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Date: December 31, 2005
StoryHAPPY NEW YEAR everyone.
I hope this new year finds you all doing well.
I have just spent a week in Anchorage alaska caring for my son during his surgery.
HE first found out he had this disease when he was 14, now at 18 it had ruptured to the point where surgery was the only answer.
My sons opening was not like any the Dr had seen in his 25+ years of dealing with this. My sons opening ran downward and opened just 1 3/4" from his rectum. Surgery was risky, but not nearly as risky as the after care has been.....
the one good thing the Dr. said was that the channel, though running downward, did atleast run "straight". so the incision was just a clean upward one. He did also find another hair mass about 3" up above the opening...he said it was like a marble.
Now all my son has to do is keep some of the hair trimmed and he should be fine.
He has phoned to say he is so happy he can sit without pain, and now can live without fear of oozing through his pants, or having an infection....he feels FREEDOM now....
and although I am back in OK and he is AK, I can hear how happy and relieved he is to have this over with.
Many thanks to all on this site who helped encourage him along the way....
Jacquie
Date: December 30, 2005
StoryHi everyone
My name is Betty. I am from Croatia, but I live in Canada. 11 years ago, while I lived in Croatia, I had PC twice. First time they cut it and 3 months later it came back. All this happened while I was pregnent and sure was most painful experience I have ever had. This year, on my first day of starting a nursing program, my PC came back. This was four months ago. Since then, I have seen doctors, surgons and they cut it, cleaned it and nothing helps. Infection is still there, drains every day and I am personally sick and tired of it. I was told that I have to have a surgery ASAP if I want to have a better chance of not having PC again. In April I am going to have it done, hopefully this time for good.
Date: December 29, 2005
StoryHello Fellow Ass Sufferers!
I am currently in the midst of my first experience with a PC and this website has been so incredibly informative that I decided to share my story with the hopes that it helps someone out there. My journey began about 2 weeks ago while in the theater watching King Kong (slouched in horrible posture of course) I began feeling a pain in my tailbone area. I could feel a really small (pimple size) bump below my skin which was incredibly painfull if touched. The next week the pain got progressively worse as what was a pimple size grew to about the size of a golf ball. However the bump was not at all draining and was for the most part below my skin. Also I noticed a much larger area of pressure that at the time I thought was just my rear end getting swollen.
On Christmas day the pain became unbearable and I went to the ER and found out I had an abcess but according to the Dr it could not yet be lanced. So I was sent back home with a prescription for antibiotics, pain killers, and told to take 4 hot baths per day for the next several days. Today I went in to see the surgeon who lanced it and discovered that my abcess was larger than a softball (several cups of puss were drained out!) The lancing wasn't bad at all, few pricks as the anestesia was injected but I didn't feel the cutting as all. I waited nearly 2 weeks to get this handled and caused an incredible amout of extra pain for myself. I echo everyone else's advice to get this checked out ASAP as soon as you feel any pain. I am still debating having the surgury but am not inclined unless I have at least 1 reoccurance. I wish you all luck in dealing with this pain in the ass condition!
Date: December 29, 2005
StoryWhen I was a freshman in college I started to notice a bizarre and painful pressure around my tailbone when I squatted. Soon after I noticed some fluid and blood draining from my butt. I have a tendency to self diagnose, so I immediatley jumped on the computer and decided I had some sort of hemmorhoid problem. I spent $60 on every kind of hemmorhoid treatment the pharmacy had and started adminstering them dutifully.
Things started to get worse after a week of treatment, so I decided to make my roommate take a look. She was a good sport about it and when she saw the affected area she said it was about time I went to the health center. When I finally sat down to speak with the doctor I described all my symptoms and she said it sounded vaguely like hemmorhoids but she wanted to check to be sure.
Well, I pulled down my pants and revealed my butt and the poor doctor said, "That's not hemmorhoids. That's a pilonidal cyst." She put me up on the table and lanced the thing without any kind of anesthtic. Nothing was ever more of a relief.
She couldn't believe I had let the thing fester for so long and that I was even able to walk. But, that was six years ago and I haven't had any problems since.
On a side note, one of my friends actually did develop hemorrhoids later that year, so the $60 in treatments didn't go to waste.
Date: December 29, 2005
StoryHi Guys - I am a firm believer that we have to laugh at ourselves despite the pain, that way it seems easier to deal with - so, keeping in the spirit of things I will let my PC tell my story rather than myself....enjoy
This is the story of Fester.....my (not very originally named) Pilonical Cyst.
Hi guys, my name is Fester and I am at least 13 years old. I still live at home - a beautiful place in the north of England - more specifically in Penny_jo's bum cleft. It's a nice warm place where I feel safe and protected, sadly though the word on the street is that I will be kicked out at the end of next week if I don't move out :-(
I don't know when I moved here but I met Penny_jo when she was 13. Unfortunately I was incorrectly introduced as a boil which clearly made the neighbourhood angry as the local constabulary (anti-biotic squad) were despatched to remove me from the area. So I pretended to leave and went into hiding for a few years, keeping myself busy making improvements to my home...an extension here....an extension there...lots of corridors joining them all up - you get the idea. After five years of hiding out I decided it was time to start leaving the house and showing myself, lucky for me this time I was left alone...but still no one asked me my name. Feeling lonely and dejected I tried my best to get Penny_jo's attention by showing myself, leaving 'gifts' and following her around at every oppurtunity; sadly though I was ignored.
We lived in this state for many years. I was very unhappy. Penny_jo was always shouting at me and was never nice - sure she kept me clean and bathed me but I could tell she thought it was a chore and not out of friendship - she certainly never introduced me to any of her friends or boyfriends!
Then my world was turned upside down last september....
I had left a lovely 'gift' for Penny_jo and her new boyfriend outside my house...it was a beautiful crimson red and there was loads of it. I don't understand why, but when Penny_jo discovered it on her white skirt (!) she went mad, much madder than before - she swore that she was going to get rid of me and that she was fed up with me...me! the one who gives her all of these gifts just to be ignored for all these years!
Three days later I found a certain Nirvana...I was finally introduced formally with my surname 'Pilonidal Cyst'by her docotr friend, but the happiness lasted only moments before I was hurled into oblivion and a deep depression on hearing the words 'operation' and 'remove'.....after all these years she still wanted me gone! even now after a formal introduction! There and then I made the decision to move out.
Three months later and the dynamics of our relationship have changed, Penny_jo has given me a nickname (Fester), read a lot of my family history on this website and taken better care of me...she has also bought me a special cushion! She has even introduced me to a few of her friends...one is a doctor and another is a surgeon, she even has a friend who is a nurse! a strange coincidence but very lucky if she ever gets ill. I find it strange though that all her friends want me to move out too, and they prod and poke me about. I don't really like it.
I have resigned myself to the inevitable moving out day next week, before that though me and Penny_jo are taking a vacation to a nice hotel...I think it's called 'The Hospital', snazzy eh?! Then after that I will move out. It will be strange not being together even though we have had a very emotionally draining relationship...but I can't take this rejection anymore :-(
I'll send you all a postcard!
Fester x
Date: December 29, 2005
StoryGreetings PC Friends:
My story is.....
I developed a very, very painful tailbone cyst in my mid-20's and had it lanced at a GP's office. I am 48 year old female and have had many experiences since then. I finally had surgery (closed wound) 8 years ago. According to the surgeon the cyst he removed was the size of a golf ball. I had another minor flare up 2 years ago and am dealing with one right now. Ugh!
I am glad to see there is a website for this disease, etc. Many people have never heard of it and are unaware of the pain, infection and time spent trying to reduce and cure symptoms.
A colleague told me about her first and recent experience with a PC. She is having the open surgery in 3 weeks. She claims the pain from the PC is much worse than childbirth. (good grief)
Thanks for sharing this information and your stories.
Date: December 29, 2005
StoryI am a 28 year old male and first discovered my Pilonidal Cyst when I was 23. I have had no major health problems during my life and had never been in the hospital. Although the cyst was completely painless, it freaked me out. After all, when you find a strange lump on your body the first thing that comes to mind is the "C" word (at least for me anyway). After researching and checking with my general physician, I discovered that it was a PC. Since it caused me no pain, my physician told me that no action was really necessary but that I just needed to keep an eye on it.
Over time, I noticed that a small sinus had appeared about an inch below the cyst and it would occasionally drain. Even with that drainage, I was never in any pain.
Three years after discovering the cyst, the drainage became more intense (to the point of going through the back of my pants). It quickly became more of a hassle and it made me extremely self-conscious. The major turning point came when the cyst ruptured and became infected. That's when I discovered this website, and thus made the decision to pursue medical treatment. I went to my General Physician where he put me on Cipro and referred me to a local General Surgeon who had removed quite a few PCs. The Surgeon took one look at the Cyst and was amazed that I was not screaming and in pain. When I told him that I wasn't in pain, he didn't believe me and told me that I must of had a high tolerance for pain (I don't think so).
We scheduled the surgery three weeks later, allowing time for the infection to go away. The operation was done at the local hospital's outpatient facility under general anesthesia. Since I had never had surgery before, I was terrified. However, the surgery itself went amazingly smooth. Prior to the operation, I was given a sedative to take the edge off. All I remember is being rolled into the O.R., saying hello to the surgeon then waking up in recovery. I was a bit nauseated afterward, but it soon passed. An hour after surgery, I was on my way home.
Since my surgeon used the closed procedure, we didn't have to worry about changing wound dressings. I had a scar about an inch and a half long and had to spend a week at home taking percocet and laying on my side. After a few months of follow up visits with the surgeon, I was finally able to say it was over. It's been a year and a half and I am cyst-free - even the surgical scar is almost invisible. After reading the many posts on this site, I feel very fortunate to have had such a smooth surgery and recovery. My surgeon was wonderful and I had my wife, family, and friends there to support me. To anyone who is struggling with this, get the surgery and make sure you have a surgeon that you are comfortable with and that you trust. I wish you all the best!
Date: December 29, 2005
StoryI have this condition for about 20 years now. I am 36 and I got mine when I was 16. I had it operate on when I was 18. I have it operated on at least 3-4 times. I am now experiencing another flare up. Quite painful but managible. The best things I have found are to try to sit properly, keep area vclean and free from hair. Also If you have a hot tub it does wonders. It is a life long management. I have not had a flare up for about 5 years since this recent one so its not too bad.
Date: December 28, 2005
StoryI had my cyst drained twice. The first time was in April and the second time in July. Neither one was fun.
My doctor feels that draining it is sufficient-we shall see. The hardest thing was trying to get my incision to heal.
I went to a "wound center" twice a week to have my dressings changed and the wound photographed (yes, say cheese). They use a material called actecote. It is actually a piece of silver. Worked much better than me or my husband treating it.
Just released from further doctors-I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Date: December 28, 2005
StoryHi there, I have been checking this website for 2 years now. It is a very useful site. I have been living with a pilonidal sinus for 4 years. I was referred to one of the best colon rectal surgeons in the east coast in 2001. he told me that he would perform an open procedure. I was scared and escaped. I lived with the cyst for 4 years now. The pain goes back and forth and I have enough. I am going to see the same doctor on January but I am still not confortable with the open wound. I did the same surgery in 1996 and it was a pain especially after the surgery( packing the wound). I don't know if I should go for the surgery. I know the surgeon is good but I am afraid of the healing process. My skin got irritated from pomades that I keep applying on the cyst area. It is really terrible.
Date: December 27, 2005
StoryOkay, so i had my cyst drained on Friday. Woo Hoo. Since i dont have insurance, I had to go to the local free clinic and it was a disaster. The first two cysts that I had, I was given really, really good numbing medication. This time I was given one shot (right in the abcess) and it was the worst thing i have ever experienced in my life. Then she continued to say " CAN you FEEL that?" YES! I could and did through the entire procedure, which lasted about an hour and a half and about 30 oz. of fluid later. I cried so much and clinched my body so tightly that in the morning i felt like i had been beaten with a ball bat becuase i was so tense. Needless to say I am getting ready to go to the emergency room, it was not drained completely and is still full of yuck stuff that keeps leaking out. Wish me luck and I hope anyone that has this does not have to go through what I had to.
Date: December 27, 2005
StoryHello everyone, I am also a pc sufferer and wanted to share my experience. I am a 23 year od female and have been afflicted with this issue since I was 13 years old. Now looking back on my life I think I have always experienced some pain in my back area but being young you just assume this is how it is supposed to feel. At first I thought it was my bone sticking out but when it began to turn into a bump I told my mother about it. She took me to the emergency room and they lanced it. I felt so much better after that but after speaking to my dr. we decided I would need the surgery. I had the open healing process done.
Everything was fine I believe I got this done in June after my 8th grade year and it was healed by August. I had a scar that I would not forget but I was relieved that I did not have to worry about this anymore. 10 years had gone by when I noticed a familiar annoyance on my backside. By this time I was an adult and beginning to work at my first job after college graduation. I tried to ignore but soon found myself back at the dr. who suggested I had the surgery again. I was disappointed b/c I felt that this should not have happened to me again. I asked the dr. what is the ratio of getting this again after the 1st surgery and he said that it is a 60% chance. I got the surgery in June 04" and had the open healing again which for some reason took longer to heal then when I was 13. This is believed to be b/c the scar tissue was already weakened from the 1st surgery and your body always heals quickly the younger you are. I am still having issues with it healing. I am going to try to make sure my diet is healthy to assist with my immune system and make sure I wash the area extremely well with an antibiotic. I just wanted to let everyone who is dealing with this know that it is hard but with proper attention you can live a normal life. P.S. if you work at a job where you sit a lot make sure your seat is comfortable while you work and get the coccyx cushion. it really helps-good luck everyone and take care of yourself
Date: December 27, 2005
StoryI am a 19 year old female from Ontario, Canada. I have always had a pilonideal 'dimple' at the top of my butt crack (to put it bluntly, haha) and about a week ago i noticed itchiness down there that would not go away. After a couple of days of this I got out the mirror and had a look to see- horror of horrors- a tiny hole at the top of my 'crack' with redness lower down. I already know about pilonidal sinuses because my cousin, dad, uncle, and grandmother have all had one or some sort of similar problem in 'that area.' 3 cheers for the genetics of bad butts!!! :( Anyway luckily I already had a doctors appointment for a check up for last Thursday, so I told my MD about it. One look and she said it was a pilonidal sinus. I was pretty upset. I am a university student and I go to school 6 hours away from my hometown in another big city so I am rarely home, I didnt know whether to see a specialist at home or at school, I decided for home but now I want to change that because the wait is too long.. Also I go treeplanting in the spring, which is pretyt much the grubbiest environment you can imagine, but I love it so much, the possibility of not being able to go has me practically in tears all because of this stupid PS. But I do want to get it removed, before it causes me big problems, now it is quite small and my only problem is the itching but who knows what'll happen down the road.. Its just such a pain because I am so transient, being in school, and plainly i dont have time for this! But I want to get it sorted out. ANy advice or feedback from the masses would be very much appreciated... especially females, this seems like such an 'old hairy man' disease (sorry guys, I know its not)... thanks all!
