and learn way more than I wanted to know about my problem haha, but if anybody has any questions or anything, feel free to IM me on Reegs086, or even email me at Reegs086@excite.com I really would be more then welcome to talk about my experience :)

Date:

November 18, 2004

Story

I noticed a pilonidal cyst in 1980 in college when I was at the gym doing sit ups. It was the size of a pea. A couple years later it inflamed with discharge and mild pain. Then in Nov 86: POW! The size of a golf ball. A week later it drained all of a sudden. Then in March 87 it inflamed again, golf ball size. I went to the Doctor and received some antibiotics. It went away, never ever to return. That was 17 years ago. Has anyone been symptom free with a recurrence after so many years? I can be e-mailed at metaxa1961@yahoo.com

Date:

November 18, 2004

Story

After knowing of my pilonidal cyst for almost 6 years, last Friday I finally had it removed. I went in for a primary closure, and have been given 1 week off from work for recovery. While I feel little or no pain around the excavation site, I do have extremely sore hips and back from laying down so much. The surgery itself was easy; general anesthesia was used so I was out. What really is great is the fact that my wound is apparently healing very well, with almost no drainage. I hope this is true for the rest of recovery. This website has been a fantastic resource for my wife and I. Thanks Pilo.org!

Date:

November 17, 2004

Story

I'm a 20 year old female and first noticed my pilonidal cyst my second year of college, right before I turned 19. I had just moved back into the dorms and noticed some soreness on my tailbone, but I figured it was just from moving and lifting heavy things. It got worse over a period of a few nights and it was eventually so bad I could barely walk and sit through some of my classes. I went to the university health center and was diagnosed with a pilonidal cyst. I was given antibiotics and told to come back if the cyst was not any better within two days. It wasn't any better by then so I went back. The doctor at the health center told me she couldn't perform the drainage so I was sent off to a general surgeon to have it drained. The infected area was injected with some local anesthetic and then an incision was made. The cyst was vacuumed out and packed with gauze. It wasn't a very painful experience, but the feeling of the doctor's fingers in the drained cyst, packing it, was certainly interesting. Since I was living in the dorms and have no family living close to me to help, I had to go back to the doctor's office every other day to have a nurse repack the cyst with gauze. I have a small scar there now (I made my mom look at my buttcrack the first time I went home afterwards, haha) and haven't had any problems since. The most painful part of the cyst was BEFORE it was drained, since it was so swollen. The most painful part afterwards was removing the gauze the night after I had it drained.

Date:

November 16, 2004

Story

I am a 35 year old black female, which statistically is the lowest risk group for pilonidal cysts. Just my luck! I don't even have hair in the crack of my ass... *sigh*. I probably had it in my teens... I remember some itching back there, but nothing awful. Then, when I hit 20, I was in college, and everything went south. I had EXTREME itching, and serious pain, especially when trying to wipe after going to the bathroom. I was too embarrassed to see anyone and went through this for almost a year. Then one day in my dorm room, I couldn't take the pain anymore and started to scratch it. It ruptured and a tremendous amount of blood poured out on my hand. I was terrified. Some of the pain was relieved though. I washed it and tried to treat it myself, thinking I must have scratched myself really hard. Well for the next week, blood continued to pour out, but I was confused because I also happened to be on my period, I didn't know where the blood was coming from exactly. After my period was over and blood and pus (!!) continued to ooze out from my tailbone, I finally went to the health center at college. I was told that I had a pilonidal cyst, and the doctor lanced it (OUCH!) and drained it. It was really embarrassing, with three nurses and this doctor staring at my ass and private parts, my legs up in the air. Well, since then I still have soreness at the site, but no itching. Once on a trip to France, I had a very scary reaction and the entire crack area became inflamed, but it subsided. I now have a tender spot about 2 inches long, right at the top of my butt crack that is painful to touch. It feels like a cut, but I don't see anything when I look in the mirror. I've decided that I'm going to see a physician for surgery if it gets any worse. Good luck everybody...

Date:

November 16, 2004

Story

Thank God for this website! I have just seen the light. I have had this reoccuring "pimple" for about 3 years. Never a lot of pain but itching was pretty bad. Now it's flared up again (flare-ups are coming closer and closer together) and is extremely painful. I finally decided to do some internet research and found out about Pilonidal Disease. FINALLY!!!! Other people, like myself, who have the same embarrassing problem. And here I was thinking I was alone! THANKS!

Date:

November 13, 2004

Story

Hello, what a relief finding this site! I am a 28 year-old mommy of two little boys. Mine statred in the end of September of this year, excrusatating "tailbone" pain, to the point I went to the ER. The doctor there, said he did not see anything but given the nature of my pain that I should follow up with a surgeon. Well, within 2 days I was back at the ER, because the cyst had "ruptured", I had emergency incisions done. The infection was so severe that Ecoli had gotten in my blood stream. I then followed up with my first surgeon, intially I thought he was great. THEN, the problems started. I wasn't healing right and the pain was unbelievable. I of course, called the surgeon crying. They told me to follow up with my PCP, well a PCP is NO surgeon, so he wanted my surgeon to deal with it. Needless to say, I was going no where fast!!! So, I end up back in the ER. The ER doctor said I needed The "mass" removed immediatly, there comes my 2nd surgeon. Well, I wasn't real big on him from the 1st visit, but he agreed it needed to be removed immediatly, 4 days later I had surgery (wed 11-10-04)he gave me 15 pain pills!!!! I had to see him the following day. He did not even look at the area, nor would answer none of my questions, nor would listen to me about pain. He "glued", yes you read it right glued the incision closed. On thursday, I had blood everywhere....back to the ER. As most know ER docs are limited. So, now I'm left with NO surgeon. I will not go back to the 2nd surgeon. I am in so much pain, all I do is cry. Thanks for letting me share...good luck to all of you.

Date:

November 12, 2004

Story

howdy, im a 22 yr old, 23 in december. i had one of these pilonidal cysts on my left ass cheek. i thought it was a ass pimple. i read you can get it from prolonged periods of sitting & i think thats how i got it. a while back, i was a coke addict and would sometimes sit down getting coked up all day n nite infront of the computer....yes really loserish. been sober for quite some time now though & realize life sucks ass even though im not strung out sleeping on a park bench (so things can be worse) and happiness is but a temporary state of being. bottom line is i got this thing that hurt like hell!!! then a day or 2 passed and i stood on the bathroom sink and bent over in the mirrot to look at it and wen i held it it suddenly popped. it was kinda nasty but relieving. i squeezed it to drain it and put hydrogen peroxide on it and put alot of neosporin and gauze and did that for a few days...the neosporin and gauze became routine for a week as i recall. my ass is ok now, still can feel a slight depression where it was though. hope it doesn't come back! -tommy rockwell

Date:

November 12, 2004

Story

Hi, I also found out about what I have by googling "tailbone pain" and comming to this site. I am a 41 year old male and I probably had this condition for quite a while. It acted up as a red swelling a few years ago and then disappeared and I totally forgot about it until I had some itching this year in April and discovered the sinus. Went to the doctor, told him that "I've diagnosed myself with a pilonidal cyst" and he told me do do surgery or live with it since this is a condition I had all my life (wrong?). It acted up again last month and the doctor referred me to surgery -- the excision with GA and everything -- *thanks to this site* I refused and insisted for incision first. He referred me to another surgeon (doctors in the same clinic cannot agree about treatment) who belived strongly that this condition is caused by the in-grown hairs and no cyst needs to be removed and the best thing to prevent future occurences is to scar the tissue since hair will not grow on a scar. I asked what happens if you don't find hair -- he said "don't think so" and indeed I was a "case book study" -- found a "nest of hair" -- no ambiguity here! Looking by the size(lengths) of those hairs my body tolerated the abuse for quite a while. I don't care what you have underneath your skin, cyst or not -- it will become infected when poked with so many hairs growing inside. The irony is that in my case a "cosmetic" surgery with lateral incision would have removed the cyst but let all of those hairs to again be pushed it (like the doctor explained: driving a nail that continues to grow through a board). Bottom line: there are probably more conditions contributing to this generic disease (pilonidal disease). I was the "lucky winner" of the definition (nest of hairs) established in 1800s. But I have stiff body hair -- no surprise here. Now I am going through the joys of open wound healing -- I am today in day 3 after surgery. I've seen on some message board advice of how vitamin E can close sinuses, etc. You don't want your sinus to be closed and all that crap (hair) be trapped inside. BTW, my procedure took around 15-20mins under local anesthesia. One more word of warning: *it is not normal* if your open wound bleeds a lot a few hours after the surgery. It happened to me and I had to go back for a vein suture -- I thougt I ruined a few pairs of pants that day but Tide is pretty good :-) Good luck to all of you outhere trying to live with this condition.

Date:

November 12, 2004

Story

well, i just found out i had it a week and half ago. So it was on monday i went to the docter and thursday went to the the surgent. Then on friday i had surgury I was very surprise how fast everthing happen. the hole is deep as a half of baseball ouch. I'm a waitress there is noway i can do that for awhile. well, i'm still in alot of pain. so hopefully it gets better soon thank you Kelli from sterling heights ,Michigan

Date:

November 11, 2004

Story

First, let me tell you that I found this website at the end of my experience, and I'm glad that I did. I only wish I'd known about it sooner! I'm a 31 year old male who has had a pilonidal cyst for 8 years. Yes, 8 whole years! It first appeared as a boil. I was scared to death, but not scared enough to see the doctor. The first incarnation of this infernal thing wasn't too bad, actually. A little pain, a tiny bit of drainage, no sweat. Over the years, it grew worse in both intensity and frequency. I did some menial research and learned that I didn't have just a boil, but something called a furuncule (http://my.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/stb117082.asp?navbar=hw171616 This became quite disturbing; I didn't know what to do other than what I learned online. Tips like washing the area, using a hot compress or hot bath, etc. became staples of my monthly routine. Finally, I went to see a doctor. I had it drained a few times, and even had an office procedure called an I&D (irrigation and drainage) done. This gave me short-term relief and my boil went away for several months. I followed up these procedures with a few rounds of antibiotics. Specifically, I took Cephalexin (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682733.html So finally, I could take it no more. The carbuncle kept coming back. I went to see the doctor, and he stated that what I had went far beyond a boil or carbuncle - I had a pilonidal cyst that needed surgery to remove. I reluctantly decided to schedule the surgery, not really knowing what I was in for. The procedure was described to me more or less like what you've seen here on this website. My doctor cut out the infected tracts and stiched me up at skin level with about 20 stiches (what this site calls an Excision with Primary Closure). On top of that, my doctor stiched in a roll of cotton gauze that we jokingly called a "bunny tail". This was to capture any drainage and make things more comfortable for me. As I'm writing this today, it is exactly 1 weeks since my initial surgery. Yesterday I had the "bunny tail" removed, so now I'm looking at the 20 stiches at skin level. They come out next week. All in all, my post surgery days were not bad - the pain was roughly equivalent to having your wisdom teeth pulled. I had some pain medication to take, that helped a ton. I'm so happy that I found this site to allow me to learn I'm not alone. I would DEFINITELY have the surgery done again in a heartbeat. My doctor says he got every bit of the infected area, and that I'm healing nicely. I can sit down for about 2 hours at a time now; looking to be fully healed in about 2 more weeks at most. If you want to ask me more about this, I'd be happy to chat! Find me online, and instant message me. I'm bswilson00 on AOL, bswilson003 on Yahoo!, bswilsonpimp on MSN, or 148553557 on ICQ.

Date:

November 11, 2004

Story

I just wanted to share my story, I am a 24 year old male, Had my cyst for about 6 years, Had the surgery done. And guess what it came back 1 year later.

Date:

November 10, 2004

Story

I will be 60 on Friday, November 12th. I have lived all my life knowing I had a pilonidal cyst. My mother says she found it when I was a newborn and took me straight to the doctor. I am female, by the way. Three days ago, I began to feel something tickling me in the area of my cyst. I didn't think anything of it because I had felt it before. I have never experienced pain with this ever. Now, things seem to be changing. Thank goodness I had the sense to look this site up to see what really may be going on! I will be going to my doctor asap...and will update soon. Thanks so much for all the input from folks who've been there and done that. Wish me luck!

Date:

November 08, 2004

Story

Yes, I too "HAD" a pimple on my butt... I referred to this site upon discovering I had a Pilonidal Cyst but I have decided to post a 'Positive' story as they also exist. 2002 was when I noticed a lump on my bum, excessive fatigue and blood on the toilet paper every time I wiped my bum. I must have had enough patience to power a Country as it wasn't until 2004 that I finally did something about it. Also because I left it so long I was receiving treatment in a foreign country as I had moved overseas. So the visits to the hospital and being talked to in a language I had partial command over was daunting. But my hat goes off to the Japanese Health System. I went in for a consultation, had it diagnosed and was choosing a time I could take off work to be admitted for the operation. Prior to the operation I had some explorative "workings" performed to measure the severity of the tunneling etc. Then it was a couple of weeks off work and in the hospital for 4 days. As you will be well aware, there are different options when going under the knife. The doctor advised I have a spinal block whichI didn't refuse but before that sedatives were pumped into the drip. I remember laying on the bed in the OR smiling/giggling and asking when things were going to begin. Next thing I was coming around back in my room being shown the ugly thing they ripped out of my backside. (Word of advice: Don't start talking about "private parts" to the cute little nurses when your wife sitting by the bed) <Gee those sedatives are great hehe> The damage caused by the cyst was such that the doctor felt that the wound could be stitched and then the healing process commenced. The stitches were taken out after 2 weeks and now, 5 months after the operation, the wound has healed lovely.. though it has left its mark. ie. a scar 10cms or so long. But I would take the scar anyday over dealing with the cyst. My advice to all is this.. Just because you have had a Pilonidal Cyst diagnosed, don't automatically assume the worst. Those little 'pain in the bums' are conquerable... Matt.

Date:

November 05, 2004

Story

I am 31 year old female. I had my first encounter with this in july 2004 when i was 22 weeks pregnant. It grew to the point of leaving me in agony, and i had it lanced in the ER and then packed with open healing for 5 weeks. After that, no problems, and I assumed it was just a one time flare up brought on by pregnancy hormones or something. WRONG!! On Oct 16, i delivered my baby boy. Between nursing and holding him, I put a lot of pressure on that area. Within two weeks, it was flared up worse than the first time, greatly inhibiting my ability to care for my child. This past Tues, i went to a surgeon, assuming he would lance it again, and then we'd talk about surgery for the spring or sometime when the baby is bigger. He gave me 4 needles of local anesthetic and dug like crazy. i think he did the surgery right there, leaving a scooped out hole 2 inches long and same deep. He said he was trying to remove enough to ensure it does not return. Then he sent me home with what I later learned was over 1 foot of 1 inch packing inside (Did that ever hurt to pull out the next day). The whole thing took half an hour. Because I am breastfeeding, I can't take any good pain meds, and am making due with tylenol and advil--which do nothing. I have homecare nurses twice a day cleaning and packing the wound (I'm in Canada--it's free)--and they speculate it will take 8 weeks to close. Hopefully, this is it, and he got it all this time! For what it's worth, I think delivering a baby is way easier than coping with these agonizing cysts!

Date:

November 05, 2004

Story

I just discovered what this thing on my butt was, and it was finally diagnosed correctly yesterday: the day of my surgery. Funny story. It has been incorrectly diagnosed for two years. I'm currently a Junior in high school. I discovered my Pilonidal cyst back in the fall of my Freshman year. I remember taking a shower and then feeling this ungodly, huge bump right above my crack. Thinking it was a pimple of some weird kind, I tried to squeeze it, but that was incredibly painful so I stopped. Maybe it would go away. Well, I waited about a year. In the meantime, it bled through my panties and sometimes through my pants. It fluctuated in size and was very painful and embarrassing. I decided to tell my parents, finally, and they thought it was a boil. After awhile, we realized that this thing, whatever it was, was here to stay, so we made a doctor's appointment. My doctor diagnosed it as a Granuloma, and after she applied a boiling hot compress to my open wound to drain it, she prescribed this God-awful medicine that caused me to have crazy diarrhea. This was about 2 days before my Band Trip to Orlando, Florida, and I assure you the combination of "Granuloma" and it's subsequent medicine made for an interesting vacation. I took an X-ray after that, since the medicine did not help, to make sure that it wasn't a Meningocele. It wasn't; but what I did discover was that I had Spina Bifida Occulta. I was then referred to a neurosurgeon and got an MRI (in which I had to lay on my back, as well as on the cyst. Ouch). My neurosurgeon did not see any connection to my spine, so he said he could go ahead and perform surgery. And so he did. That was yesterday, and now I sit (a bit painfully) in front of my computer. I've been moving like a sloth all day and yesterday, and popping Lortab like jellybeans (an exaggeration, ofcourse). It's almost over, and I can hardly wait :)

Date:

November 04, 2004

Story

When i started feeling the pain of my pilonidal abscess, I had just started University in Southampton, UK. After awkwardly bouncing back on to my bed, I felt as though I'd bruised my coccyx, and so was not worried by the mild pain. After a few days, I noticed a small swelling at the base of my spine, just at the top of my butt crack. This worried me, and i actually came to this very site, when researching what this bump could be. So i had diagnosed myself even before I went to a doc! Anyhoo...not wanting to act as though I knew all about health conditions, I just plodded on. The pain gradually became worse and worse and I was unable to lie on my back, or front. I resorted to sleeping constantly on my side, although this would give me a dead leg! After a little while I was having trouble walking and was in intensive pain 24/7. Before returning home from uni for the weekend, i dropped in to my doctor's. She could not see or feel anything abnormal (even tho i could?!) so just prescribed me some painkillers. The following day, I was still lying in agony and so resorted to going to A&E that night. Blood and proteins were found in my urine, and the triage nurse suspected a urinary tract infection, which may have been causing the pain. A Doctor came and examined me, and an Xray was done, although no fracture etc showed up. I was sent home with valium to relax the muscles around my coccyx....but no antibiotics, as the levels of blood and proteins were apparently not high enough to require medication. Over the weekend, the pain did not stop. I started becoming more and more feverish and delirious, and after my mum took a look, we went straight to the doctor's again, as she thought it was an abscess. The doc took a look and immediately referred me for emergency surgery for a pilonidal sinus - that had progressed to a v nasty abscess. On getting to the hospital, I had become a lot more unwell. My heartbeat and temperature were way up and the pain even worse. After taking blood tests I was immediately put on intravenous antibiotics and a drip. My symptoms were those of advanced septicaemia, as the poison from the abscess was infecting my blood. The following day, after my condition had been stabilised, I went for the surgery to have the abscess drained. I had to climb on the operating table myself, as i couldn't bear to be moved by other people, because of the pain. I went under, and 20 mins later was lying in recovery - abscess free! I stayed in hospital for 4 more days, and am now at home. Nurses come each morning to pack my cavity and dress it, and although it has quartered in size within two weeks, because the abscess was so big (imagine putting your 2 index fingers, and your thumbs together to form a circle) it'll be a while longer before it's fully healed. Although not all cases are as urgent as mine was (for eg. if u know you are living with a pilonidal cyst) I urge anyone who feels any pain around their coccyx, or who DOES have a cyst to get it checked out immediately. My condition went undiagnosed TWICE, even though I had initially found what it was......but that delay put my life on the line. On getting to the hospital, it was merely a matter of hours before I would've drifted in to a coma, and it could've been a very different story.

Date:

November 02, 2004

Story

I'm a 20 year old female who also has a problem with pilonidal cysts. The first time I had one show up was November of my freshman year in high school. I didnt understand what it was and I was too embarassed to tell anyone, so I just acted like I had the flu -- i had chills and nausea, headaches, everything -- and it eventually went away. It came back again my sophomore year, also November, and that time it didn't go away, so I finally told my grandma about it (my mom was out of town for a few weeks). She took me to have it lanced, and the doctor I went to didn't even give me anesthesia. He told me I would have to get the cyst removed but, since I was in marching band, I could wait for a while. I ended up waiting quite a long while, since I couldn't afford to have the surgery, but luckily the cyst didn't come back. The cyst has just started coming back (it's november again...), but I have a heating pack and antibiotics... I just hope they help. They normally say it's caused by sitting too much, but in the years I've had the cyst, I've been extremely active, and in the years it was gone, I wasn't quite so active. If I can afford it this time (I'm in college now) I'm going to get the surgery. Anyway, don't be afraid to get help, and sure it's embarassing but if it's been around long enough to have a name, surely tons of people have had it before you. And if you can afford the surgery, do it as soon as possible.

Date:

October 30, 2004

Story

Hello everyone, I had my pilonidal back when i was a freshman in high school... I just remember i bent over in the shower and i heard a pop... Some blood came out and im like what the hell? I just igored it, but i noticed that on the back of my boxers each night, there was more blood. I started to worry, i had no clue what it was... Then it went away until junior year... Thats when it surfaced above my waist. I just had this cherry looking thing hanging off. I really started to panic but what was i suppose to do, tell my mom my ass is bleeding?!?! HAHA! WEll i finally showed her. My mom is a RN at childrens hospital. She knew exactly was it was. She just asked me, andy how long have you had this?? Im like well about 4 years. Shes like well, its not life threatening, but you have a pilonidal cyist.. Im like uhh what the hell is that? She told me and we went to a doc. Hes like man this thing is freakin deep... He actually stuck a really long Q-tip in there.. Well i went and had the surgery... I wont lie to you, its not fun... But heres the bright side, its better to have it done than to live with it... If anyone would like to talk to me about it, IM me at cisco sleeper366 on aol, or email me at cisco_sleeper@sbcglobal.net Dont be afraid to talk to me if you need some support, been there done that... -andy

Date:

October 29, 2004

Story

I am an 18 year old. I'm in my last year of high school, and when I found out that I had pilonidal, it couldn't have a been in a more stressful period in my life. At first (when I hadn't even heard of pilonidal) I thought that I had some back problem, the othopeadic I went to shared my opinion and said that I had 'cocyxdynia'. They send me to physio therapist, where they treated me using some ultra sound machine that was supposed to stop the so called 'inflammed bump'. Later, when there were no improvements made and with the bump becoming bigger they finally suspected a abcess. I was then sent to a specialist on a Sunday (3 day after my first visit to the hospital) where I was told I needed to have immediate surgery. If not then it was imminent that the abcess would it's breach its walls (yeah, it was ready to pop)- and I still had a ton of homework to do. I knew that after the surgery, I would be out of school for a couple of days, with homework piling on at the same time. I got as much done as possible with the info my friends gave but, with all the double sessions of physics and chemistry gone, I was still behind. Eventually, when I did get back to school I had to work really hard to catch up, and keep up with the work that was given each day. I also had to sit on one of those neck rests to decrease the pressure on the wound. Along with all the work, I had other after school activities and commitments I had to fulfill like Model United Nation (with the conference just a week away). Just to make matter evens worse, I also had to go get the dressing changed,for the wound which was just a big inconvenience when all I wanted to do was go home and sleep after draining day at school. However, I'm managing. With the combined support of my doctor, teachers and family (if I haven't said already, Thanks to you people), I have gone through with this hectic routine for 1 month and a week since the operation. This story is meant to be proof to other last year students like me, that it is possible to still survive in school and live with pilonidal. Peace

Date:

October 29, 2004

Story

I'm also a 17-year old female, I'm adding a story mostly because I saw another person just like me on this site. :) I had a pilonidal cyst and I had it removed in surgery just over a year ago. The surgery itself was fine, I had to go under... but the general anesthesia made me really out of it for days. I couldn't sit down for about a week, I had to stand up or lay on my stomach all the time. Not fun. I went back for a few more checkups and for the removal of the stitches, and soon it healed just fine. I still have that little "pouch" from the folded skin. I was lucky, I had a female surgeon. It's really good to know I'm not alone, because I thought it was really embarassing to try to explain to my friends why I was having surgery. I remember before the surgery the cyst was so incredibly painful. Then it went into recession and then flared up again... it really was awful when I was sitting in class the whole day. But it's never felt sore since it's healed. So there's my story!

Date:

October 28, 2004

Story

Hi all, i posted months ago, afraid to have surgery on my 12 year old cyst. well, i bit the bullet and i went in for the op yesterday, i had it first thing this morning and im now at home "sitting" writing this, pain...its similar to how it felt when the cyst had a flare up, not too bad though. the surgeon decided to make it a closed wound, by the looks of it i've been very lucky, having it for 12 years and theres on a half dozen stiches on a 3ish inch scar. the hospital staff were great, i have a needlephobia and i only had to endure a blood test. when going to be knocked out i was given gas before any cannula was put in my hand, i did wake up with it in but thats procedures for you. anyhow, just the healing to go, keep my fingers crossed all infection steers clear. Derek

Date:

October 28, 2004

Story

I'm a 17 year old female, and I just had surgery two days ago on my pilonidal cyst. The pain started this past summer, and escalated to the point that when I went to the movies, I could not sit down normally, and my friends were just like what the heck is wrong with you..But then it went away. This past week was pretty stressful, with 16 hour days, and staying in school almost every day until 6 to help out with homecoming. Then after I took a shower one day, it came back. It didn't hurt as much as the first time, and at least I could sit down, or so I thought. So friday was homecoming, and thank God it didn't hurt so much that I couldn't go. It was a major payoff for all the stress I was put through that week. Then afterwards, my dates friend tried carrying me to the car, and decided to lay me down on my back near the car, and the pain was excruciating. Then the next morning, on Senday, it hurt a lot, and got worse when we had to stand up and sit down so much in church. I wanted to cry, and my friends were laughing at me because I told them that i broke my tailbone (or so I thought)..Monday I went to school. Yeah..That was hell. That night I woke up in a cold sweat and I could not move, and all I could do was scream in pain. So then my mom woke up, and we had to wait until 9 to call the doctors. When we got in touch with him, he told me to soak in some warm water. So when I got in the tub, it was so hot that I blacked out when I came out and passed out on the bathroom floor. Lovely. Then I tried to eat fried eggs, but I just threw up. Finally I could come in, and he made a little incision (it hurt so bad), and kept making jokes about my "fannie", but he drained it for the most part, and put some gauze up there, and its apparently still draining as I type this. It hurts so much less now though, I'm so happy the pain is finally gone. The doctor asked of how long has this been going on, and I said about three days. He told me judging from the severity of the infection, its been like that for a lot longer, but I just have a really high pain tolerance. Well, I'm just glad my pain tolerance was able to tide me until after homecoming..How embarrassing. So I've had to stay home for the past two days and today, soaking in the tub every 5 hours or whatever, and taking all these antibiotics.. Well, I'm just glad I'm not alone in this problem. I really know how you all feel, and its terrible. I just hope and pray that it never ever comes back.