Date: December 26, 2005
StoryHi my name is Amber and I'm 20 I had my PC drained once it was ok. Except the doctor told me it would only take a few days to heal. It wasn't until about a week later that I could walk normal. Then within 4 weeks the area became infected again. I went to a different docortor and he said that it needed to be removed. He cut pretty deep but this time I got stitches 10 actually. now I have the stitches in but I think that I ripped some of them out so it's pretty painful. My problem is keeping it clean. It hurts so much that when I try to clean it well it hurts so I don't think I do a good job.
Date: December 25, 2005
Storyread below- posted on dec 22 - RALPHS POST - I had op done on friday, went in expecting to have an open procedure, but when i woke up from surgery he said it was smaller than he thought so he stiched it up, and hardly any pain. everything is going great and I will post again, "GET IT DONE ASAP" and you might be lucky like me. by the way MERRY CHRISTMAS, and GOD BLESS
Date: December 24, 2005
StoryHello fellow sufferers of this major pain in the rear!
Im a 24 year old male from the UK and had my PS op on the NHS back in August and guess what??? Yep, its still not healed! mines was a closed surgical procedure but when the stitches were removed part of the wound still had not healed.
After 4 months of having it packed with aquacel I still have an open wound although its not really deep enough now to hold any packing and is approx half an inch long. The trouble is the skin just will not heal over the top and close it up plus it's still uncomfortable to sit for long periods.
Things got worse this week when part of my healed scar tissue flared up and got pretty swollen. A tiny part of the scar has since opened up (to my horror) and it has bled quite heavily, although I must admit it has eased the pain slightly. So yet another trip to casualty and more antibiotics.
God only knows where I go from here!!?
To say this thing is ruining my life is an understatement. Who would have thought that a cyst above your rear end could effect someones day to day life so much. Its a career destroyer and does nothing whatsoever for your social life!
I really don't know how much more of this I can take.
Good luck to everyone who's in the same boat and get well soon. I wouldn't wish this affliction on my worst enemy
Date: December 23, 2005
StoryUp until fifteen minutes ago, I thought I just had one heck of a clogged pore in my butt-crack, but the description of this matter is matching my situation to a T.
Just above the cleft of my rear, about two weeks ago, I thought I had a zit. I couldn't pop it.
It got PAINFUL and BIG over the course of the following week until I got that chill feeling I get when I have a fever. It was impossible to bend at the waist and barely possible to bend at the knees since that pulled my jeans against my rear. Even sleeping on my side became painful and the thing felt like an internal burning.
I'd probably have broken down and gone to the hospital if I hadn't discovered what I thought was the clogged pore. I had spent several evenings bent over with a mirror trying to find where the clogged pore was. I noticed what looked like a whitehead nowhere near where it felt like it should be. I applied pressure...
It was ugly. All the infection came out like it was in a fire hose. I still drain it, and this hardness in my crack isn't going away. All outward appearances are that I have this disease.
Well, the factory I work at has medical leave. I need time to save up for surgery and I hope I can keep draining it and keep it small until then. From reading these other stories, it looks like it's going to get bigger at any rate. I only hope I have enough time to get saved up for this. Geez.
I guess you can keep in touch poeticraven@hotmail.com
Date: December 23, 2005
StoryHi I am a 22 yr old female suffering from this condition. First off I would just like to explain that an abcess or a cyst are basically the same thing. On all the websites I have been on it either states that it is called a Pilonidal Cyst or Abcess.
Ok here's my story. About 2 years ago I remember having severe pain in my tailbone area. The pain was unbearable. I couldn't walk, sit, stand, lay down and I definatly didnt get any sleep. So the next morning I went into the emergency department to have it looked at. The doctor looked at it and told me I would have to come back to have it drained. I asked if there was anythign I could do to elimiate the pain in the mean time, he told me to have a warm bath with epsom salts. Wow it worked, as I was in the bath the cyst opened and the puss came out on its own. I was so glad as the pain was gone. Since then I have had a few flare ups but nothing compared to that experience until just recently 3 days ago I started having the pain again. So I ran a bath with the epsom salts again and stayed in there nothing seemed to be helping at all, so I went to emerg that night and they gave me some meds for the infection and told me to try warm baths (with salt) I guess normally table salt works as well, but I have always just used epsom salts. The doctor that night told me to come back in the morning to see a different doctor and have it lanced.
o I went in yesterday morning to have the procedure done. I was told to lay on my stomach and he put iodine over the area and injected me with a needed to freeze the area. WOW that needed really hurt, then he made a small incision and squeezed the abcess out. The nurse explained it to me that there was a lot of infection that came out and it looked like a "milky" residue. GROSS!!! Then the doctor compacted the incision with gauze and I am going to the hospital in an area to hopefully have the gauze removed or changed. Since the procudure, I have still had some pain but not as bad as it was the past 2 days. It still hurts to sit down or to lay on my back. I am hoping after the gauze is removed I will be ok.
The weird this is both of my sisters have had the same problem. I have an older sister and a twin sister. My older sister had the same procedure as I did about 4 years ago and has never had a problem with it since then.. My twin sister had hers clear up on its own, drained and she still has slight problems with it but never a lot of pain of with it.
I will keep you updated on what happens after I go to the hospital today......
Date: December 22, 2005
StoryAfter having a bad flare up back in the fall when I first noticed it, I had my pilonidal cyst removed last Monday the 19th. The surgery wasn't as bad as I expected it too be and getting the anesthesia was not a big deal. I was able to go home an hour or so after surgery and the pain hasn't been too bad. The wound is about 2 inches long and 1.5 inches deep. The worst part is packing changes and that isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm still taking some of the pain medicine and today has been a little worse because the wound has bled quite a bit. I'm going tomorrow to have them check on my progress again, but I urge you to have the surgery a.s.a.p. because it is better than having the cyst inflamed. My surgeon said it looked good the other day and should heal in a month or so, I am just taking it one day at a time.
Date: December 22, 2005
StoryI would just like everyone to know that the open excision surgery is not as scary as it sounds. I am four days post-op and have had very little pain associated with the excision. I'm pretty sure I had a long acting anesthesia in the wound because today is the first day I have experienced any pain whatsoever. The day of the surgery I was able to ride home sitting up. There has never been any point when I was unable to sit, stand, or walk. So long as I use good posture, sitting has not been an issue. At four days post-op I still have no need for the prescribed pain medicine and actually sat through a two-hour movie. The wound site is a little sore, but on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 been a painful pilonidal flare-up) this soreness is about a 1 or a 2. Honestly it is not that bad. The packing changes are a little uncomfortable but aboslutely nothing compared to having a pilo flare up. My advice is to have your cyst removed as quickly as possible. I got mine removed as soon as I realized I had one. I had only one sinus, and a relatively small lump, but I experienced an excruciatingly painful flare up taht lead me to have the cyst excised. The incision is only about an inch and a half long and about as deep. My doc, (who was a general surgeon) expects the wound to heal completely in about 6 to 8 weeks (though from the looks of it, I dont expect it to be that long). Good luck all you pilo sufferers, and don't be afraid of the surgery---its definitely worth it.
Date: December 21, 2005
Storyok had my op on the 20 th of december, not a koo' thing to have I tell ye, the constant pulling and the inability to sit down or bend over is driving me crazy it still oozes alot had to stick a bit of melolin inbetween my cheeks to clear it up abit got the nuirse coming round 2mrw to change the dressing and repack it. It all started about 1 and a half years ago at first i thought it was a football injury (landed on my tail bone one football amch gave me hell for 2 weeks after) anyway went to the docs and he said it might be a lipid lump hmmm, no a month later it got inflamed and really painful, i went back to the quacks and he prescibed flucloxacillin (strong stuff) making the thing shrink, I went to a private surgeon who told me what it was and booked me in for the 20th on the NHS had me op now in rather alot of pain! i got quite attached to my lump to the point where i named it (sir ooze-alot) sad yes i kno =[.
Date: December 21, 2005
StoryHello, I just wane to see if anyone has had the cyst drained more than once. I am going in on Friday to have my PC drained for the third time and am not sure what to expect. I have never had a doctor tell me I needed to have it surgically removed, but may be I should ask him about it.
It is terribly painful, problematic and this one flared up within days whereas the last two took months to cause problems.
Date: December 20, 2005
StoryWell, first of all, I am now 17 years old. I have had this Abcess for maybe... 6 years now. I have had 14 surgeries on this one area. I have had the drain thing done to me, did not work. One surgeon did it 3 times and left it open each time, not a good thing. Now I have this other surgeon who is very good and has a lot of experience with this. In the hospital I sometimes was an outpatient and I sometimes stayed 3-10 days at a time. My problem was keeping it clean, which I now know is the most important thing about treating this.
Date: December 20, 2005
StoryRight this is a follow up post really. I first posted on here on the 17th Nov two days after I had my sinus removed(Dan by the way). Its been 5 weeks since my operation and they closed the wound. After the first week I had the deep stitches out(they hold you but cheaks together so it doesnt split, you also have smaller stitches that hold the cut together) that was a relief as they were what was causing the bit of pain i did have. I was seeing the nurse everyday for three weeks so they could clean check my wound and over the last two weeks they cut down the time frame until I had the all clear today and don't have to see them anymore. The only thing that was a slight problem was that the lower part of my cut had a small hole which was weeping a fair bit and was very hard to keep dry but that is now all healed up. I feel fine now and have had no pain or anything there for over three weeks. The only thing is im not allowed to lift or do too much bending as the insides are still not up to strength yet. Over all im very pleased that I had closed surgery rather than the open one that takes longer to heal although that isnt suitable for everyone. Anyway good luck to everyone. Im kepping my fingers crossed that i wont be posting on here in the future.
Date: December 20, 2005
StoryHey! I am a 27yr. old female who first looked at this website back in Feb. of this year. I was 7 months pregnant and was diagnosed with a pilonidal cyst. Yeah. Well, they gave me antibiotics for the first time and it cleared right up. I thought it was over but in Mid April it came back with a vengeance. I saw my obstetrician and he referred me to a surgeon who immediately lanced and drained it. Well the pain meds they gave me in order to do the job started my labor and the next day my daughter was born. Well, I had the pilonidal surgery Mid-May and it was very painful. I am not saying this to scare people, just be prepared. I had an 8 week old baby to take care of, my husband on sea trials, and a 5 year old to look after. If you have children and are preparing for this surgery, make sure you have all the help you can get. It is now Dec. 20 and my but crack is still not totally healed. i just had no idea it would take this long. it is not infected it is just in a place that is hard to keep dry and all that...So i am writing this to tell anyone who is going to have this, be prepared to not sit right for months to come, nevermind bend down, sleep on your back, or do any type of sport. If it works and never comes back, the surgery will have been worth it. right now i feel frustrated with the time it has taken to heal. Good Luck, though, anyone can make it if i did.
Date: December 20, 2005
StoryMy name is Shao, and I was just recently diagnosed with Pilonidal Disease. I'm an Emergency Medical Technician in Paramedic School and an Avid Horseback Rider. Right before Thanksgiving, my butt felt very sore...but I've broken my tailbone several times over the years, so I thought it was the cold snap that was causing the injury to hurt. So, I went for about three weeks, and the pain got so intense that I couldn't do anything.
Paramedic class runs for 12 hrs a day, and it's mostly sitting down...so for 12 hours, I'd be in agony. Finally...one day after work, I had enough, and I went to the local hospital. The doctor I saw started pressing and kneading and massaging and poking at the spot...w/o pain medication of any sort for about twenty minutes. I started screaming and crying, and my boyfriend was trying to calm me down, and they called in security to put me in soft restraints so they could finish the exam, so for another 15 minutes, he was poking and prodding and bringing in med students and residents to poke me and prod me while I'm still screaming and crying because of the pain...then he tells me that he can't do anything about it, so he sent me home and told me to follow up with my PCP in a week. So...the pain was much much worse, and I couldn't even lay down properly or do anything, so I didn't sleep, and even worse, the Doctor didn't give me a work or school excuse, so for the next week, I did my normal routine until I finally went back to the hospital because I was just in so much pain...the doctor came in, and he finally told me what was wrong with me...gave me pain medicine (Thank GOD!) Packed the wound, and sent me home with painkillers and antibiotics.
Three days later, I'm back in for them to remove the packing. They refered me to a surgeon...and the problem with him was that he kept having me come in three times a week...and I had no packing, and the lancing was healing up, and he told me I didn't have to worry about surgery. I was getting uneasy about the guy...I didn't like how he was looking at my butt and neither did my boyfriend...so I got a second opinion, and the surgen is a great guy...so he said I need to get everything removed, so on the Fifth of Jan, I get to have my bottom sliced open and have stuff removed...I can't wait to get away from this pain, so I'm looking forward to it!
Date: December 20, 2005
StoryRALPHS POST by the way of those 3 or 4 this doctor does every week - how mant have posted on here to say "EVERTHING WENT GREAT" probally none, once its taken care of why remember a bad experience. I hope to change peoples outlook on this opperation, I will keep you posted. RALPHS POST
Date: December 20, 2005
StoryRALPHS POST
DON'T LET ALL THESE STORIES SCARE YOU, GET IT REMOVED ASAP!!!