Date:

October 28, 2004

Story

I'm a 35 year old male and I had surgery to remove my pilonidal sinus exactly one week ago (Oct 20th, 2004). I've known since I was a very young child that I had a large dimple at the top of my butt crack, and only vaguely remember learning that it was a "pillow needle" dimple. So much for correct pronunciation! It never got infected even once for the first 34 and a half years. But, in the last year, it has become infected and caused a large and painful boil to form three times. The first time it happened I went to the ER because it hurt so bad and was given antibiotics to clear it up, but I was told to see a surgeon about getting it fixed permanently. The next two times it flared up I drained it myself with a strategically-applied pin and the pain was never all that bad. In the meantime, however, I had seen the surgeon who commented that the dimple itself was much larger than he normally sees, and he wasn't sure the extent to which in went down into my body, so I had an MRI to confirm that it was a full sinus. It was, and last week I went under for the operation to have it removed. The doctor took out a slab of flesh (according to the pathology report) about 5cm by 3cm by 3cm. Closure of the wound was achieved with two layers of stitches, the first at skin level (about 10 I think, hard to count in the mirror) and then 4 more which went all the way around and held in place a tightly-rolled piece of gauze which felt to my like a pencil stuck in my butt crack. This worked very well! It kept the whole area nice and stable, and relieved any pressure that might have ripped open the skin level sutures. I just had this "outer" level of stitches removed this morning, and can now wash the area fully in the shower. Next week, the skin level stitches will come out and I should never have to deal with this again. My surgeon said he was sure to go "all the way down to the bone" to get all of the tunnels and related parts of the sinus out once and for all. In a funny way, I kind of miss my little butt crack dimple. Like I said, it had never been a problem until the last year. at the same time, however, I'm not going to miss these stitches when they come out next week, and I certainly won't miss the pain of an inflamed pilonidal cyst and that stupid rolled up gauze pad sewn into my butt crack.

Date:

October 27, 2004

Story

I recently had a Pilonidal excision(10/25/04). Due to a worry about down time, my surgeon and I discussed the closed procedure over the open healing. Keep in mind nothing about pilonidal is fun, easy or attractive. My cyst(discovered during the surgery) was the largest my surgeon had ever seen. Years of dealing with it, and not knowing what it was apparently let this 'thing' reek havoc in my lower back. Back spasms, leg pain along with the cyst itself were my pre surgery complaints. Despite the apparently large size of my cyst, my surgeon still did a wonderful job in performing a closed procedure. I have about 100 stitches, not very attractive , closing a 14 inch incision in my back. The 'centerpoint' if you will of my cyst before the surgery, was at the very top of my cleft. A large marble sized knot protruding through the skin. My wound travels 10 inches up my lower back above the 'marble' and 4 inches below it. After surgery I was asked how I was even walking b4 surgery. Here are a few pics of my wound post op: http://portaransasonline.com/e107_images/ronback1.jpg http://portaransasonline.com/e107_images/ronback2.jpg http://portaransasonline.com/e107_images/ronback3.jpg It's now 2 days post op, and I'd have to say besides the pulling and tugging of stitches and healing I feel wonderful. Of course I spent a day in the hospital afterwards due to the large incision and to receive I.V. anti biotics. The first day was hell but the second day is going well. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Remarks that I'm taller, look healthier, and just overall look better help my healing. The infection that took it's toll on mybody for years is finally gone, I'm not all hunched over, and I feel that i'm getting better.

Date:

October 26, 2004

Story

Hello Everyone, I'm male and 51 years old. I suffered with my cyst for 7½ years before I had the surgery. The first couple of years it didn't bother me to much (I figured it was just an ingrown hair). After it had flared up for about the 4th time I went to my doctor and asked him about it. He diagnosed it for what it was and offered me two options...1)He could drain it, but he told me it would come back, and 2) I could have surgery. At the time, neither option appealed to me, so I chose not to choose. Over the next few years it would flare up from time to time, but a sinus had developed so the duration of each episode was only two or three days, the discomfort was minimal, and I could handle the discharge by using femanine pads. So I still did not have to choose (but the occurances were becoming more frequent). Skip forward to last November, the cyst flared up again, only a month since the last time, but this time was different. Instead of draining through the sinus, the pressure built up over about 10 days and the discomfort became very intense, actually it hurt like a SOB. I made an appointment to see my doctor for the next day, and that evening, while in on the toilet, the sinuse opened and relief was immediate, although messy as hell. I was still going to keep my appointment the next day, but the doctor's office called, canceling the appointment because he had a family emergency and had to leave town for a couple of weeks. Well, my problem had temporarily abated so I had no pressing need to see a new doctor, so I decided to wait, again. Skip forward to the end of May this year, the cyst has never really abated, plus now I have the "sac" on the left side of my butt crack, that seems to be forever filling and draining. I finally went to my doctor to review my surgical options and he referred me to a Colo-Rectal surgen. After finally getting my schedule, the doctors schedule and the Hospitals schedule aligned, I eventually had the surgery on the day after Labor day. I did not have the VAC, but rather the doctor stiched the wound closed and I was extremely careful about keeping the area clean. It took a month before the doctor would release me to resume my regular life style, but I was only out of work for a week. As of today everything seems to be fine. One of the reasons I delayed so long was because the best option seemed to be the VAC method of recovery, but that would not work for me. I felt I could not be out of work for the time it would take to recover. My doctor however had performed both methods many times and felt that if I kept everything clean, I could expect a full recovery, which seems to be the case. I pray I don't have a reoccurance, but if that does occur, I will not hesitate to have the surgury again. Bottom line to anyone that is visiting here and reading this. If you are suffering from a Pilondial cyst, you may be able to live with it but its not going to go away, and it is only going to get worse. Talk to your doctor, find out your options and then pick the one that is best for you.

Date:

October 26, 2004

Story

hey, i'm 18 and i found out that i had a pilondial cyst during my senior year of football. i was the captain of my team, being a two year starter at linebacker and a three year letter winner. i was also a three year starter for my wrestling team. After coming home from summer practice one day with a pain in my butt, i thought it was a bruised tailbone. So i let it slide for about 2 weeks. I played with that pain for two weeks. I thought then that it was broken, so i went to the doctor, and he sliced me open and drained it. I thought that pain was crappy. he said i needed surgery a.s.a.p. I had to get the surgey done during wrestling season. I was trying to play football in college, but when the coaches foud out that I had one surgery to remove it, and than it grew back, and had to get another one, all the phones stopped ringing. After my second surgery i was hooked up to the V.A.C. The thing helped, considering my wound healed in 8 weeks. The surgery left me 9 1/2 centimeters deep, 8 centimeters long, and 4 centimeters wide. the changings were the worst. I cried every time i got one done, which was Monday, Wednesday, And Friday. It's been 3 and 1/2 months since i got off the V.A.C. and i'm still draining every day. In my opinion, this is the single worst thing that has happened to me in my life. It kept me from going to the college I wanted to go to, playing football in college, and i have lost 25 pounds of muscle because i can't work out. Thanks Cyst.

Date:

October 25, 2004

Story

I wish I had found this site sooner! My cyst was discovered about 2 1/2 years ago when I went to a hospital emergency room for testicular pain. They discovered it was nothing serious and gave me some Tylenol. I said something along the lines of, "By the way, while I'm here, could someone check on this thing in my but that's leaving stinky yellow stuff all over the back of my pants?" They examined it (thoroughly) and determined that it was a P.C. or P.S. (if there was any tiny little fiber of me that wanted to be homosexual, it died then and there in the ER). I visited one of the hospital's surgeons two days later, the appointment was scheduled and I went into the OR. This is how the memory of going into surgery, lying in the bed watching "Blues Clues" through a doorway into the next room, cut to being awake, very groggy and in a (literal) buttload of pain. Over the year which followed the wound gradually healed, then I noticed that the top part wasn't closing up any more and there was more yellow stuff coming out of it. Back under the knife I go. This time I remember a little bit more of being put under. The memory sort of dissolves from being put under to waking up, again, very groggy and in a buttload of pain. -At this point I'd like to say that if there's anything enjoyable about having one of these things, it's getting to try all sorts of great drugs (morphine, percocet, tylenol w/codine) without (hopefully) becoming an addict or doing anything illegal.- So once again, months of dressing changes, watching the wound get smaller and smaller. This time the top part closed completely, but one day I started having more pain there. I looked at the area and the part where the top had closed was swollen to about the size of my index finger curled around on itself. We went ASAP to the hospital, by the time we got there it had swollen to the size of a golf ball. The surgeon opened it (which really hurt) and drained it, and we scheduled another surgery (figuring "Third time's the charm"). This time, upon awakening from surgery, I was in so much pain that I was almost going into shock. I was shivering violently and uncontrolably. so they deicded to keep me at the hospital overnight. It turned out that the pain was really caused by the pressure on the incision, the moment I rolled off of the cart onto the hospital bed the pain went away. I'll spare you the details of how it didn't heal, yet again. This time the surgeon who had been working with me called in the hospital's resident plastic surgeon, who suggested using a VAC dressing to close the wound. I had to stay at the hospital for a week while they cut through some red tape to arrange for the VAC Freedom to be delivered to my house, and for a visiting nurse to come twice a week to change the dressing (She comes Thursdays and Saturdays, on Tuesdays I go to the hospital.) It's working marvelously. I'm writing this on Monday October 25, 2004. The doctors anticipate that I will be completely healed by tomorrow, or next week at the latest.