I'm a 23 yr old male, noticed a bump about a week ago and went to doctor, he told me what it was. (I already knew- first thing I did was go on the internet looking and found this site) Well after reading all these horrific stories I was much less eager to get it removed, but I set up my surgery for the friday before christmas (MERRY CHRISTMAS....ya right!) and took the next week off work. The doc says it still looks and feels really small and the sooner the better. HE ALSO SAID "I do 3 to 4 of these removals a week and have NEVER, I REPEAT, NEVER had a wound not heal fully within 3 months."
SO all these stories you find, read, and think WHY ME? STOP, everyone has problems in there lives and this is the one we have to deal with. I will be having an open procedure and he recommends this... becuase nearly all closed procedures end up getting infected and need to be opened to finish healing anyways. Don't let this scare you either remember "I do 3 to 4 of these removals a week and have NEVER, I REPEAT, NEVER had a wound not heal fully within 3 months." Be careful who you trust and what you believe - GO SEE A REAL DOCTOR WHO HAS EXPERIENCE WITH THIS DISEASE - if he scares you, GO SEE A DIFFERENT DOCTOR. I will be keeping everyone posted on how I am doing and how its healing, just look for RALPHS POST. My next post will probally be very short considering I can't sit down, but I will post agian.
p.s. I'm lookin forward to all the pain meds, hehe, and no more pains in the ass - litterally. HAVE TRUST AND FAITH IN GOD.
RALPHS POST
Date: December 19, 2005
StoryHey, I'm a 24 year old guy and I just had my cyst cut by a surgeon today, to encourage draining. There already was a sinus, but he had to pull the hair out (ugh) and I guess make the opening a little bigger; he's got me on antibiotics as well. He's got me taking three showers a day, during each of which I'm to take a q-tip and kind of swab the cut, to prevent it from closing, and spray it thoroughly with the shower head. Let me tell you, it is definitely a weird experience, and rather unpleasant. Apparently, this is to let the cut heal from the bottom up. And, this is kind of embarrassing, but it seems to be working: sanitary napkins. I bought a whole bunch of briefs and sanitary napkins to keep the blood from seeping through my clothes, and it's working. I see the surgeon again in a week; hopefully things will be developing well.
Date: December 19, 2005
StoryI was 25 years old on December 1, 2004, when I started to have excruciating pain in my backside; working in a call centre, I sit most of the day. But with this thing, it hurt to sit, it REALLY hurt to stand up, it hurt to lie down…you all know the drill. The night before the company Christmas party, I was in agony, thinking I was having a weird muscle contracture that had been going on for the better part of three days, so I took some ibuprofen and slept on my heating pad. Oddly enough, I was most comfortable on my back with pillows propped under my knees, but I still slept very badly, almost crying with the pain.
I awoke the next morning and my boyfriend helped me out of bed. He left for work, and I tried to do some yoga stretches to relieve the “muscle” pain; then I realized my crack was all wet. I went to the bathroom and perched a mirror on the toilet seat, craning my neck to take a look at what was going on. It was all firm at the base of my spine, and when I pressed down on it this pus shot out and I immediately was grossed out (and it takes a lot to gross me out) but felt a bit of relief from the pain. It smelled horrible! Freaked out, I called my mom, who used to be a nurse, and she calmly told me to get my butt – literally – to the doctor’s office. (I also called by boss and said I would NOT be going to work, or to the company Christmas party.)
I went to walk-in clinic (there’s a shortage of family doctors in Toronto, I mean Ontario, I mean Canada) and the nurse had me fill out a form and asked me to sit down; I said I preferred to stand. ;) It’s a good thing I brought “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” to read because I was standing for about two and half hours.
The only thing I can say about the exam is that it was brief. I tried to show him the tiny pin-hole I had found, but he couldn’t see it (and to be honest I was afraid of shooting more pus into his face). He seemed a little incredulous about the effectiveness of yoga stretches, ignoring my inquiries as to why I was having this weird muscle spasm and a leaky butt, and blithely gave me a prescription for Biaxin (since I’m allergic to some antibiotics families) and Fucidin topical cream. NOT ONCE did he tell me what was going on, and even scolded me on having slept on my heating pad because it would make the infection worse.
I walked three blocks to the pharmacy and again I was invited to sit down; when counseling me on how to use the meds, the pharmacist clucked sympathetically when I explained in a hushed voice why I preferred to stand. “Oh, so you have a pilonidal cyst too?” “I have a what?” She very kindly explained to me what it was, and was shocked that the doctor didn’t even bother to tell me why I had this infection. She related her own PC story (no jeeps ever driven, eventually had the excision surgery) and gave me helpful tips that the doctor hadn’t bothered with, like taking a warm bath to promote drainage, and lying on my side with pillows under my waist and between my knees to keep my back straight; oh, and that “don’t use a heating pad” thing was a load of garbage, because it’s internal heat, not topical heat, that encourages infection.
I went home, called my mom again, told her what was up and she immediately said in a bright voice, “Oh, you have Jeep Disease.” Thanks a lot, Mom.
Then I stood at my computer at home and Googled images of pilonidal cysts and scared the crap out of myself. I didn’t actually find this website until today. Great site, glad I could share my story with people who know. BTW, I haven’t had any problems since other than having to pick more lint out of my crack at the end of the day than I used to.
Date: December 19, 2005
StoryOh, and that is my story down there, My name is Kory...im a female...and im 19 years old. If you want to know more about my pilonidal cyst....email me at koryyepthatsme@aol.com
Date: December 19, 2005
StoryI had a pilonidal cyst for about two years without ever knowing it. At times I could feel this irritated bump at the top of my crack. It was sore, but It really didn't give me too many problems. I dont know why I never went to the doctor. It wasn't normal. But then, it started getting to the point where I could not sit, lay, walk, move at all without severe pain. I would cry every time I had to switch positions.
Being my stubborn self, I FINALLY went to the doctor. The Doc told me that I had a pilonidal cyst and he lanced it and packed it and advised me to see a surgeon. I went to see the surgeon, and he wanted to perform the excision immediately. So the next week I had the surgery. The surgeon made a 3 inch incision on on my crack (I hate that I have an ugly butt now!!) and removed the cyst. He said it was huge. But before the surgery I asked if I could see it when he was done and he told me no. I really dont know why. It was of course, MY cyst...was it not? The doctor sewed me back up (11 stitches), and sent me on my way. I got to lounge around for a few days, laying on my stomach and not bathing (ick). And then it was back to normal...kind of. A week later he looked at my rear (thats another thing, with a pilonidal cyst, you get used to people looking at your butt, you lose all modesty) and he thought the stitches were ready to come out. So he started snipping away and the wound started opening again. So, he gave me a local and he sewed me back up (ouch!). I was so frustrated. And then, the before my next scheduled appointment, the stitches were allready loose. So, he decided to just take them out and start cauterizing the wound with silver nitrate. So, once a week for about 2 months, I would go in and get my rear cauterized. IT WAS NOT WORKING AND IT WAS PAINFUL! If it had been working, I wouldn't really complain about the pain too much.
I ended up moving and saw another doctor. By then, my wound was open even more, and i had started bleeding from my anus. The doc gave me some cream to put inside of my anus because there were tiny fissures from the combination of scar tissue and bowel movements, and then advised me to see another surgeon. This surgeon advised me to go to a wound care specialist. So again, every day for a month I went to wound therapy. The therapists were supposed to let me get in the little hot tubs, but they never did what the doctor wanted. Instead, they just cleaned it, put some silver gauze on it, and taped it up. It would finally close up, and then usually the next day it would be open again. I've been going through this open/close open/close open/close phase for about 7 months now. I usually know when it is going to open again because it will start to build up a lot of pressure and then it will bust when I just happen to move the wrong way. I don't know what to do to make my bottom heal! Im kind of tired of the doctors, none of them seem to be able to help. I hate pilonidal cysts. It made my butt ugly...and my wound wont close!
Date: December 18, 2005
Storyi have had my pilonidal cyst for a couple years. never really bothered me too much and i still maintained intimate relationships because the sysmptoms were not there. last january, it hit me like a ton of bricks. i thought i may have injured my coccyx but the pain intensified. probably the worst pain i have ever felt. i went to a doc and was prescribed some antibiotics and he recommended surgery. after taking the meds, i thought i was getting better. so i never got surgery. eventually, the drainage got worse and applying any pressure got unbearable. so i got the cyst excised in early october. they closed my wound instead of leaving it open. they told me there was a high risk of infection but i did it anyway. it started to hurt more and more after surgery, and the docs opened up a couple sutures and packed it for a few weeks. well, it got infected and the docs had to open the wound back up and remove the unhealthy tissue. after the second surgery, they put me on a wound-vac to help decrease the healing time. not only was it humiliating to have a tube connected to my ass all the time, it didnt work because a good seal could not be achieved, due to the awkward shape. so the the doc took me off of that after a few days. they told me that leaving the wound open could take months in healing time, it was the best option. so it has been only 3 weeks since the second surgery and i am almost completley healed. i am not packing my wound any more and the wound is begining to close over. its been hard, but eventually, i will be able to live a normal, secure life.
Date: December 17, 2005
Storyhi all i had the surgery to remove the cyst back in early july and guess what... its still not healed... im still packing twice a day. Its december now and this thing should have been healed fully in september but not mine. no ones knows why, i guess im just a real lucky guy!!! whooooooo hooooooo!!!
Date: December 16, 2005
StoryHello, my name is Kevin.
I had my cyst for roughly four years. I was completely miserable for about 2 and a half of those four years. It started small but eventually grew and grew. I never could get it taken care of because at the time I was 19 and trying to make it on my own. With bills to pay I could never afford the time off of work. It got to the point where it was 1.5x the size of a golf ball(on the surface), constantly drained, and I mean CONSTANTLY. There was a neverending supply of this foulness. I was incredibly insecure and concious of it to the point of being afraid to be intimate because it might be a turnoff(understandably so).
When I finally got my surgery scheduled I was at the breaking point. About two weeks before the surgery everything got way worse. The discharge was dark purple and smelled horrible! In my line of work, I have to be in a van with people for hours at a time, and work closely with them. As we all know, if you can smell yourself, chances are, other people can too. Nobody ever commented about it since they sort of understood the misery that I was going through. I couldnt sit comfortably at all and I was ruining clothing and bedsheets. I also had the added pressure of my boss not wanting me to miss work for surgery, what a guy, and I was going to lose my insurance when I turned 21 this October.
I finally decided to get something done and had surgery set for October 17th, my 21st birthday on the 25th was really shaping up to be a wonderful day. I was scared as hell about surgery since Ive never had to have it before. To those that havent had yours removed yet, it was not fun, at least in my experience. No sitting and no lying on my back for about a solid month. I had an incision from about an inch and a half above my crack all the way down to you know where. The stitches made life miserable. I know what the post surgery depression is all about after that, I couldnt be out there working and paying my bills, I couldnt enjoy my 21st birthday, couldnt even drive myself to get something to eat. A month of laying on your side and stomach is also quite unpleasant.
HOWEVER, I am here to say that it was all worth it. Im still healing up almost two months after the surgery, but I can sit, lay down, drive, and show off my sexy scar to any and all takers. I figure if I have to have it, might as well make a show of it, because thats just how I am. I was really freaking out about everything that could go wrong during the healing phase, with all the drainage and all. But since I have found this site, I feel a lot better. I now have a better understanding of what Im going through and what to expect. Im also going to try some of the recomendations to speed my recovery along. The worst thing about all of this is that Im pretty much on my own with it. I dont have anyone that I can have help me with checking on it and cleaning it. I have one spot that is taking its sweet time on closing up, and it still drains. I have been taking antibiotics and trying to keep it as clean as I can. The spot is in the middle of my crack where the most movement would be, so I think that might have a lot to do with it. I guess it closing up is more so a waiting game than anything?
I recently had a coworker from another office of our company approach me about my surgery and told me that he heard about what I was going through and admitted that he had the exact same thing when he was younger. Naturally when you have something absolutely disgusting on your butt crack that drains a nasty fluid, the hardest thing to do is talk to people about it without grossing them out in the process. A lot of my friends would tease me about it, I know their hearts were in the right place, but it didnt help me live with the problem.
I totally recommend everyone who is suffering from this to get something done about it. Sure, youre going to have to take some time off of work, and sure recovering from surgery sucks. But if youre going to be in pain constantly and it be a burden on you, you might as well be miserable in bed knowing you did something about the problem. I have read a few stories on here about people that had theirs for 10 or so years. I cannot imagine how you guys dealt with this for so long. My hat is off to you for dealing with it for so long, but Ill bet we are all a lot happier knowing that we can finally live in comfort for the first time in however long.
Wow that was long, but I hope that it helped someone understand that there is a way to fix this. If anyone has any questions or advice on how I can heal up a little quicker, feel free to drop my a line at disdain_7@hotmail.com
Date: December 15, 2005
StoryI have been dealing with this Pilonidal Cyst for a long damn time.I have come to the conclusion it is time for surgery, I noticed it first when I was 21 yrs old,I am now 43 will be 44 in Feb.I have used a drawing salve,hot baths,and some unlucky person to apply pressure on each side of my tail bone for many years.It does work but only temporary my problem is beeing off work for 4 weeks while this damn thing desides to heal up after surgery.I live in orange TX. and do not trust any of these backwoods docs THE PAIN IS UNBEARABLE AND THESE GUYS BELIEVE (DOCS.) ADVIL IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO,IF YOU LIVE IN ORANGE TX. AND KNOW A DOC.SEND ME AN E-MAIL CHaynie62@sbcglobal.net
Date: December 14, 2005
StoryHello All
Just an up date, see nov 4 2005
had open surgery 11/4 all went well, i went back to work on monday after the operation on friday. no pain at all. first packing not as bad as i expected.Wife and nurse said today no packing all healed up and looks good.Do not do what i did and wait get this fixed ASAP find a MD that you like if you don't know any ask the nurses they have ones that they like and trust. I cannot belive how much better I now feel and how lousy i must have felt before. I think i had the best doctor for me, if you have any questions or need advise please feel free to e mail me. bhilge1693@aol.com
Regards
Bill
Date: December 12, 2005
StoryI work in a job that requires a lot of sitting. Initially, I thought that the feeling of pressure was just a result of the job. Sep 24 I woke with a blister just above the cleft of my butt. I had no clue that it would continue to develop and grow. I got no sleep that night and called my primary care physician the next morning (I'm military and this was over a weekend so any treatment from a civilian facility has to be authorized first by the on-call doc). He told me to hang in there and come see him the following morning which was Monday. I got no sleep that night and the blister which had grown and tunneled to two more sites below the primary finally ruptured at about 5 AM. What a mess but what a relief to have the pressure gone. My visit to the doc the next morning (a different one than who I had spoken to) resulted in a diagnosis of a Pilonidal abcess. Recommendation: Take these antibiotics, sitz baths will help, let that heal for two weeks and go see a surgeon.
My visit to the surgeon was a confirmation of the diagnosis and he wanted to perform the pilonidectomy as soon as my schedule would allow.
I'm not one to lightly agree to surgical procedures but with the chance of recurrence being high, I agreed to the procedure and scheduled it for 6 Dec.
The procedure went well. The doc decided to go with the open technique due to the high rate of infection from closed procedures.
After the procedure pain was initially minimal. I was quite surprised considering the hole in my backside could take about 1 1/2 golf balls. As the wound heals though, the pain increases. I suppose new tissue is more sensitive to being packed with gauze twice daily. My wife (a nurse) is handling the dressing changes and says that after the first week it is definately healing with no signs of infection. The pain is still a lot less than the weekend I spent back in September. Hopefully once this is all healed I will never have to worry about this again. Any questions can be sent to montanamslman@aol.com i'll try to reply. For those recovering from a similar procedure, I hope that yours is going as well as mine. For those just diagnosed who may get a surgical procedure, there's a lot of information out there. I've found this site to be the most informative. Good luck!
Date: December 12, 2005
StoryHi! My name is Jimmy, i am 34 and i just found out i have a pilonidal cyst. I was flying from minneapolis to Dubai when i began to feel some pressure, and when i arrived i was in dire pain. It is draining, little by little. I went to see the doctor and he has me on some heavy antibiotics. The size of the cyst seems to be shrinking down. The doctor did not seem to impressed by this fact. Well, its day three and it still hurts, i have to change the gauze i have back there every hour or so. Its just not natural to bleed like this. Actually i think its a blood mixture. At night, i have been using this hot pillow thing and that seems to work magic. Every single pair of boxers i have are ruined now, this thing is driving me crazy. I hope it keeps shrinking and goes away. From what i have read here, that only means it will come back. Who knows, if anyone wishes to chat about this cyst from hell please feel free to email me, (james.conant@cableone.net). Good luck to all.
Date: December 12, 2005
Storymy name is jake please post a pesponce to my question (anyone)!
my many wounds are healed and my large cysts are gone but i still get small abcesses from time to time. I need to have the hair lasered off but is there anything else i can do to prevent them. before and after the hair is gone.
please post on this website, and please tell me everything!
i dont care how much it hurts
Date: December 11, 2005
StoryHello everyone. My name is Sherri and I am 16 years old. I am having my surgery on the 20th of December. Will I be able to do anything on Christmas? Do I need to carry around the vacuum with me when I go see my family and friends or will I even want to do anything for Christmas? Someone please let me know how you did 5 days after surgery.
Date: December 11, 2005
Story
I’ve had mine for 10 years. I first noticed it in the shower. I didn’t think much if it until a couple months later I noticed it hadn’t got any better. I put up with it for about a year or two until it bled so much it went thru my pants. So I saw a Doctor and he told me what it was, gave me only a month’s supply of antibiotics, and told me to try to take warm soapy baths 4 times a day and if it didn’t heal to come back as it might need surgery. It got smaller but didn’t heal and I decided to live with it, thinking I could find a way to cure it myself, and I wanted to avoid surgery.
Don’t be fooled. I tried everything. I used Neosporin on it a couple times a week and rubbing alcohol once a week (I know, but it helps kill bacteria, and if you don’t do it too often I think it helps more than it hurts) and I also tried to take baths a couple times a week. That seemed to keep it from getting worse but it never seemed to get a lot better. Inevitably, I’d miss keeping up with it for a week or two and it would flare up or get infected. This was the only time it really hurt, but the pain wasn’t unbearable. At one point it reached about 1-1.5 inches long but I was able to get it back to ½ - ¾ of an inch using the Neosporin/alcohol/bath techniques. I also tried the liquid bandage but the results were inconclusive. I went on a weight-watcher diet which I think helped a little as it makes your stools less messy and less frequent, allowing less chance for infection. I did find that cutting the hair in the area seemed to help the most and I started to do that more frequently like every 2-3 weeks. Also, it almost seemed when it bled, or itched this was when it was healing more. Mine never seemed to ooze anything but it would bleed every now and then.
Finally I found this web site (thank you) and decided it was unlikely I could cure it myself. So eventually I stopped the ludicrous procrastination and went to see another Doctor a few weeks ago. I just wanted it to be over one way or the other. He gave me a 120 days supply of antibiotics which was much more reasonable than the first guy but I know that may not fix it completely. He told me to use a mixture of ½ hydrogen peroxide and 1//2 water before I went to bed every night and referred me to a surgeon ( I know, but at least it’s somewhat diluted and I didn’t do that every night). I was worried about surgery because I had got a sense the success rate wasn’t very good, the recovery ordeal would take several days or weeks, and it could end up worse than before. I decided to wait a few weeks and let the antibiotics do their work. The wound started to heal and got about half the size- ¼-1/2 inch and it did not flare up or bleed very much at that time.
So I went to see the surgeon, and to my surprise and relief he said he didn’t think I needed surgery. He said mine was already open, which is rare, usually they are more pinpoint and that there was not much point to doing surgery which is normally done to open up the pin points and make them look like mine already did. He said mine should heal on its own. He said it didn’t look infected and that it had some cells or flesh that look unique and indicate the wound was trying to heal. He pulled out as many hairs as he could and then used Phenol. It was uncomfortable but not unbearable (that is until later). I asked what else I should do to take care of it and he said nothing. What? He told me I could stop the Antibiotics as it wasn’t infected. He said I could come back in for another Phenol treatment if needed.
I am skeptical that it would just heal on its own now without any kind of maintenance and I have continued to take the Antibiotics as I suspected it could eventually get infected again. About a couple days after, it started to irritate me, and was more painful than it ever has been, so I can’t sit in certain positions. I noticed there was kind of a burn mark, I don’t know how else to describe it, above and to the left. It was not an opening, just a mark that really hurt, almost like a blister, and I figured the Phenol had found its way underneath there. Maybe it was an offshoot that had just not reached the skin yet. I was always afraid that, underneath the skin it could look a lot worse and bigger than on the outside with offshoots growing in every direction.
Anyway the wound has continued to slowly get smaller but I am worried about what may exist that is not visible and what this burn mark will turn into and if the pain will go away. Can anyone give me any advice on if they think my surgeon did the right thing with the Phenol and no other treatment? Also, has anyone had a similar experience with the Phenol causing a separate burn mark on the skin or something? Any advice would be appreciated and good luck every one. I can be emailed at blue_ston2@yahoo.com
Date: December 10, 2005
StoryWell, I just had surgery on Mon Dec 5. and so glad that I did.
I had the Pilonidal thing since I was 18 and discovered a lump on my tailbone and a few days later it got worse. Several years later, I decided to go through with the surgery. The first two days was the worst of my life. Lying from side to side and on the stomach gets tiresome after a while. I have 13 stitches and it seems to be healing fine. I'm just nervous of how it will turn out in the months to come.
Please email me to let me know if your surgery was successful and if any reoccurences appeared - bakshs@optonline.net
Date: December 09, 2005
StoryWhen i was about 20 or so, i noticed a discomfort in my backside area, but it would come and go. A couple years went by, same story, but it gradually got worse. When i went away to boot camp, i didn't have any problems with it so i assumed it was gone(b/c i didn't know what i was dealing with). Well, last year i finally went to a doctor(6 years after dealing with it) and they said it was a cyst. So i waited a while and scheduled a surgery for June 2005. The doc gave me my options, open or closed wound. I told him to do what he thought was best. I also found out my dad and cousin had the same problem. My dad was about 35 or so when he had it removed, open wound surgery. My cousin just had it done last year, but it came back, so i wasn't looking forward to this.
The doc did a closed wound procedure, where i had a giant pad stitched into my butt crack, along with the drainage tube. None of that was too bad, and when he removed the gauze, i started to heal. It was 3 months after the surgery and i was sitting on the toilet, and stood up to notice a TON of blood on the seat and in the water. i really didn't feel any pain though, and had gone back a couple times, and he just said it was drainage. well, the last couple of months the pain has come back, and where he had removed the cyst is swelling and draining again. so i'm going back to schedule another surgery next week. this is fun.
Date: December 09, 2005
Story"That Rotten Fish"- Most fish don't' have an absess.
I drained my absess with EPSON SALT bought AT THE DRUG STORE. IT WAS PAINFUL AT FIRST, BUT IT WORKS. I CLEANDED IT DAILY AND TOOK REGUALAR BATHS, TOOK MY MEDICATION. I BATHED IN NIZORAL ANTI-DANDRUFF SHAMPOO TO remove fungus MY SKIN, drank some Epson salt as a laxitive.. THE ABSESS WAS HEALING AND GROWING NEW SKIN ON MY MUSCLES.
"ABSESS HATED SALT. EVEN TABLE SALT TO DRAIN IT. IT WAS COMPLETE WAR ON THE REAR END." THE ANTI-BIOTICS CLEARED UP THE INFECTION BUT THE SALT PACKING COMPLETELY DRAIND THE ABSESS, LEAVING IT LOOKING LIKE "DRIED SALTED FISH".
-Toronto, Ontario
Date: December 08, 2005
StoryWell my story started in 1998 yes 1998. I was on a two week vacation in the care and I could barely sit on my bum. My mom had me soaking in the tub, she even tried to pop it, I wanted to die. I ignored this for about three years. I finally showed a Dr. When he told me what it was I was mortified! I was only 19 and sure as heck not going to let anoyone operate on my backside. I suffered on and off through the years and I finally did some reasearch I found this site and even diagnosed my sister-in laws cyst. I finally decided if she could do it so could I. I had surgery in March 2005 the pain was so severe my surgery had to be bumped up by a couple of days. So the healing begain (so I thought) My tail bone started hurting again in July or so It took me 3 months to convince my surgeon there was a problem. I unfortunatley let him do the operation again in September 2005 and to my dismay I am worse than before. Both surgeries were closed. I have been sitting on a doghnut since March and suffered with severe pain. My surgeon again would not beleive me so I started to go to other Doctors. Finally I found a guy out of town and I went to him 12-06 he wants to do surgery on 12-27 but leave it open so I have to get it packed. So this will be my third surgery this year. All I want is to be able to sit comfortably, so I am hopeful. Wish me Luck.
Date: December 08, 2005
Story Well my story starts about 4 years ago, when i was 15. My brother had a pilonidal cyst. He had his taken out and left open. He had to do the whole packing and bandaging thing. My uncle who is a doctor, not the surgeon however, said the wound was big enough to put his fist in and still not touch the walls. I was scared for him. The surgeon he had was not a gentile guy at all. When my brother went for check ups he would leave crying. I certainly did not want this thing to happen to me. But, about a year later, guess who had the pain and the draining and discomfort? Thats right, ME!!! I went to the same surgeon and had mine removed. I had mine stiched up with those dissolveable stiches. The pain was bad but what i thought was worse is that i had a maxi-pad taped to butt. I didnt want to use it but i figured, why not, they are used to soak up blood and what not. They worked great.
Now let me tell you about this surgeon. You have no idea how bad he sucked. He was not friendly. He did not make me feel comfortable. His check ups were always ruff and he would put me through some pain. I will never recomend him to anyone, go back to him or even talk to him for that matter. Email me and i will give you his name and location.
After about 4 months i was still having pain and discomfort, so we went back to get a check up once again. Now at every weekly check up, my surgeon always said the same thing after ripping into me, "well, everything looks great. See you in a week or so." Anyway on this 4 month check up he gets to lookin and pokin and prodin and says, "oh you still have some stiches in there. I could of sworn i used the dissolveable type." so he cut those out right then and there. I thought that would be the end of this whole ordeal.
Every couple of months, the wound area would swell a little bit, hurt, and drain some. The surgeon said this was normal and it would stop after a while. So we, for some reason, believed him. After about three years of this, i was fed up and went to the family doctor so he could look at it. And on that day he said, "Aww man, were gunna have to get that cut open and removed again." I was mad...
We went to a different surgeon this time. He was nice, friendly, seemed to care, and we have not heard anything bad about him what so ever. So we go and he checks it out and we schedule an operation date.
I got cut open on friday, Dec. 2. He said everything went smoothly and he got it all out this time. Instead of stiches, he left it open with hopes that it will heal this time. My dad and girlfriend repacked my wound my woundd for me on sunday, and i passed out. Not from pain or the sight, but because the first surgeon had hurt my brother so bad, I was waiting for it and i freaked myself out. I was only out for a second or so.
So my dad took me to the emergency room cause he didnt know what to do. The doctors there were nice and gentile and repacked my wound with little pain and no problems.
Date: December 07, 2005
StoryI feel your pain! My cousin was complaing about (what we thought was) a pimple, for days. We all made fun of him laughing and carrying on about what a baby he was for crying over a little sore.
Meanwhile about 2 months after my cousin was diagnosed with pc I fell off a swing and landed on my back hard. About a week later I started to feel a lump on my right butt cheek right beside the top of my crack. This thing would not go away nor ease up on pain, I went to the doctor and he said it was to inflamed to lance open and drain and prescribed me some antibiotics and pain killers, along with suggesting that I take lots of hot baths, and sitting on a round inflated tube. It took a few days for this thing to start to ease up in pain and in size. I figured when it went away that all was well and boy was I relieved UNTIL!
The next one popped up, back to the doctor I went crying because I couldn't understand why I had another cyst.
The doctor informed me that it was the same cyst I had before, and that I would always have this problem unless I had it surgery removed.