Date:

October 22, 2004

Story

At first I thought I had a nasty case of hemmorhoids which I thought was odd since I'm young and have a normal weight and diet. It would just really hurt right after I pooped and for a few hours afterward. After that, it was fine. Then I started having a yellow drainage come out of my butthole and was constantly going to the bathroom to wipe it out. Eventually it felt like I had split skin in between my butt crack so when I went to sit down I wanted to scream. I went to the doctor and she stuck this thing up my butt (it hurt so bad, I bawled through the whole thing) and determined that everything was normal, but maybe I had a tear way up there from having a hard poop or something. She gave me an antibiotic and sent me home. Two days later the pain became so bad, I became light-headed and nauseated. I found a little lump on my butt crack in the shower. So I called the Dr. who guessed it was a pilonidal cyst. My financé drove me to the clinic. I puked in a bucket on the way in his truck, I was in such pain. (Poor guy, he must really love me he took it so well!) So the Dr. sliced it open and cleaned it out. Wow, what a mess. There was blood and pus everywhere. It was so horribly painful when they stuck the needle in for the anesthetic. There were two nurses in the room, one to spread my buttcheeks apart and one by my shoulders to hold me down. I tell you, there is nothing sacred anymore. Pride is not an issue with me anymore, either. Also, I had a shot in each hip, one was for nausea, the other was for pain. I hyperventilated towad the end and almost passed out. I puked again on the way out the door. The hole was 4 inches deep after it was cleaned out but I was incredibly lucky because in one week it healed to only 1/2 inch deep. It really sucked getting the packing changed every other day for two weeks. I layed on the exam table, hung on to the edges and screamed the first few times. It wasn't quite as bad the second week. I also had to rinse off well with a squirt bottle in the tub every time I went to the bathroom. For the first week I peed in the bathtub so I didn't have to sit down. Pooping was such a chore since it hurt to sit on the toilet, took forever to wipe, having to be so careful. Then I'd be extra sore for a couple of hours after the poop. Once I sat on the toilet and just cried, I didn't want to poop, the aftermath was so painful. I was so pathetic. Aahh! It was such a nightmare. I had darvocet for a painkiller. It helped, but not enough. I hope and pray this cyst doesn't come back. It's been three weeks ago today that I had it cut open. the packing was taken out for good 6 days ago. I'm still soaking my butt in warm soapy water before bed. Also, the doctor sliced a little too far over and went across my butt crack and that cut spreads open everytime I sit down. So that's taking a long time to heal. It's still bleeding a little. I think my cyst was caused by combined factors: I had a job that had me sitting on my butt all day, I had recently had my appendix out so had been basically in bed for a couple of weeks, I typically have bad posture, and I slipped on the stairs and fell hard on my butt. My heart really goes out to anyone who has ever or will ever have to deal with a pilonidal cyst. There's a certain kind of despair that comes with it. It is such a horrible thing to have happen to you and recovery is like that from a major surgery. It really puts your life on hold. I was very blessed to have a financé that took such good care of me. ~jenmarie

Date:

October 22, 2004

Story

Hey All! I don't know where to even begin with my pain in the butt (literly). I guess it was Christmas Eve and I was at work and slipped (very busy and a lid was left on the floor and cause me to do the splits) When i got home my ankle hurt but i ignored it. On Christmas I was opening presents at my boyfriend's house, I couldn't even sit it hurt so bad. It felt like the worse bruise I've ever had but on my butt. I dealt with it for about 5 days before it became o painful that I couldn't deal with it anymore. I went to a clinic. They said i most likey had to have surgry to remove it. I went to see my regular dr. He gave me anitbiotics to take for a few days. They did no good. My first surgry occured on New Years Eve of last year. (i was thrilled to sit at home alone and be in pain, night ended in tears). I went in for my check up towards the middle of January. Then he said that this time i must have major surgry and be put to sleep and what not. Let me say that the whole thing has to be the most painful experince EVER! Then in may i had to have surgry again because it came back. It is now October and I am on my way to a diffrent surgeon expecting to have surgry again. For all you peope out there, ask questions about what you can do after the healing is done to help prevention of another cyst. My dr failed to mention eating tons of vitamins, shaving the area etc. Always ask tones of questions to help yourself. Wish me luck on my adventure of surgry #4! UGH the pain, i'm not looking forward to it at all!

Date:

October 21, 2004

Story

I had one about 5 years ago when I lived in S America. Surgery involved injecting the area with a blue dye to make the infected area easy to identify during surgery. The infected area was then cut out and the wound closed by stapling the skin shut and passing 2 elastic wires through the wound to ensure the wound was closed internally. The wires were removed about 10 days later and the staples 14 days after. Although there was some infection which delayed healing, antibiotics kept it under control and the wound healed well. Now there is almost no discernable scarring and 'touch wood' I have had no reocurrence.

Date:

October 20, 2004

Story

Hello everybody! I would just like to say that this is the first website I referred to October 2nd when I found out that I had a Pilonidal cyst. I had my first doctor's appointment and semi-surgical procedure on October 5th. When I found out that I had a Pilonidal (from my mom, who had one as well), I was in shock! I thought, "Why me? I'm only 18 years old and haven't done anything too awful to anyone or anything to deserve this crap!" Well anyway...let me back track a bit for you. About two weeks before October 2nd, I had injured my tailbone and surrounding area, but only slightly. How it happened is really rediculous actually. I was getting into a low-set vehicle and just sort of plopped in, and my tailbone hit the side of the seat pretty hard instead. I know, it's a very odd situation. Anyway -- you know...it just felt as if it was bruised for the first week and a half. I didn't think anything of it until I noticed that there was a round spot popping out of my skin in my butt crack! So then I figured, "Ok, it's just some sort of weird bruise that will go away." BIG MISTAKE. As I learned, never self-diagnose yourself. If you aren't a doctor, you really have no business in doing so!! As the days progressed, I grew to be in SO much pain that I couldn't sit down or sleep on my back and could hardly even walk!! I realized that it was only getting worse, but thought that it would all just pass with time. Stupid me! Anyone else feeling this unbelievable, excruciating pain would have probably gone to the emergency room right away! Not to say that I'm some sort of tough person by any means...because I'm not! The reason I didn't go is because I've never been much of a fan of the doctor. Anyway -- the next day I had some plans to meet up with my friends at their concert. I was so excited...they are now a major label, national touring band who I don't really get to see/hang out with all that often anymore because of their busy schedule. So that night I took a shower getting prepped for the concert. When I was out of the shower and getting ready, my nose started picking up on this awful, reaking smell but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from! Then I began to feel liquid seemingly coming out of the weird round sac thing that had become visible in the crack. It smelled so awful, and was leaking at such a rapid pace. I freaked out and tried to wipe it all out of there with toilet paper, but it just didn't stop. At first it was a weird brown color but later that night and for days after was mostly bloody. So what did I do? I lined an old pair of underwear with paper towels, and lots of 'em! So my best friend picked me up and I told her about the nasty smelling liquid coming out of the weird bump. I told her that it smelled really bad and that if she smelled it, to let me know. But she had a real bad sense of smell and couldn't really help me out in that department. The concert was a good time even though I could feel the bump constantly draining all night long. When I got home, the papertowels were completely drenched in the nasty smelling brownish blood stuff. (haha what great description). I knew that something wasn't right...but I just put more paper towels on there and went to bed anyway. The next morning I called my mom and told her all of the events that had ocurred and right away she said, "oh no, you have a pilonidal cyst. We'll go to the clinic or emergency room tomorrow." (which actually turned into three days later, on a Tuesday at my actual doctor's office). So what did I do after hearing this? I came on this website and read all the horror stories. To be completely honest, it REALLY freaked me out. Seriously... this site is an awesome, helpful source of information but the personal stories scared the absolute crap out of me!! So this is my disclaimer: DON'T WORRY -- I AM NOT GOOD AT DEALING WITH PAIN, AND I DEALT WITH HAVING ACUTE PILONIDAL JUST FINE. WELL, I ALSO HAD VICCODIN, SO ASK FOR SOME OF THAT!! :) There's my friendly disclaimer. The horror stories were just so shocking! It really made me fear going to the doctor even more! haha But anyway -- Tuesday rolled around and I went to the doctor. They injected me a bunch of times with local anesthetic to numb the area. All you have to do to deal with being injected with this stuff is to breathe deep, and keep in mind that in just a few minutes, your butt will be numb! Ahh, it began working. The doctor thought that they would just have to finish draining the cyst...until they cut it on open and saw that there was stuff growing on the skin inside that shouldn't have been, because I had waited so long! (Ahh...refer back to "NEVER PRACTICE SELF-DIAGNOSIS!!") So they had to cut a bunch of weird, solid stuff out of me. I never felt any pain, except for when they pulled on the stuff to cut it out...whatever it is. I forget the name, to be quite honest with you. I believe it has been sent out to get tested. And she said that they "hopefully" cut all of it out. That's reassuring ;) Anyway -- this procedure took a little over an hour. At the end, the packing was put inside the wound...as it IS afterall an open-wound and needs to heal from the inside out. Then they put the dressing (bandage) on the outside of your butt. I left the doctor and with a prescription of viccodin...right after having all sorts of stuff cut out of me I was in a bit of pain...and the anesthetic feels a little funny when it's wearing off. But don't worry, it's all bearable. But really -- I tried Advil, Ibuprofen and Tylenol Extra Strength. None of them worked for this pain. So I would recommend that you ask for a prescription such as viccodin. But don't be stupid with it. It IS habit-forming, and I even had a withdrawal one night after I hadn't taken it for a day and a half. Not fun! Anyway -- the doctor told my mom that she needed to pull out and cut out half of the packing that was put into the wound on the very next day after the procedure. So when that next day rolled around, my mom stopped by. She pulled out 4 inches thinking that was half of it. The next day I had to go back to the doctor so that they could pulled out the rest of the packing and put new packing in. They ended up pulling out 10 more inches!! My mom definitely didn't pull out enough! haha Oh -- but some advice for ya!! Before my mom pulled out the packing, she poured hydrogen peroxide in to loosen it up...it did not hurt ONE bit. In fact, it felt better than when the doctor did it...and the doctor actualled POURED anesthetic into the wound so that it'd work quicker. I suppose it didn't loosen it up as much as the peroxide? I don't know. Never quite figured out that one. So definitely use hydrogen peroxide...highly recommend it for loosening the packing! Anyway -- I've had doctor's appointments every 2-4 days since October 5th. My last was on Monday, and my next is on Friday. The area did become infected, but I was given antibiotics to help the situation and so far, it has been looking really good. Everything has turned out fine and I'm so happy that it's all taken care of. It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be!! I'm so happy it was taken care of finally and even though I have doctor's appointments up the wazoo for who knows how long, it's fine. They just keep repacking the wound. The drainage doesn't leak past the packing, so don't worry. To all who are reading, please don't be afraid to go and get this taken care of. Especially all the girls out there who may be embarrassed about the situation. I'm a girl, too! I was embarrassed at first but then put everything into perspective and kept in mind that this is a VERY common ocurrence. Even though it sucks, it is still extremely common. You'll feel so great once you have it all taken care of. It's a nice burden off your shoulders. And I'm not one of those who got the actual surgery that CLOSES the wound. I did it the natural way and so far, so good. Best of luck to all of you. I'm sorry that you've found yourself reading this...because that means you have a Pilonidal. You can deal with it. You can live with it. LIFE GOES ON, and soon after. I'm back to work and living life. Remember...take a deep breath. And SMILE!! :P Much love to all! -nicki P.S. If you'd like to contact me, feel free to do so by sending an e-mail to teamnillo@hotmail.com