That was twelve years ago, and yes I get the dang pc all the time, I've had it lanced twice and will never I mean NEVER do that again! You would have thought I was giving birth to a horse I screamed so loud during the lancing. Thank god this thing only gets real big about once or twice a year and at that point I just use a heating pad and a wet cloth to add heat and moisture to the area and it pops open.
I feel for anyone who has these. I find that mine will flare up when I sit on a hard chair for too long or if I lye on my back.
I have suffered from this for so long and have wanted to have the surgery but was told that even getting the surgery done I'm not guaranteed that this wouldn't be gone forever so I will just suffer until I have no other choice but to have it removed.
Well good luck all and remember sleep on your side or stomach.
Date: December 06, 2005
StoryAt the end of my rope... I was diagnosed with this ailment in the eary summer of 2001. I was asked to have the initial surgery in September of 2001 which happened to fall on my wifes birthday. (note to men: do not have it on your wifes birthday). The doctor that was doing the surgery was very optimistic about my outcome and explained what was to happen. I had the surgery with a partial closure. In and out of the hospital that day I returned home to the loving care of my wife (Happy Birthday). She assisted me with the packing and care of my wound. About a week later we went back home to her parents house to visit and I started to feel lousy. We decided to go back to our house. When we got there I got extremely weak and fell to the ground. The shock on my wifes face was stunning. She called the doctor and he asked to take my temperature. I was spiking a fever at 104. She rushed me to the ER where I had IV antibiotics and a dressing change. It was found that I now was suffering from a sever bacterial infection. I was rushed into surgery where my wound was opened up. I would have to spend the next 4 years with a wound that doesnt heal.
I have had 6 other surgeries which have not helped with the healing. Many doctor visits where they would burn the top layer of flesh to initiate healing. No such luck. I was until today when I went into a new surgeon where the idea of a flap surgery came to mind. I was diagnosed with non-healing pilonidal disease and it has come down to this option. I will be looking to having the surgery in the early part of January 2006 with a hopeful recovery by February... (I got tickets to the Phoenix Open in Arizona) For those who deal with the trials and embarassment of this disease I pray that it will get better. I am hoping this next step will be my last with this ailment.
Date: December 06, 2005
StoryI had the absessce removed in like early september after the drainag and the packing I still had the pain so i went to a sergeon and had it remove on the 23rd of november so Iam still healing but it doesn't hurt as much as it use to so I am very happy my mom was there during the kicking and screaming the first time I got it drained man that is very pain full so now I am in and out of the doctors office to keep track of the cyst but its a lot going on for me as a 14 year old girl but you guys and myself just have to keep your heads up and stay strong if you have any questions E-mail s7894171@mail.milwaukee.k12.wi.us GOOD LUCK everybody
Date: December 05, 2005
StoryHi! I am a 28 year old female that was diagnosed with a Pilonidal Cyst 7 years ago in college. I went to my Doc who seemed to "fix" the problem with anti-biotics. Three years ago I had to have the cyst lanced and drained and I had to undergo the same painful scenario 2 years ago. Recently, I've had a flare up...no real pain or bad swelling, but last week I discovered that I now have a pilonidal sinus. I am a bit of a hypochondriac, so needless to say, this really caused me great concern. The concern led me to this website, which has really assuaged some of my fear. Thanks to all of you guys for that! I have a doctor's appt in a week so he can take a look at the area, AGAIN... and give me a referral to a good surgeon. Previously, I never wanted to have the surgery, but now I am giving it serious consideration. I'm really really nervous about it all, but all of your stories have helped and I just wanted to share and say thanks!
Kristina (kristinaamerson@yahoo.com)
Date: December 03, 2005
StoryHey, I have had this disease for at least 10 years. I believe mine is genetic, that is that I was born with the weird tailbone, dimple, deep natal cleft,(bubblebutt) and now I have systemic yeast infection, in it,in the cyst and in my rectom but not vagina. Have spent thousands of bucks on t his, no insurance and no more nest egg. But, what I want to know is, I'm single, how the heck do you explain this to potential lovers? I'm sooooo embarrassed!
Date: December 02, 2005
StoryI'm a 16 year old student living in egypt with this pilonidal thingy. It started about 2 months ago when, in certain positions, my butt hurt like hell.I had a look on it, and my doctor said it must have a dressing and some H2O2 placed on it every 2 days or soemthing for 2 weeks for it to heel.It hurt very much while the doctor removed the abcess and a lot of pus flowed out of it.Anyway, after the 2 weeks it seemed ok so i just forgot about it.Unfortunately,it's just recurred a week ago with more pain than before and i've been adviced to stitch it and get a hair shave.
I still dunno what to do so plz if u've ever had this and recovered plz email me shadylotfy4604@yahoo.com wiz any suggestions..
thanks..
Date: December 01, 2005
StoryHello fellow PITAS! PITAS, of course, standing for Pain In The Ass Sufferers lol. Here’s my story…
I started getting pilonidal cysts when I turned 16 and started driving. When I first started getting them, they weren’t really anything that required medical intervention because they weren’t really all that bad. I was simply able to lean to one side or the other when sitting and the pain and pressure was relieved. They also only came maybe once a year, if that often, so it wasn’t really that big of a deal. But, over the years, they began coming more and more frequently and started growing in size.
About a year and a half ago (I’m now 23) was the first time I actually couldn’t take it anymore and forced myself to go to a doctor. He put me on antibiotics and gave me some pain medicine and sent me on my way all the while telling me that this would solve everything and it would never return. He was wrong.
Next time it came back (2 months later), I went to a different doctor. He was the first one to lance it. At the time, the lancing was the absolute WORST pain I had EVER felt (and this is coming from someone who has sustained being shot by a 9 mm bullet and also suffers from intense chronic migraines, among other painful ailments). After the lancing, he said, and I quote, “I fixed you. This will NOT come back again… I promise. But, if it does, you need to see a surgeon and get it removed that way.” Ok, great.
Or maybe not… 2 months later, it was back.
I went back to the same guy. Once again, I endured the pain of a lancing. I then asked him if I should make an appointment with a surgeon. He seemed offended by me asking that, and once again said “NO! I fixed you. This will NOT come back again… I promise. But, if it does, you need to see a surgeon and get it removed that way.” Ok… interesting. Then again, 2 months later, same thing. Every 2 months it was coming back like clockwork, and every time, the same routine with him seeming to be offended by me asking about the surgeon he keeps saying I would need to see and then him giving me his same, little rap.
After the 4th time he told me this, I finally said screw him and made an appointment w/ a surgeon. The first one I went to looked at me and damn near made me cry from yelling at me for allowing it to go on this long w/out surgical intervention and for listening to the other doctor. He also told me he wanted to wait at least a MONTH (all the while I’m in intense pain) before he would do the excision and I’d then be in pain for an additional 2 months after that from the surgery. That was unacceptable to me… 3 months of pain? No thank you.
The second surgeon I went to completely agreed w/ me and said there was no reason I should be hurting for 3 months when I should only be in pain for 2 months, if that long by doing the surgery ASAP and allowing the rest of the time for healing before Christmas. I initially saw him on a Friday and that very next Wednesday he had me on the operating table to do the excision.
My pilonidal cyst was approximately the size of an average man’s fist in diameter. It also went so deep that it had essentially wrapped itself around my tail bone and had, in several places, actually imbedded itself INTO my bone. Yikes! Because of how deep and how much he took out, he had to leave the wound open.
I then endured 3 weeks straight of dressing changes… 2 times a day, every day. Luckily, because of how bad it was hurting, he gave me a couple medications to help with the pain. The Vicodin and Percocet that I had been taking for pain before then weren’t even touching the pain post op… so he upped me to Dilaudid. I had a bad reaction to that, so I was then switched to Demerol for the rest of the time. He also gave me a script for some Lidocaine Jelly to put inside the wound to help take the edge off. Unfortunately that didn’t do a whole heck of a lot, but it helped enough to where it was better to use it than not. The shots of Lidocaine are infinitely better lol.
After 3 weeks and after the pain had finally tapered down to where it was somewhat tolerable without pain meds, the Demerol was no longer needed for pain as it seemed too strong for the pain I was having. So, I had asked him for Vicodin instead. He gave me Norco (the strongest dose at 10/325) and that helped. I then went back into surgery to have the closure of the wound that same week. I figured I would wake up feeling the same as when I went in, just w/ a stitched up hole on my backside. NOPE!
He had, in fact, stitched me up… but, he also put in a tube for drainage. I think it’s called a JP Tube or something like that (it’s a 2 or so foot tube w/ a bulb on the end, similar to a turkey baster, to collect any drained fluid). He ended up stitching the tube into me as well to ensure that it didn’t fall, slip, or get pulled out. Oh my goodness! I thought that my pain couldn’t NEVER get any worse! I was so wrong!
Although where the pilonidal cyst was hurt like hell, it was NOTHING compared to where the tube went in. I felt like I was literally dying. Because the pain had skyrocketed to 10 times more intense then after the initial surgery, he tried putting me back on the Demerol. Didn’t help… not strong enough. So, he switched me to a healthy dose of Morphine. Much better… but I was still dying. At least I was pretty much getting knocked out with the morphine and was able to sleep through most of the pain…
A week later I did my follow up. It was then I told him that the main incision wasn’t even really hurting all that bad anymore… in fact, barely at all (felt like I had maybe fell on my butt and bruised my tailbone and that was about it). It was where the tube went in that was killing me so bad. Because of the amount of pain and how bad life was for me with it in, he told me that he’d take it out, even though he originally wanted me to have it in for an additional week. As soon as he took it out, I immediately got a MILLION times better… well, once the pain from him pulling it out wore off (the next day lol). Turns out my pain was so bad from the tube because I was either allergic or extremely hypersensitive to the it… I am the only one in the 20+ years of him doing these procedures that he’s seen that has apparently ever had a problem with this lol. Just my luck, eh?
Although I’m still pretty sore and can’t sit for too long at a time (2 weeks after getting stitched up and 5 weeks after the initial surgery), I am a million times better thanks to my doctor. This guy went out of his way to make sure I was comfortable and in as little pain as possible. Hell, he even gave me his cell phone number in case of emergencies, questions, or if I needed refills on my pain medicines! How about that kind of commitment?!?! If anyone in southern California (specifically in the Orange County area) needs a recommendation for an EXCELLENT surgeon who will take pristine care of you, e-mail me at jsnelson82@hotmail.com and I’ll hook you up with the info for him.
His name is Dr. Tam H. Le, he’s a colo-rectal surgeon, and he has offices in both Orange and Fountain Valley (where I went). I think he may have more offices, but I’m not sure.
Hope this helps anyone that may be wondering about how bad it could get… I can pretty much guarantee that not many people can get much worse than I was as I was an apparent rare problem from the get go. But, hopefully this helps answer some questions about some things. I had to summarize a LOT of all of this, so if anyone is interested in the entire story, feel free to e-mail me with any questions! Good luck!
~Jon in San Clemente
Date: December 01, 2005
Storymy story began years ago when i was 18 (i'm now 41). i was in college and awoke one morning to severe pain on my tailbone. over the next few days it got worse 'til i could no longer sit, stand, or lie down without pain. i was literally crying all the time. for some reason, it never occurred to me to get out a mirror and take a look. my roommate noticed my pain and behavior and asked me about it. i described it and she said, "it's probably hemorrhoids." i had no idea what hemorrhoids actually were...all i knew is that they're on your butt and an embarrassment. needless to say, i was humiliated and determined not to go to the infirmary about it (no net then to do any research of my own). i waited it out over several days, however, i could no longer sit in class so i finally went to the infirmary. the doc took one look and told me to go home and see a surgeon. had to have a family member pick me up and drive me home.
i'll never forget that car ride! ouch! saw my family doc that evening and he told me what it was and lanced it. said it was from sitting too much and it wasn't common to have surgical removal anymore. the lancing hurt like h*ll, but the relief after was unbelievable!
the doc never explained, however, that it might recur. over the next two years it came back twice, extremely painfully. both times lanced and packed. what god awful embarrassing situations (i had a gorgeous doc and the last thing i wanted to do as a young woman was drop my drawers so he could knife me and push out the foul smelling pus!).
fortunately, it's not recurred since then. in fact, 'til i happened upon this site i had no idea that it could recur again. good luck to all of you still suffering with this.
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Date: November 30, 2005
StoryHey all,
My name is mike and Im an 18 year old first year university student with this problem. But what i'm interested in is whether anyone's story is anything like mine.
Well, About 6 years ago I noticed two small holes about 4 cm apart on my butt below my spine. Unlike most people, they were already holes, and had leaked out fluid every few weeks for several years. This stopped when my back got swollen and had to have the holes cut open wider, and drained again.
It has been about 5 weeks since the surgery and my home care nurses have told me that there has been no improvement in the size, even after daily packing changes. And just to add on to everything, it would appear that the original infectiong that rose up 5 weeks ago was from a 3rd cyst that had not yet come up yet. So it looks like i'm going back for more surgury...
Has anyone else had this problem?? and if so, what happened with yours?
I'm mainly interested in time of recovery, if at all.
Email me at kornut65@hotmail.com
Date: November 30, 2005
StoryI'm an almost 30-year old woman who had three surgeries on my Pilonidal cysts. My story almost exactly matches the 19-year-old girl who said that she'd had her cyst since she was 14 but was too embarrassed to do anything about it. I remember being dropped on my ass on my parents' kitchen by my boyfriend when I was 14 and MAN that hurt! Then a few months later my tailbone was sore and one day in school someone pointed out the embarrassing yellowish stain in the tailbone area of my white jeans. (Good thing oversized sweatshirts were in fashion then.) I covered the stain and there began a four year secret of pain and disgusting swollen massively painful cysts. I would sometimes lance them myself with safety pins in the middle of the night because they hurt so bad that I couldn't sleep.
I was too embarrassed to say anything to my mom but when I went to the doctor for my pre-college enrollment vaccinations I mentioned it to the doc and he said, yup, you've got a Pilonidal cyst. He referred me to a surgeon who called it "Jeep driver's disease" (I drove a Hyundai!) and he told me all the same crap about it being a problem for men with airy asses, not 18-year old girls.
I had my first surgery in 1994 and the wound was stitched up entirely after surgery. It took about three weeks to get back to normal and then a couple of months later I noticed the same pain as before and went back to find that I had a reoccurrence. We switched surgeons and I had another surgery in 1995 with the same stitching-up entirely. A total repeat of the first surgery - recovery, pain, reoccurrence. This time the surgeon decided to leave the wound open to heal. I had my final surgery in 1996 and it took 6 months to heal. Thankfully my mother is a nurse and was there to change my bandages and pack my wound, which she compared to the size of a grapefruit!
Since the recovery from that last surgery I’ve been relatively fine. I have occasional dull pain deep inside that happens after sitting for long periods but no reoccurrence so far. Due to the amount of scar tissue, I have a very sensitive bum that is now being treated with excruciating massage (believe it or not). I have also messed up my back by sitting all funky so as to avoid pressure on my tailbone, that’s being worked out now by a chiropractor and I have found that at the computer, the “kneeling chair” office chairs are very helpful.
Good luck to everyone and thank you for this website!
Date: November 29, 2005
StoryI had a good surgical experience. My story: I am a 56-year-old female who had pilonidal abscesses when I was in my 30's, treated with antibiotics several times and lanced once. No recurrence until June 2005, when I had a very large abscess lanced in a surgeon's office. It was a very painful procedure. The surgeon and my family doctor recommended I have surgery when the infection was healed. Five weeks ago I had out-patient surgery in the hospital under general anesthesia to remove the cysts. It was a very positive experience, and I wish I had done it sooner. The surgeon removed a wedge-shaped section of fat and tissue containing the cysts, partially sewed the wound inside, and left an opening for drainage. I was able to sit comfortably for the ride home from the hospital, only spent 1-2 days resting in bed, did not require pain medication, was out walking in four days, and feeling very good at 1 1/2 weeks.
After the surgery, visiting nurses packed the wound daily, and it was not painful at all. At my one-week visit I no longer needed packing, just a dressing. At three weeks, my wound was 1/2 healed, and at my 5-week check-up today, the doctor said that in a few more days the wound will be closed. The surgeon used silver nitrite(?) on the wound today to help the healing process, and it did not burn as I had read it would. I read a lot of the stories on this site, and most of them caused me a lot of anxiety, so I wanted others to hear that it is not always a bad experience. Some recommendations: as soon as you know you have this condition, buy a coccyx cushion, a square "pillow" which has a V-shaped wedge removed for your coccyx bone (no pressure when you sit); also - keep the wound clean and take good care of yourself. Prayer and a positive attitude are a plus. Good luck.
Date: November 27, 2005
Storyre:
Date: September 18, 2005
Story
Hello all.. yet another tale of the great pain in the ass with which we all have to live with. I am a 25 year old male, and I'm a custom bench jeweler and watchmaker, and own my own shop- which means I often sit in the same spot for 10+ hours a day, which I am sure caused my condition, but you've gotta pay the bills.... About a year ago, I noticed a hard spot there around my crack, but didnt think much of it, I thought it may just be nothing, and it wasnt hurting, so I left it be. WELL, aout 6 weeks ago while working on a big-money job, it got to be a little sore, so I shifted around till it got comfortable and continued working. When I stood up about 2 hours later, I damn near fainted from the pain and the pressure. So I left the shop and came over to the house to have a look in the mirror, and on the right side, it was swollen up like a ping pong ball. I am "fortunate" enough to have 2 pilonidals, one on either side of my coccyx. Well the one on the right was badly swollen and obviously full of liquid, and since at the time I had no idea what it was, I figured it was a boil of some sort.
o, me being me, I located a diaper pin in the medicine cabinet, dunked it in some iodine, and just stuck it in there like you would with a blister on your foot. Well, those of you who have had yours lanced with anesthetic in a doctors office know how bad it hurts under that scenario, you can imagine the pain that shot through me at that moment. Let's put it this way- 3 years ago I took a 9mm bullet in my collarbone in a robbery attempt, and that was like a stumped toe compared to this. It ruptured, and ruptured good. Kinda freaked me out to be honest with you. So after I regained my composure, I got in my jeep (funny how the doc called it "jeep drivers disease") and drove to the hospital, where I had to explain to the nurse just why I stuck a pin in my ass.
Well, to make a long story short, I got my diagnosis and they wanted to do surgery the next day but due to work constraints I scheduled it for january. In New Orleans. Well, the hospital in new orleans is gone, so I'll be having it done closer to home (Pensacola, FL) on January 12th. wish me luck.. and maybe I won't do any more self-surgery before then :)
WELL.. a few months have passed and something came along that screwed the whole thing up, I got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, so they say a major surgical wound may or may not heal correctly, so its too risky. so looks like I'm stuck with it. I had an ER doc lance it open (no anesthetic) really well, got the yuck out, 10 lortabs and some antibiotics and I was outta there. well then I was in my regular good ol boy family doctors office lately and I mentioned it to him so I was instructed to hop up and "drop my drawers" and he crammed a scalpel in there like before. Those ex-military doctors have a way with making you not cry like a girl when you jump 10 feet in the air! well its come back twice, but i'm dealing with it in an interesting way, I've modified a lancet device by cutting the collar off it, and when it gets full, I dress it with iodine and POP, hit it 2 or 3 times with the lancet, and it drains out just fine. not as hellish as the doc's visit with his cold hands on my bum, and it saves a couple hundred bucks. Maybe someday I can have both them removed safely, but till then.. guess I learned a new party trick :)
oh, and I sold my jeep and bought a lexus lol... a little softer on the bum :)
Date: November 27, 2005
StoryHi, my name is James. After 7 surgeries and multiple surgeons, and two wound care centers, my wound has not healed. This has gone on for 3 years now. I have had the pilonidal cyst removed, had my tail bone removed, failed flap surgery, tried more than one wound center, just got off the wound vac with little to no success. I'm only 22 years old. No diabetes and no apparent reason for why this wound does not heal. I find that most surgeons try "their technique" and when it does not work, they lose interest in my case. The typical response from doctors is, "I don't know what to do next." This is so frustrating!! Where do you go from here? Any suggestions?
Date: November 24, 2005
StoryI'm a 20 yr old female junior in college. I have had my pilonidal cyst since I was 14yrs old. Being scared and not knowing what it was I never did anything until I was 19yrs old when I finally couldn't deal with it anymore and I got the nerve to tell my mom. Went to the doctors three months later I was having surgery to get it removed because it was inflammed and infected obviously. I was only layed up for four days because I was in college and well I couldn't really miss class. Now nine months later I find myself in the same place but worse. I will be having surgery again in December to get it removed but this time I have to pack it instead of having stitches. Can't say I'm looking forward to spending my christmas break at home but it has to be done. Good luck to everyone else and don't be embarrassed to tell your doctor its not something that should not wait!
Date: November 23, 2005
StoryOkay here we go...I'm 23 male in my first year of University. I was sleeping and when I woke up to my surprise I found I was leaking! At first I thought I had gone to the washroom in bed haha but no it was not that. So I laughed it off and headed over to the clinic on campus knowing full well what it was due to a friend who got it. The doctor told me I had a abscess and it was leaking and I would be put on medication to control the infection. So far I didn’t feel any pain at all that’s why it was a surprise to me that it was in fact infected. He said to come back the next week and see how to proceed. I took the meds as described and the only thing that I hated about them was the fact that I had to take them on an empty stomach and four times a day so it was midnight dinners for a week lol. Oh well I thought anything to get rid of this thing. I went back to the clinic and the doctor left the room for a sec. He came back with a needle informing me that he was going to try and release the fluid form my tail bone region. He says “ready”, I say “shoot”! It felt like…lets just say he might as well of kicked me where the sun doesn’t shine to prime me for it. Three ccs we taken out.
The next week was the cutting! Yeah what fun! Okay so I’m back at the clinic lying down, butt exposed (I was starting to get used to it haha) and out comes the anesthetic. That hurt the most but as it froze the last four pokes didn’t faze me. So he cuts it open and tells me there is a lot of fluid. I shouted, “wait”! He says what the matter? I asked him if he found my lost watch in there? I had to add some humor to the situation. He wasn’t impressed. Oh well. It was packed and bleed quite a bit but its feeling better. Its now the second week of packing and its healing well. So to everyone that is freaking out just try to relax and realize that the sooner its taken care of the better. And please..try to take this opportunity to laugh at yourself. It could be worse, you might be in a wheelchair or forced to listen to Kenny G. So in closing I say enjoy the parts in between and don’t be embarrassed its not like the doctor hasn’t seen it before. Or your bum. Thanks take care!
Date: November 22, 2005
StoryI am a 30 year old male that just found out that the pain in my butt is a Pilonidal cyst. I have never had any problems with this before. I went to the doctor after experiencing extreme pain for four days and he told me what I was dealing with. I never had any holes or sinuses in the crack of my butt before. The Gereral Physician had me go see a surgeon right away because it needed to be lanced. The surgeon supposedly numbed the area and made his cut to release the pressure. Words cannot describe the pain. As I have read on this site, that experience should not be the norm. I go back tomorrow to have the packing taken out and I will have a couple pages of questions to ask this guy. I am honestly on the verg of freaking out. I have gone 30 years without seeing a doctor for anything more that a physical and now I find out I may have a second butthole cut into me!! (I am saying this sarcastically) I am glad I found this site. I don't feel like the only one. I will keep you updated.
Tim
tjp731@uspower.net
Date: November 22, 2005
StoryI recently discovered I have a PC and have been to the Doctor. She thought we had caught it early and could treat it with anti-biotics so I received a shot and levaqua for oral anti-biotics to take for 7 days. If it did not clear up or begin to drain in 2 days that I would need surgery. Well, good news is it began to drain on Friday. With warm baths it started to drain a bit and now it drains daily but slowly. It started out about the size of a golfball, and now is about the size of a grape. I would love to know if there is a way to make it drain faster so I can get rid of the pain. Today is draining much better, I pretty much have to wear a maxipad to avoid embarrasment while working. =) Hopefully now that it is gone it will stay away for awhile. I recommend the following:
Warm baths with Epsom salts twice per day for at least 40 mins.
Followed by a shower with loofa to clean everything out 2 times per day.
Good luck everyone...it definitely sucks.
Date: November 21, 2005
StoryI am a 36 year old female and first had my PC lanced when I was 16. Yes, that was 20 years ago! When I was 18 I had exicision done to it. Very painful! 6 months later it began ozing and I found out that it had not fully healed. Had it re-opened and had it packed for another 2 weeks. I am now going on 16 years without a problem until 2 days ago! Yes its back!So for those of you who have had success with no reoccurance great! But just read and know that there is no cure! it can come back just when you least expect it!
Date: November 21, 2005
StoryDoes anyone know of a surgeon in South Africa that treats this? I have had mine drained 5 times over the space of 4 years and am suffering with one at the moment. I am interested in the exision (removal) instead of a cycle of draining. I have been given many diagnosis and to date, this is the first time that I discovered PC, on my own let me add. It really relieving that I am not the only one..... I live in Cape Town, South Africa, If anyone knows, please, please please advise! Thank you all for your input with the below!
Date: November 20, 2005
StoryHello Everyone! I'm a 25 year old female PC sufferer who just had the surgery 3 days ago. For me, it started when I had first started college. I figured I had some how bruised my tail bone, but that was not the case. The Dr. diagnosed with me the the infamous pilonidal cyst! Luck me! Years went buy and as everyone knows the cyst came and went. This summer, I noticed that it had been kicking up more that I wanted it to. Off to the surgeon I went. From his exam, he made my cyst "pop" because it was infected. For the five or six years that I have had this, I never ozzed before. I must say, that when you get the junk out it helps, but it will return for another visit.
Oh, and to all the females out there, I know my doc said that the pc has noting to do with "that time of the month", but it does. Anyways, I finally made the decision to have the dumb thing taken out. To my surprise (from reading other stories on this site) it was not bad. Surgery takes all of about 15 mins. When I awoke in the recovery room, they had me propped up on my side. I actually was able to be stitched...no packing. I just had a extra large band-aid dressing on me that I was able to take off in 24 hrs. I laid a lot on my sides and stomach, but nothing felt better than standing. I only have take 2 of the 20 pain pills I was prescribed. I was more sore, than in pain. Alleve actually works to help reduce the soreness. I did buy a special coxyc pillow that seems to help, except I can't sit for long periods yet. Everything seems to be going smoothly so far. I'm pretty much back to my old self, just can't do a lot of sitting. I know many people are hesitant of surgery, and I am the biggest chicken of them all, but it's really not bad. Don't let them get big, or give your cyst the chance to grow fingers (they can do that). Get them out and be done with it.
Date: November 19, 2005
StoryI'm a 20 year old male. I discovered my PC a year and a half ago when I was 19 after playing some handball. I woke up the next morning in a lot of pain down there, could barely sit, walk, stand or do anything. The friend I was playing handball with had what he called a buttlump (not knowing the actual term), and I felt I got what he had about a year before. I wasn't looking forward to finding out for sure because he had a miserable experience with stitches and whatnot. Fortunately, I went to an incredibly doctor who absolutely refused to do a closed heal procedure. After the surgeon used his fingers to push as much of the puss out as possible, he gave me some Keflax, and it felt better within a day. We scheduled surgery for the following September, about two months after it was diagnosed. It really wasn't bad. I had a great sleep from the anaestethic, and was given ample pain killers. The only thing that sucked right away was my throat, because of the breathing tube. But that discomfort went away quick. I was surprised to wake up from surgery on my back, but I wasn't in any pain down there.