Date:

October 19, 2004

Story

I'm a 16 year old female and I believe I have just discovered a cyst on my tailbone. From last year I have had a lot of pain and now there is a tiny visible bump. I'm really scared and do not want to go through with surgury, although it has never leaked before. I kills when I sit down and I cannot sit through my classes. I can feel it shift, but I do not know if I misdiagnosed myself. Maybe it was from figure skating, falling on my tailbone for 10 years! Any advice?

Date:

October 19, 2004

Story

22 Female I thought I did something to my tailbone. The paiin was unbearable. I made excuses at work so I could walk around leave the office. I finally went to the doctor and he said it was just infected cut or pimple. After two days of the meds, I woke one night in hot sweats feeling like someone was tearing into my backside. Next day went to the doctor who said I need to get it removed. Sent me to another doctor half hour away. CAR RIDES ARE NOT FUN! Got to the Colon Rectal Surgery Office, where the receptionist told me to have a sit! ..okay this is a hiney doctor...sitting wasn't an choice. The doctor gave me a local anestheics, and said it would take a couple minutes to work, well it didn't. And he contiuned anyway. The doctor said it was so infected that was the reason it didn't work. But I got home took some meds feel asleep and woke up 100% better. I just hope this never comes back because surgery being not pain free isn't fun.

Date:

October 19, 2004

Story

This is a follow up to my 1st post on August 12, 2004... I had my surgury on Sept 21 of this year. I got to the hospital about 2 hours before the surgury. They got my vitals, asked me the standard questions. Then I watched the World Series of Poker for another hour before they came to get me, (lucky I was able to sit since it didnt hurt and wasnt swollen.) It started to drain about 3 days before the surgury but felt better than it ever had since it came back. Went into pre-op, the anestesiologist came and explained what would happen and got my IV started. Then I waited another hour just staring at the wall. Then the operating room was avail and the Dr came in to ask if I had any questions. All I asked was that he planned to CLOSE the wound. He said unless he ABSOLUTLY had too in an emergency he would close it. So then they gave me the drugs in the IV. I remember them wheeling me into the operating room, flipping me from my back onto my belly, then thats the last thing I rememeber until about 15 minutes (I think) before the surgury was done. i was still groggy and numb but was aware of everyone talking and working on me. I did start to feel a little bit and told the anestesiologist. She gave me a little morphine (not enough to make a big effect.) Within minutes (agian I think) after giving my that extra morphine, the surgury was over. they flipped me back over and rolled me into a room. I was pretty up and aware by then. The Dr. came in and said it went fine but that the cyst was infected and ALOT bigger than it looked. He said he DEFINATLEY got all of it. I had about 16 stitches and a tube w/ a suction bag. I had a little nausea but that ws prob since i hadnt eaten for over 13 hrs. they game me some nausea meds and some Demerol, (GOOOOOD STUFF!!) He said since it was so big I should stay in the hospital over night, I was discharged about 5:30pm the next day. After I got home I basically just layed around. They gave me Perkaset to take every 4 hours. the actual wound didnt hurt unless I bumped or put pressure on it. It was more of an inconvinience w/ the tube there and not being able to sit. After about 6 days the only real pain was from the tube which had extensions that went into each cheak for drainage. Think it was rubbing and pinching. I was back to work 8 days later, wasnt able to sit long but was able to drive w/ just a little discomfort. Now Im fine, doesnt hurt unless I sit on a hard chair for a long period of time. Went back to the Dr last week and he said it looks fine. Told me to just keep it shaved but that in his opinion this is just somthing that some people are prone to and theres nothing that can really prevent it. So I hope that this is it. The doctors and nurses were great (if your in St. Louis, see Dr Brabee at St. John's Mercy. ) Overall it wasn't that bad of an experience. Small price to pay to get that thing outta me.

Date:

October 18, 2004

Story

I am a 21 y/o white male. I am a NY state EMT and i worked on an ambulance when I was diagnosed wit a pilonidal syst. That was in July of 2002. I had the syst surgically removed and i was out of work for several weeks. The surgery was very painfull. I had roughly 15 stitches up my crack. I was unable to sleep without medication and i had a drainage tube with a suction bubble for about 2 weeks after the surgery. About 2 months ago i noticed that the syst has reoccoured. I do not have any medical insurance and the syst is an open wound, discharging large amounts of pus and blood. I am a freshmen in college and often in discomfort. I can not sleep well without medication or alcohol on board. I hope to have the syst removed after this semester. hopefully it will not come back this time.

Date:

October 15, 2004

Story

Hi everyone. I'm a 29 y/o male in Florida who just got an intimate introduction to the world of Pilonidal disease yesterday. Some quick background: about a year ago i broke my tailbone. I spent a few weeks on my back. About 6 months later i had my first Pilonidal outbreak, it was minor like a pimple, or so i thought, I was able to lance it, it drained and i didnt think any more about it. 7 days ago i awoke to a large lump in my groin, fearing the worst *hernia* i rushed to the local ER. Upon examination it was diagnosed as an imflamed lymph node. i was given antibiotics and sent home. about 2 days later i felt some tenderness on my tailbone i had experienced about the time of the lymph node increase dramatically. within 2 days of going home i had a lump about the size of a small egg on my butt, and i was in extreme agony *by which i mean crying and nearly going into shock*. Talk about humiliating, I mean, I'm in good shape, decently atheletic, take care of myself....but I went back to the ER and was taken to a surgeon posthaste and had immediate surgery on the area. I am currently at home with a 2.25 inch hole stuffed with gauze. sure the incision hurts like hell, but its still better than the inflamed cyst!!! yay me eh? anyhoo i am so frikkin pleased to have discovered this website after being told my diagnosis. i am currently printing out several wound care tips and articles on prevention of reoccurence of this thing. my docs had little info to give me about this disease other than the surgery and wound packing. its good to not be afraid and embarassed. on a side note i have a female freind who had privately confessed to me some months ago about suffering from the same ailment *not the same extreme though*, and how her docs had no clue, lancing the swelling and giving her antibiotics in an endless cycle about once a month. now i will tell her there is a probable diagnosis, information, treatment options, and *hopefully* a life free from flair ups afterwards! <==* and so I hope after i heal up =D * good luck and best regards to all you fellow sufferers out there!! <also sorry for being so long winded!>