After leaving the recovery room for a discharge room, the wound opened up a little and started to bleed. A nurse repacked it, and sent me home with my mom. I started to feel sick and developed a fever later that night, but the Dr said it was no big deal, and by the next day I was fine. The surgery was on a Wednesday, and the following Monday I went back to the surgeon so he can show my mom how to change the internal dressings. I was apprehensive because the weekend went well. I was able to sit without any pain, and did not want to aggrevate anything by pulling gauze out of a hole the size of a grapefruit. But the Dr had that touch, and it didn't hurt at all. That is until my mom got to it the next day. As the wound heals over the gauze, ripping the gauze out can hurt like hell. Imagine ripping a bandaid off some arm hair, but 10000 times worse. In fact, she made it bleed a lot that nite. My bathroom looked like a murder scene. The next couple days of this hurt, but less and less. Eventually, she got the hang of it, and it was pain free from then on. While it was healing, the wound was disgusting. I was probably able to stick my fist in there if I wanted to. But other than some discomfort if I laid on my back for too long, it wasn't that big of a deal.
Now, over a year later, I'm fine. Dr said with an open heal, the chances of it coming back were 10% after 5 years. It still gets sore if I sit on a lousy chair for too long. But all and all, a PC is no big deal. Just don't go to a lousy DR or ER nurse. Find a good surgeon. Anyone in the Long Island area should seek out the office of Dr. Montelone in Mineola. (Affilliated with Winthrop Hospital). I happened to see Dr. Halpern as my surgeon, but anyone there will perform the same open heal surgery. Oh, by the way, Silver Nitrate isn't that bad. I had to have it applied when my wound started to slow up. It burns for a second, and stops.
Date: November 17, 2005
StoryI am a 34 year old female survivor of a pilonidal cyst. I experienced my cyst 13 years ago while in college in Lancaster, PA. I woke one morning with terrible tailbone pain which I attributed to the "mosh pit" I had been in the night before. After many days writhing in pain, my roommate took me to the ER. They told me it was a pilonidal cyst and they decided to lance it right there in the ER (without any anasthetic I might add). This was extremely painful but I was greatly relieved afterwards with the painkiller prescription. I recall having to clean the area on a regular basis and sit very cautiously. No antibiotics or post-surgery care was needed. I was informed that it could come back and that surgery could be an option if so. But luckily, I had no other problems and still have my fingers crossed.
Date: November 17, 2005
StoryI am a 22 year old male from Manchester. I had a pilonidal cyst for about two years without it really giving me any pain or trouble, but one day it must have become infected as it swelled up to almost twice it's original size nearly overnight, and it became painful for me to even stand up for too long. After nearly 6 months on a waiting list I saw my surgeon and he booked me in for surgery which was to take place within 10 days, as it was the largest he had seen (it stretched approx 7 inches up from my sinus at this point). I was relieved, as I would have no more weeping and bleeding. Yet I knew it would take time to heal, and even longer if they decided to stitch it shut, which I hoped they wouldn't. They did. After surgery, I was very unaware of the wound as I was on a cocktail of painkillers, but when they took me off morphine I managed to see just how bad it was - a bandage sutured on top of the wound, which had itself been stitched together (this meant my dressing was physically stitched into my flesh, using tension sutures - the thickness of which was not unlike nylon cord), and there was a drainage tube coming from the top of the wound to get rid of any excess leaks that would accumulate in the wound. Taking the tube out wasn't as painful as it sounds, but by this time nothing was painful anymore - or so I thought.
They discharged me after about 7 days on the ward, but I would have come out quicker if I hadn't kept getting temperatures. The district nurses came round to take out my sutured dressing, which was the very worst part of the whole ordeal. 8 thick stitches had to be cut then pulled through my skin - don't worry, I don't think that it is very commonplace, it was just to stop the wound from opening. When the dressing was finally off, the results were marvellous. most of the wound had healed together nicely, and although I was confined to lying down for the next 2 weeks and had a couple of infections, I was pleased. Now, 10 months on, I don't think twice about the position I have to sit in or lie in, except that I am unable to lie in certain positions on hard floors and sometimes the scar tissue aches after a long drive. But they are really a small price to pay for the end result. It may have taken a while, but the body recovers nicely.
Date: November 17, 2005
StoryMy name is Dan I'm a 31 year old mail from London. About 18 months ago like alot of you I noticed a smallish lump under the skin by my tail bone. Over the next 12 months it would sometimes turn into a spot which would pop and fluid/blood would come out, over this time it doubled in size to about 1 inche across(it just felt like a fatty lump under the skin with a spot on top). It was never really painfull but a little uncomfortable sometimes before it would pop. Anyway I went to my GP about four months ago and he told me it was a pilonidal sinus and booked me to see a surgeon. I had the sinus removed on Tuesday(its Thrusday now) under a general anaesthetic, they went down nearly to the tail bone and closed the wound afterwards. I was in hospital over night and was a bit worse for wear after the surgery(light headed and wobbly). I just wanted to let people know that although its uncomfortable it isn't anywhere near as painful as I had imagined although I only have one chair in the house that I can properly sit on. I'm having no problem sleeping and as long as i dont move to suddenly I am fine. I can't beleive I was so worried about the pain really. Good luck to anyone else who has the surgery and I hope your as lucky as I have been so far.
Date: November 16, 2005
StoryI just found out my 12 year daughter has a pilonidal cysts. On Nov. 5, 2005 I didnt know what it was, very odd. I thought it was staph. infection. It has been going around at her school so I took her with me to the doctor to see.
She said it was burning and itching really bad. So when I had an appt with my doctor, he looked and knew right away what it was. He explained it to us. He gave her an antobic (Ceftin)and said we might have to do surgery. She hasnt started her period but she is having signs.
I live in North GA. Does anyone know of a good doctor to see for young girls? Do you go to a GYN doctor?
Now, she has a UTI and yeast infection. I feel so bad for her. The medicine has help with the cysts. I am guessing from some people's stories that it flares up with periods for girls and women. Any suggestions would be great.
Date: November 16, 2005
StoryI am a 19-year-old male from the UK. Since 15-years-old I have had quite severe acne-vulgaris. I discovered this lump on my tailbone when I was 17, and thought it was just a nasty bit of acne-vulgaris - so I left it, thinking it would go away. When I was 18 I noticed it was still there. It would flare-up every other week and wasn't that painful so I didn't do anything about it. In July of this year it suddenly swelled up a lot and was very painful, so I managed to find out what it was and booked myself in to see a surgeon. Between July and my initial appointment (early October), my lump developed a hole and bled violently. My surgeon confirmed it was a Pilonidal Abscess, and he put me on the waiting list for surgery. I am still waiting for it. I just want it over-and-done-with immediately. Every day it gives me grief. Every week it leaks and bleeds. I want rid of it. Thankyou for the brilliant information on this site.
Date: November 16, 2005
StoryHello, I am a 34 year old male. I first discovered this tiny hole above my butt crack back in the early 90's. I just thought it was weird....end of story? Wrong! A couple years later I was wrestling a friend of mine and I fell on my tailbone and hit the heating duct on the floor. This area became very sore and began to swell slightly. After a week it began to feel better and the lump decreased. Then in 1996, I came down with Tonsillitis and went to a doctor. He asked me if I wanted an anitbiotic shot or pills (a shot would work faster). I chose the shot and he administered it in my right buttcheek. The Tonsillitis began to heal, then this growth formed in the same area where I fell on my tailbone. It grew to be about the size of of a silver dollar and the surface became chaffed from my briefs rubbing against it. The pain set in immediately and I couldn't even sleep, it was constant unbearable pain.
It was during the Christmas holiday and I worked in retail management, so "calling off" was not an option. I told my mother and she looked at it. She sent me to our family doctor (of which I had not seen since I was sixteen. He checked me out and said that it needed to be lanced but he didn't have any anesthesia for the area. I didn't care, I was in so much pain. I crawled up on the table and he and his nurse prepared the area. He first tried to cut through but it was chaffed so he really had to apply pressure. I grunted very loud and it hurt....then I felt heat and instant relief. But then, this ungodly smell overtook the room, his nurse was gagging and ran out of the room. I asked him what it was and he explained it was the infection. He drained almost 2.5 cups. He packed it so it would continue to drain (bandages would need to be changed)for a week and antibiotics. He also said it would come back without surgery. It's been 8 years and now it's flared up again. I never thought to use the internet to find out what it was until last night. Now I know what it is and that I'm not alone. -J.R.
Date: November 14, 2005
StoryHI. My name is Lauren and I am a 22 year old female from texas. Im am in recovery from my secon polinidal cyst surgery. The first one happened a little over a year ago, couldnt eat couldnt sit stand laydown and dont even mention riding in a car! I was living on my own at the time so I had a friend take me to the ER. They told me what it was lanced it sewed me up and told me to take TYLENOL! They didnt even think of antibiotics. So I crashed at my friends hous but by the second day I had a fever over 104 with red squigglies coming off the incision. Thats right I had a sytemic infection.
So it was off to the hospital again to lay in a hospital room for a week on IV antibiotics,had sugery and went home. That was the last week of October 2004.
Last week it was a little hard to sit and bend , I thought it was a strained muscle from work and didnt do any lifting for a few days. It felt better. A few days later I did a road trip to see the BF in Austin. When I got home from the trip I was in tears!!! SO I had my mom take a look sure enough she said "you need to go to the doctor first thing in the morning" . So I went to see the doctor who sent me to the surgeon who took one look at it and said "Im scheduling you for surgery at 300 pm today" It was noonish at the time.
So I made my call to my parents and work. Work is a little ticked since I only started about 4 weeks ago. But any way they started me in IV antibiotics in pre op and thank god for the pain meds(my cyst dont rupture on their own, they grow into me). Instead of putting me under they gave me a spinal block and vicodin. My legs felt so funny that I didnt know if I should laugh or cry. (Doc L says I did a little of both) They put a primrose drain in and left open what they could in the end I have I gorgeous 4 inch incicion across my right butt cheek and my tail bone.Its also 4 inches deep. I went in last Wednesday and got out sunday due to infection and hard to find a pain med that worked. Still hard to sit but thankfully the chair that is comfortable is the computer chair. WOOHOO! Have a doc appt tommorow but something tells me Im taking more than a week off from work. Ill let you know how it goes.
Date: November 13, 2005
StoryI have been dealing with my pc since april of this year.
I had it drained in June and in August. As of today's date I am still being treated at a local wound center because the incision won't heal up. This is a complete pain! I have spent so much money and wasted so much time with the thought that I could be back to square one in several months.
Keep up the good fight everyone!
Debbie C.-wisconsin
Date: November 13, 2005
StoryHi, I am a 20 year old male. I was diagnosed with this cyst after a week of pain. I though it was just a bruised tailbone until I applied a little pressure on the bump and fluid shot out. I went to the doctor, who lanced it and put me on antibiotics. The worst pain was when they stuck a needle in and numbed it(the doctor said the pain was comparable to a woman in labor). On a positive note, the damn thing healed in a few days and has not come back(it has been 3 months). I also found out that my uncle and grandfather had the cyst and it never recurred with them. A word of advice for college students like myself: if you find yourself with this horrible cyst, please get over your embarrasment and get it treated. It will feel 100% better. Also, you are not alone. The doctor at the university medial clinic said she saw this problem at least once a week.
Date: November 13, 2005
StoryHello, Im 17 and i have already had one..and might i add, very painful to deal with. Just go when you find out you may have one, i waited for like 3 weeks because i didn't want to tell anyone what a regret, i couldnt walk, sit, do anything really, i didnt even feel like eatin because it would require moving. So i went to outpatience, and they told me i had to get it removed immediatly. so i was takin into surgery about an hour later i was in surgery. But was i ever glad i got it over with. But now i think im getting another one back, the doctor said..you have an 70% chance of it comming back. Oh Such Fun.
Date: November 13, 2005
Storydear all,
I had this recurring problem of PC for the past few years.I was troubled since i had not heard of such problems before .I neither bothered to discuss it with my mom too since the pain passed as soon as my periods were over.I considered it as one of those hormone things until last july I developed a PC so painful that I could hardly walk, sleep or sit.I knew I had developed an infection.I was admitted to the hospital and an operation followed in which my Pc was cut and cleaned out.Doctors warned me that this problem would recur and that a surgery would be necessary to remove a root from the area which was getting infected.Since it was my exam days and the surgery requires about 30 days rest I decided to do the same later.Now its exam time again and the problem erupted again.Since there is more than a month of study leave I decided to get the surgery done with.Now am under post operative care .The wound is large and I have to get it healed before the exam starts!FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE THIS PROBLEM DO NOT HESITATE A MOMENT TO CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR AND GET THE REMEDY,SINCE THE MORE YOU PROLONG THE STEPS FOR CURE MORE WILL BE THE SUFFERING YOU WILL HAVE TO ENDURE!!!1
Date: November 10, 2005
StorySo here is my story. A couple of weeks ago I started feeling some pain in my tailbone area and also noticed a discharge from that same area. After investigating, I saw what appeared to be three pin sized holes and one of them had hair protruding. Of course I completely freaked out and the first thing I did was go online and do some research which led me to this site. Although it was great to know I wasn't alone with this, it made me even more concerned since it sounded like surgery was in my future. I immediatly made an appointment with my physician and after taking a look, he said that I did have what appeared to be a pilonidal. He referred me to a surgeon that deals with this and I made an appointment for the next week.
So, yesterday I met with the surgeon. Mind you, I live in Boston which is known worldwide for it's great hospitals. He took one look and said and I quote "the one thing you never want to do for this is to have surgery". He explained how surgery has a high infection rate, etc. He said that it was important for me to let the abcess drain and the best way to assist it was to apply a warm washcloth to the area once or twice a day for ten minutes. After a couple of weeks he said I should see that it has drained and the other junk inside should come out too. He also mentioned that as I get older, there will be less of a chance for this to reappear. That was it. He didn't even prescribe me any antibiotics.
Of course on the one hand, I was very relieved to hear I didn't need surgery, but on the other I am not sure what to think since I have read so many stories on this site and it seems that eventually most people need surgery.
Has anyone had any luck with the warm washcloth treatment? Again, thanks for this site. It has been a wealth of information for me.
Date: November 09, 2005
StoryI"m 27 and a type 1 diabetic. I first found out I had a PC in July of this year when I took a trip to the ER for an intense pain on my tailbone. I was told I had an abcess. They put me out, cut it open, cleaned it out, and packed it. They gave me some vicoden for pain and some antibiotics. Fast forward to this past weekend, and the pain is back, and the lump feels significantly larger than before. I went to the ER again on Monday, they attempted to lance it again, but nothing drained out. They recommended I go see a colon and rectal surgeon, gave me some percocet and bactrim and sent me on my way. Today, it ruptured where the last incision was... guess it's a good thing I have an appointment this afternoon to have it cut out. Hopefully this will end my short ordeal with this.