Date:

October 14, 2004

Story

I had my first experience with pilonidal disease in Sept 99. I went to the surgeon and he had determined it was from figure skating. At that time I was working on double jumps and falling a lot on my tailbone. I had the surgery done, and he left it open, packing it with gauze. Because of the shape of my back area I had a very hard time healing. In Dec 99, I was still seeing the surgeon because the area never healed and he ended up having to go back in and remove it again. I did not return to work until the end of January, and even then it was hard to sit. I saw the surgeon every week through Aug 2000. My wedding was in Sept 2000 and I wanted to be healed for it. It still was not healing, but I started going to the tanning salon for the big day. After about 3 visits to the tanning salon, I had returned to the surgeon and he said what are you doing? I said why, he said because all of a sudden it is starting to heal. I said I have been tanning for the wedding. He told me to keep doing it, like 3 times a week. Needless to say, the week before my wedding, the surgeon said he didn't need to see me anymore. He did come to the wedding though, which was great since we really got to know each other. But back in July, I had taken another fall and landed right on my tailbone. I didn't want to go through all that again, so I have been putting it off having it checked. Finally a couple days ago, it got so bad that I went to my primary doctor. He said oh yeah, I can see it, I don't even need to feel it. So luckily, my new insurance is accepted by my previous surgeon and I have my consultation appt with him next week. I just hope this time, I don't have all the pain and trouble healing. If I do, I know I will definately trying tanning. Good luck to all of you out there with these same issues!

Date:

October 12, 2004

Story

I had one of these back in 1996. I was 14 at the time. Pardon my french, but it hurt like hell!! When I first discovered it, I thought it was just a boil, and I treated it as one. After a week I couldn't take anymore. I told my mother and grandmother, who like me were under the impression that it was a boil. After another week of agonizing pain I went to the doctor. It was infected, so he prescribed antibiotics and sent me home for another week of pain. I lay in the bed another week. Guess what!! When I went to the Dr. the following week. I suddenly felt better while in the waiting room. To our surprise, the cyst ruptured while we were there. I waited a few weeks before surgery. It drained, and drainded and drained some more. The surgery went fine. Local Anestheics.

Date:

October 12, 2004

Story

I am a 40 year old male and have only had 2 flare-ups on my tailbone area. After the second flare-up, I decided that I would have the pilonidal cyst removed. I first researched "pilonidal" cysts starting at this website and must admit that once I found my way to the "images" area, I was considering cancelling the surgery! I decided to be brave and go with the surgery. Up until the day of the surgery and even just minutes before getting anesthesized the doctor continued to stress that the size and extent of the cyst could not be determined until he had a look underneath the skin. I kept pressing him trying to determine if he was going to leave a big open scar to heal or dig out the cyst and stitch up the wound. He kept stating that what he could see externally could just be "tip of the iceberg" and he was unable to even guesstimate whether I would have a big open wound or just an incision which could be closed after removing the cyst. I truly felt that in my case the cyst was probably very small since I have had practically zero issues. Also told him that after the first flare-up was lanced it went back to normal and remained that way for over 5 years (so my first flare-up was at age 35 or so). Happy to report that I was correct. Had surgery Oct 1, 2004 and I am already back at the workplace after having worked last week from home. The surgeon found the cyst was not too deep and the tunneling was minimal (only 1) - so he took it out and stitched me back up. He confirmed that it was a pilonidal cyst by cutting open the "cyst" which contained skin and hair inside! I am very glad that I opted for surgery vs. chickening-out! I recommend that people get the surgery rather than living with fear of yet another painful relapse....the sooner you get the surgery the better!

Date:

October 12, 2004

Story

WOW finally a site with some answers.. Well first off im 18 years old, i had the surgery done when i was 14 years old. It started when i went to go sit down at the dinner table and i was in so much pain. Didnt think much of it, untill the next day i had pus draining out of it. Thats when my mom took me to the doctor. I could remember perfectly when he told me i would eventually have to have surgery. i almost fainted! what 14 year old wants to have surgery. defently not me. I went to the doctor my primary doctor told me to do to!! what an awesome doctor!! He lanced me the first time. and we set a day for the surgery. I had the surgery done, and 3 years after, it came back 4 times!! was i pissed?? ohh yess!!! Well i sat down and spoke to my doctor...and we decided to go ahead and have laser hair removal.. very uncomfterble having some lady look at my butt. but i got over it. It worked but oviously not good enough. I am back to the pain the started with. I called my favorite doctor (the one who did the surgery) and he doesnt cover my new insurance. Just to see him is 300 bucks. I have an apointment wit my primary doctor to get some antibiotics....but as we know that doesnt last long. Im hoping my mom will pay the money to let him fix it. I hate this pain. But this website defently gave me a lot of answers. and for anyone looking to do the surgery, defently do it. With all the pain you go through, Survery is well worth it. Im not looking forward to getting it lanced or having surgery again, but i will defently come back to this page for more answers. Thanks!!!

Date:

October 12, 2004

Story

I am a 34 year old female who had my cysts removed when I was in high school. I first noticed the cysts after I took a long walk into town. Of course, I didn't know it was cysts. I noticed a hole and fluid coming from inbetween my butt cheeks. I wasn't until a camping trip with friends did it really flare up. I was sitting on a pillow trying to drive home after the trip. When I got home, I went to the ER and they lanced them. Not long after that, I had the surgery and my Mom packed the area for weeks. Actually, in the recovery room, there was another person who had gotten the same surgery. I know that because they had the same huge lump on their butt from all the packed gauze. Anyway, turns out I had 10 cysts. One so deep my Mom had to pack the gauze with tweezers to get into the tiny hole it created. She said the hole from having all the cysts removed was the size of a softball. I had it done during the summer, so no time was lost from school. It took a long while to fully get back the feeling and color in the surgery area. I am glad I had the surgery. I have not ever had a reoccurance since <knock on wood>.

Date:

October 10, 2004

Story

I HAD PILONIDAL SURGERY 12 YEARS AGO AND I BELIEVE IT WAS NOT NECESSARY. I FELL ON STEPS CAUSING THE CYST TO BECOME IRRITATED. IT WAS DRAINED BY A SURGEON BUT NOT PACKED. HE RECOMMENDED SURGERY . I HAD IT DONE, HE SAID IT WAS A COPLE INCHES DEEP,BUT HE DID CLOSE IT -NO PACKING. IT DIDNT COME BACK, BUT IAM SORE THERE. AFTER I HAD SURGERY,A FEW CO-WORKERS SAID THEY(WOMEN) HAD HAD CYSTS YEARS BEFORE BUT ONLY HAD THEM DRAINED. I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD THE SURGERY IF THEY WOULD HAVE TOLD ME THEYRE CYSTS DIDNT COME BACK MERELY AFTER HAVING THEM DRAINED. SUE L.

Date:

October 10, 2004

Story

I'm a 25-year-old guy who noticed my cyst about 4 years ago when I was a junior in college. I'd recently started dating my current fiancee and was not particularly "up" on the idea of having surgery and having to disclose the details of the infected lump on my ass. So I waited about a year (you know, until our relationship was developed to the point of butt crack abnormality discussion) and finally got it all checked out. The first doctor I saw told me that I'd just have to live with it since there weren't any "cures" for it and having it removed would be wasting time and money. Figuring the doctor for a lazy quack who just didn't want to deal with my butt crack, I got a second opinion. This doctor scheduled me for surgery and I took two weeks off from school to let it heal (not bad, except for that Western Civ II paper I had to write). Anyway, after only two months, the cyst came back. Since I began working a "real job" not long after, I haven't been able to build up the holiday leave to have another surgery and healing period. My fiancee tells me that I need to get the surgery b/c the constant mixing of fluids down there can sometimes lead to cancerous formations (she's not a doctor, but she IS a high school English teacher so I'm sure it's pretty sound medical advice ;). It drains every now and again but, not knowing when it will decide to do this, I pack the area every day so I don't have any "evidence" showing through my slacks at work. Of course, "friendly relations" are less than perfect as being naked involves having a gauze packing (or, in some desperate cases, a paper towel) sticking out of my butt crack. So, I wash with anti-bacterial and try to keep the area clean until I can have another surgery. I guess I'm one of the lucky 10% who have a recurrent cyst! Hoorah! My only hope is that I'm not part of an even smaller percentage that won't ever be able to get rid of the damn thing. Oh, and for guys who have to use packing, I've recently begun referring to mine as a "manpon". My fiancee finds it mildly amusing and it helps make light of the rather embarassing situation. Well, that's all I've got. See ya later crack fiends!

Date:

October 07, 2004

Story

My story is not particularly exciting but I think is worth telling. So I'm a 29-year-old male. About ten days ago on a Friday, a pain started to develop on my tailbone. Since I had no trauma to that region, I was a little bit confused by it. I suffered through the weekend and went to work on Monday, suffering while sitting and walking. I saw my doctor on Monday afternoon and, without a visual inspection of the area, she assumed that I had unknowingly pulled the muscles that cover the tailbone. She prescribed muscle relaxants and suggested that I take a hot bath and have my wife massage the area thereafter. I did so, but woke up Monday night with a high fever and severe joint pain. Due to an ongoing fever, I called in sick to work on Tuesday and slept on the couch the majority of the day. I called my doctor during the day and complained to the medical assistant about the joint pain and fever, suspecting that it was an adverse reaction to the prescription. After consulting with the doctor, the assistant called back and said, "I checked with the doctor and the relaxants could not have caused the joint pain." "What about the fever?" I asked. "The doctor said nothing about the fever," she replied. My wife came home from work at about 6:00 PM and, seeing that I still had the fever and that there was a raised, rigid area on my tailbone, she insisted that I go to the ER. After a (long) wait, I told the admitting nurse my tale and she IMMEDIATELY diagnosed a pilonidal cyst. (It would have been nice if my primary care doctor had done the same; but in fairness, medicine is hardly an exact science). I eventually saw a doctor who attempted unsuccessfully to lance and drain the cyst. Since my fever wasn't breaking, she suggested that I spend the night in the hospital with an antibiotic drip. I got to my hospital room about 1:00 AM Wednesday morning and uneasily sleep through the night knowing that I would be having surgery the following morning. I awoke about 8:00 AM with the surgeon talking to me. She explained the procedure to me (I barely comprehended what she was saying since I was so groggy). I was to receive an excision with an open wound. My wife arrived at about 8:30 AM and I went into surgery about 11:30 AM. I had a spinal and woke up about 1:00 PM, in a different room and in a different position. It took a few hours for the anesthestic to wear off and for the pain from the surgery to arrive. And did it ever. Percoset to the rescue! I was discharged about 7:00 PM and sleep through the night. I awoke a few times with shooting pains in my legs and hips that were side effects from the spinal I received earlier. A home nurse changed my dressing the next morning (Thursday) and taught my (reluctant but loving) wife how to do it. The first dressing change was agony, as it was the first time the dressing had been changed and it had been nearly 24 hours wince surgery. The surgeon packed the 2.5” long by 1” deep wound while I was still under and it was laborious and painful to remove the 12” of gauze. After a boring, boring, boring day on the day after the surgery, I returned to work on Friday, sans painkillers. I made it through the weekend pretty easily and met with the surgeon on Monday for a follow-up appointment. All systems go! It’s now been eight days since the surgery and, although I’m occasionally in a bit of pain, things are going extremely well. I cannot wait for the healing to be over. All of this reminds me of how lucky I am to have medical insurance in the US. If my uninsured brother, a waiter, had this disease, it would financially wreck him. I have no doubt that my medical bill as paid for by my insurance will top $10,000. I will pay less than $100. It is utterly unfair that in a society as wealthy as ours, an unexpected medical emergency could send many of us into bankruptcy. I count my blessings. This site is wonderful. Thanks.

Date:

October 05, 2004

Story

My story is not a scary one. I am a 24 year old woman, in NY. I have always had a small bump right at the tip of my tailbone (crack, whatever you want to call it). It was the size of a pencil eraser. Once in a while it would bother me, but for the most part would go away after about a day or so. Until August 2004. I had just comeback from a vacation and broke my toe- so I was on my back for 2 weeks straight. Anyway- I bagan to notice, once I got back to work, that it would hurt to sit, then it hurt to much to drive, then to lie on my back. While in the shower, I noticed that the little bump was bigger and read, it was about the size of a grape. Alarmed I went to the doctor (8/20/04) and he told me right away after examining my back side that I had a cysts and I should have it removed bc it could get bigger, more painful, etc... Mine was not a severe case by any means, so his suggestion was to get it removed so that it wouldnt become a severe case. But needless to say, it would definitly come back with avengence if I did nothing about it. SO he refered me to a surgeon. I went to see him (9/13/04)and another the next day for a second opinion. They both suggested the same method of removal. Antibiotics for 14 days to reduced the swelling and make sure the infection was gone and the closed procedure. So I took antibiotics for 14 days, by day 4 I felt great. No bump, no pain- but I knew it was only bc I was on antibiotics and as soon as I went off the meds it would come back. I had the surgery on Sept. 20th. The most pain I felt was the needle for the IV in my hand. The drugs they gave me were GREAT! I was in a "teilight sleep" but I dont remember a thing. I woke up, and had absolutely no pain. I felt fine- much to my surprise. Reading the stories posted scared the crap out of me. I took the pain med that night, just as a precasuion. I was told to be out of work for 2 weeks. I felt fine. I took the bandage off the very next day, took a shower. I was able to walk, sleep- of course being on my back or sitting wasnt too comfy but it WAS NOT impossible. I was so shocked I felt this great after what is known as a painful surgery. My incesion is about 2.5", I had 4 stiches. Stitches came out on 9/28 and thats that. I finally began to drive this past weekend. That was the first time I felt pain (in the smallest way). Its that I hadnt sat for a while, so sitting again wasnt to nice. But I was okay enought to drive. THe scare tissue is dead, I have no feeling at all on it. All i feel is a ball type thing on the inside but thats from the cut. SO all of you who are afraid to get it done- JUST DO IT! YOu'll be fine.

Date:

October 03, 2004

Story

Greetings and Salutations, I had my first experience with Pilonidal Disease in 2001. I remember having X-Mas dinner with my Wife's family (at that time were engaged.) and I remember feel a dull pain in my tail bone area. I chalked it up to when I was playing football and I had fallen right on my tailbone. (hurt's like Hell.!) Well after that I also chalked it up to sitting to long, especially since my buttocks were numbish. A few days when buy when after I showered I was drying and discovered a small bump within my buttocks crack. I was sorta intrigued and god a small hand mirror and positioned myself so I could see back there. I just saw a small bump bluish like a bruise. A few days after that it got larger, I had my fiancee look at it and she said it was sorta purplish like a bruise with my skin being sorta translucent. At the time, I had recently moved from Canada, I had started to make plans to se emy doctor up there because I didn't have insuranmce down here in the States. Needless to say when I was ready to go a few days later I was in excruciating pain. I knew there was no way in hell I was going to be able to make it up to Canada. (3 hour drive from Rochester NY to Toronto Ontario.) I was worried and had no clue as to what to do, I thought maybe, somehow, I had fractured my tailbone and it was sticking into me. My wife looked it up and she thought it might be a pilonidal cyst or somehting similiar. I shrugged it off and went in pain for 2 days. You'd think Tylonol 3 would help, but it didn't. I was only able to get to sleep after exhaustion kicked in. Between these days I turned form my upbeat self to zombie like creature, I had to hold on to my wife sometimes when walking cuz the pain was unbearable. The next day I said to hell with it and made an appointment with one of the walk-in clinics. About 10 minutes before I had toleave to go to the clinic, I remember sitting on the couch, in pain, watching Patton. (took the pain off my mind briefly... Hey it was on the history channel and there was nothing else on!) I got up and walked into the kitchen when i noticed a funky smell. (Let it be known by this point that I had no sinus' whatsoever.) I sorta felt a slipperiness in my backsite and stuck my hand back there and felt a warm liquid. After pulling my hand out and looking at it did I realise it was bloodied puss and it was an infection. I went to the bathroom, cleaned up and went to the clinic. (By this time I actually felt better, I still had a pain in my butt thought ;) Arriving at the clinic I was examed by a doctor which seemed excited and got another doctor to see. They explained it was a pilonidal cyst and explain pretty much everything there was to know. Since the bump burst, which would be the sinus now, they just sorta squeezed it to get all the gunk out. No lancing, or anything else. They prescribed me the ever popular ammoxillin and sent me on my way. My buttocks was sore for a few days, I had a fever as well, the ammoxicillin took care of that and my cyst has never acted up like that again. I found a hardish bump on the right side of my crack thats about the size of a golfball. There have been a few times where it has drained from the sinus and few times but nothing else. Until a few days ago, I noticed the bump get larger and more tender. The sinus is not draining, I know this because I am not, or have not been itching back there for a few months. I don't know if the sinus is open or if it's blocked bSince I pretty much forgot everything the doctors told me, I decided to scour the internet in search of more information when i stumbled upon to here. ~ Rob

Date:

October 02, 2004

Story

Hi I am 23 female.....I had my first cyst in High School and it was really painful. I did not tell my parents it was there I let i go on for week in pain. I just told them it was a little back pain. It hurt so bad I would cry and beg teachers to let me stand during there class Sitting in a desk is awlful. Till finally I told my mom who took me to the doctor. They said it was a rising and lanced it and i went back everyday for a week to have it repack with glauze. It got a lot better and never had a problem. Untill six years later it came back and seen a different doctor and he told me what it really was. And told me he would lance it and it would drain and releive the pressure. This was three months ago. Now it is back I have no insurance so i will probably have it lanced in a few day. I am scared of the surgery, I have heard to many horror stories. I dont know if I will ever have it done. Just thought I would share my story good luck to all that has this.