Date: November 09, 2005
StoryHi. I am a 40 year old female and have noticed that my PC is flaring up. The first flare-up I had was in Sept 2000 when I was pregnant with my 2nd daughter. I had a desk job and thought my tailbone was sore from the pressure of being pregnant and sitting all day. (I had also developed a hemmorhoid, so sitting was very uncomfortable at this point.) Since my first daughter was born at 34 weeks, I was at risk for a second pre-term labor. While at work, I almost passed outand my pulse was 100. I ended up in the hospital overnight with pre-term labor at 35 weeks. I asked the nurse to have the doctor check my bottom to see what the pain was from, but he never did. I was sent home the next day and put on bedrest for the rest of my pregnancy. Four days later, I was in extreme pain and unable to sit or lie down comfortably. I took a 30 minute car ride back to the clinic to see the on-call doctor. The doctor diagnosed a pilonidal cyst and said it needed to be lanced immediately. The nurse held my hand as the doctor made the incision. The pain was so bad I cried. The doctor commented that he hadn't 'seen this much pus in a long time'. He packed it with gauze and gave me antibiotics. I felt so much better and was able to sit with less pain.
I went back 2 days later to have the gauze removed - even with lidocaine, it felt like someone sticking a knife in my bottom. Getting it repacked was also excruciating. 2 days later I had the gauze removed, and the doctor said it was healing very well. In my opinion, the reason I ended up in pre-term labor was from the massive infection from the PC. My daughter was born at 38 weeks and was fine. I hadn't had a recurrance until now, 5 years later. I purchased a new SUV in May. Possibly the flare-up has been caused by the different driving position I sit in. At least this time around I am not pregnant, but I still do not look forward to going to have my PC lanced again. Right now it is about the size of a marble, and I don't want it to end up the size of a golf ball like the first one.
Date: November 08, 2005
StoryHi! My name is Charity. I had my surgery on Oct. 24th and i am doing great. I have dealt with my PC for about 5 yrs now. I was too shy at first to go to the doctors. I kept putting it off and it would eventually go away, but not this last time. My husband nagged at me for over a year to go to the doctors since it was always draining. My incision for the whole procedure at the deepest point was 4.5cm and about 10cm long. I have two openings that are tunnled togethered. I can't say that i have daily dressing changes, because I do not. I have a wond VAC that gets changed 3 times a week and in the beginning it was very painfull but by my third dressing change i was thankfull for the cleaning beacuse it itches alot. Who knows when the wound VAC will come off, but what i can say is i wish i never waited as long as I did to get this taken care of. I have been told that it would not have been this deep or severe if only i had gone in sooner to have the pc removed. I am very thankfull for this site, it has grown some fears that my PC will come back. I was told by the Dr. it could but after reading here it scares me even more. Like I read somewhere on here I would have gone through it once so I can do it again. For who ever reads this I wish them the best of luck and know that you are not alone. My email address is clb7694@aol.com.
Date: November 06, 2005
StorySince I see so many worried moms..
My first cyst appeared during puberty- I was 12 or 13. I did not tell my mom. I did not tell my doctor. Almost every time I got my period I got a cyst. I figured out how to lance them myself. This went on until the age of 15 when I finally told my mother, who convinced me to tell my doctor. It took me a while to overcome my shame, but I finally did tell him. He took a look (the mortification!) turned and said, "well, there's nothing I can do about that." Nothing more-- no name for what I had, nothing. I was too embarassed to push.
I figured out on my own what I had. This was before the era of the internet. I lived with my cyst for a long time, embarassed to discuss it with boyfriends, avoiding sex during a flare up, sitting carefully, etc. etc. Once the internet arrived I read about surgery as an option, but never explored it. As I got older, the flare-ups lessened from every period to once every so often.. until they stopped. I haven't had a cyst since my mid 20's -- so that's about 10 years. I'm glad it's over and I hope it stays over.
Your children are lucky; lucky that they can tell you, lucky that you can pay for surgery, lucky that their doctor gives a damn. If I could do it over I would have the surgery during childhood. Living with shame all those years was not a good thing. As for short term consequences: activity will open up a healing cyst, just as it will a healing surgery. The difference is that once the surgery heals, it is (hopefully) over forever. A small price to pay.
Date: November 05, 2005
StoryMy first experience with one of these abscesses was 1999. I was 19 and a female sophomore in a mostly-male college and went to the health center with what I thought was a really nasty pimple or possibly some sort of bug bite in a very awkward place on my posterior. Out came the dreaded "cyst" word and the scalpel and gauze. The health center saw the couple other people in the waiting room, shut down for a bit, and shot me up with some local antesthetic for an emergency lancing. Sadly, the antesthetic did nothing for me save making me very tired...I felt exactly what they were doing, and I was screaming and crying most of the time. They told me I couldn't possibly feel it, since they'd used lidocaine (or a similar) and to stop acting like an overgrown child.
After they packed it, I managed to get my clothes back together and stumble back to my dorm room with a little bit of tylenol and a card for the surgeon I was to see on Saturday to actually excise the cyst.
The surgery was set for 7 am (or something equally hideious to a college student) so I had to be at the hospital around 5:30. The reception desk, of course, wasn't open yet, so I stumbled around for a while until I found a cleaning person to ask where I should be headed. Eventually found surgery, was weighed, put in a paper gown, and given a couple of shots in the rump. I was entirely put out for the surgery itself and I don't think I made it counting from 10 to 7 before I was out like a light. Woke once in recovery, long enough to mumble and hear them reading my blood pressure as 60/40 and went back out until my ride came to fetch me back to campus. We stopped on the way home at a pharmacy and filled my pain medication prescription. My roommate grabbed me some lunch before I fell back asleep and all was well.
Spent as much time sleeping as I could Sunday; Monday morning, I went to the health center to have my wound repacked after breakfast and taking some pain meds. I feel asleep on the bench in front of the office and woke up after they'd been open about an hour. I was disoriented and confused. They were entirely displeased that I'd taken the pain meds to start with. Vicodine does pretty much nothing for pain for me, other than making me not _care_ that I'm screaming in agony--but I didn't know that at the time.
I spent over 10 weeks (over a quarter of my school year) on Vicodine. I don't remember most of that year--what I learned or where I was or who was around me. I was in constant pain and routinely fighting to keep my dinner down, after I went to sit in the cafeteria long enough to eat it. I was back in class (for over 9 hours) two days after my surgery, when this site suggests resting for up to a week prior to sitting that long. I was in recovery forever, it seemed like, and the doctor and nurse were insistant that I come in each day for a packing change (I was to shower beforehand, to make it easier to remove the packing) and they were still putting straight hydrogren peroxide on my wound to "keep infection away". I didn't find out until reading on here that antibiotics can sometimes be used to clear up the infection--or that hydrogen peroxide shouldn't be used on them anymore, effective 3 years prior to my surgery. I read here about how people's surgeries weren't unpleasant and think of all the times that I was practically wishing to die and realize that some of that could/shouldn't have happened as it did. If I had been better-informed or if I had had a doctor who was better up-to-date.
I was still told this was a mainly-male disease, when I went for the surgery!
Moral of the story is that I have another abscess now (age 25) and I'm terrified to go to the doctor, remembering last time. Other people's experiences have taught me that it doesn't have to be this way....I just hope I get a better doctor this time. I am forewarned now, though....at least I know what to ask and expect. And maybe this time, with proper diet and a knowledgeable health care staff, won't be as bad? I just need to find out if my insurance will cover my daily packing changes. I'm neither flexible enough nor (from what I remember) strong enough in the stomach to manage to pack the wound myself every day.
Date: November 04, 2005
StoryHello all
had open wound surgery this morning 7:30 est. i am sitting at my computer pain free for the first time in well over 5 years.
please don't listen to most people here about the horror stories, it is not that bad took about 1 hr. My surgeron Dr. delecroch of capital health of trenton removed 4 large absesses. He told my wife am i that in 18 years this was the worst he ever saw.
i have a 25% chance that he may have to do some minor clean up in 3-4 months. i had a general and knew nothing until the recovery room......if anyone wants further information on Dr. joe shoot me an e mail at bhilge1693@aol.com. i have taken 1 pain pill so far at wifes insistance. i do have a large pad the comes off sat then the repacking but haha so far so good.
BILL
Date: November 04, 2005
StoryHello,
My daughter (12 years old) had a infected pilonidal cyst in May of 05. We ended up in the emergency room, had it drained under "conscious sedation". She was back to normal and playing softball (cautiously) in 3 weeks. Then in Aug. 05 she realized something just wasn't right. We went to see a surgeon and she had 8 openings along the track of the original spot. WOW!! She had surgery Sept.1. The wound was closed due to her age and activity level. Were two months out now and she still has a small part of the actual incision that is still open. Hard spot to stay closed!! She feels like some scar tissue is forming, feels hard along the scar, but really no pain. She has begun basketball and hopes to be back 100% in another week or two. Anybody else this young and active?
Date: November 03, 2005
Storyhi all, had my open surgery to remove my pc back in july, still havent healed yet...... what a pain
Date: November 03, 2005
StoryI JUST WROTE ABOUT MY 14 YR OLD DAUGHTER ASKING IF ANYONE HAS HAD THIS PROBLEM AT HER AGE. IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFO JUST LEAVE IT HERE AND I WILL BE WATCHING FOR REPLYS. THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE ME.
Date: November 02, 2005
StoryWhen I was 22 I diagnosed with a pilonidal cycst. I was working in a hospital as nurse and one night the pain got so bad I could not walk. I went to the doctor abd he knew right away what the problen was.I could not sit down unless I was leaning over his exam stool.He arranged for it to be lanced that day.Even though it hurt once the pressure was released it did feel better.This happened in April 87 by july 87 I had surgery to remove it.Once i got over the surgery part I was so much better.I believe how well you do has alot to do with the MD that performs the surgery.The reason I got on here is my daughter is showing signs of having the cyst.Ours are closed and do not drain.i just wondered if anyone has heard of a 14 yr old having problems.If anyone has any words of wisdom to pass along I realy would appreciate. thanks from a sympathic been there done that kind of girl!!!!!
Date: November 02, 2005
StoryYo,
Lets the get the me bit out the way - 20, male, uk. Anyway, I guess my lil story starts round the 17yrs of age mark. It started one fatefull day with semi clear blood on the tp, a closer inspection revealed a small hole on my tail bone. To the doctors I went and was pretty immediately diagnosed with a pc, a referral to a specialist was made and some hair removed and drained slightly then and there by the gp. The specialist I saw, three months later, took one look and booked me in for a op (bascoms procedure).
Fast forward to the op and recovery, a monthish later it had split open. Open healing didnt work and maybe six months or less I had a second operation which also split. In a bit more detail now, why I split 2 times is a mystery and my surgeon had never experienced it before, we decided if open healing failed again we would go for a major op (karydakis). I was in a office job after both ops which might have contributed badly, with all the sitting. The second open healing phase is the most interesting, not fond memories tho, regular packing of the wound, dressings, silver nitrate etc. It wasnt going well for a which is why we were considering the third op, no healing at all really and what little tissue grew seemed to tear quickly.
During this time I left my job, regular hospital visits and mood issues were straining relationships with my employers. While on the dole I was able to spend more time at the gym (obviously being carefull what exercises I did). Now forgive the summary style writing above cos the following bit is what I was getting to. During my out of work phase for a month or so I was off my butt mostly, having the wound packed and dressed, silver nitrate weekly and a diet of bout 200gms protein daily. Within a few weeks of starting my high protein gym diet I healed completely. After that my specialist advised me to try keep the area as clean and hair free as possible so I shower twice a day gently wiping down the area with a washcloth to remove debris and shaving the area once a week (not easy solo but I manage). Almost six months down the line and so far so good. All in all I think the increased protein helped the most with the new tissue synthesis. Apologies for the crappy writing style but kinda lazy at moment, any queries then drop me a line: tomcatspike athotmaildotcom
Date: November 02, 2005
StoryHi all, David here from Glasgow, Scotland. I have had this bloody thing happen to me about every year since I was 16. At 21 now I have had 5 operations and i am waiting to go to the hospital just now to see the surgeon. I fell down some stairs last week and landed on my back with terrible pain. The doctor sent me home and told me to come back today as he believed it was a broken coxix (sp). But over the week It has become extremely painful and I think operation 6 is on its way!! Id like to say that this site is great and am glad to see other sufferers talking to each other as this problem can play a big part in our lives. All the best to all of you and remember try not be a pain in the ars*! ;-)
Date: November 01, 2005
StoryHi, my name is Andie. I've just discovered there's a name for what's been growing on my behind. I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am that I'm not alone in this! I've been dealing with cysts on my bottom for most of my life. My dermatologist told me that they went along with the sebaceous cysts I grow on my face, euphemistically called acne. I now know that's not the case. I have a flareup every 2-3 years. This last one was the worst. I recalled that my sister-in-law once told me about a recurring cyst she got on her backside. She spelled out the name of it for me, & well, here I am. So much knowledge to soak up!
At any rate, this latest go-round has me looking for a doctor to attempt to solve this problem once & for all. I'm starting with my gynecologist for a recommendation. This little son of a gun got me good. I can't see it to open it or to even clean it. My husband's been a rock for me. I appreciate that he's willing to take care of it. He's the one who told me just how big the hole is. And boy, it scared the daylights out of me. Noone likes to have an open wound on them, but especially one that size. It's about 1-1/2 inches long & 1/4 inch wide. I have it covered with gauze & wash it a couple of times a day with Betadine. It doesn't hurt any longer since most of the fluid has drained out, but it's still seeping after 6 days. And I can tell that there's still something in there.
I'll be back on this site until I've read everything everyone has to say about it. Knowledge truly is power. Thanks so much for all the stories. Now, if anyone knows of a good CR doctor in the northern part of Illinois, drop me a line at abjoy@att.net. What the heck, it's time for a colonoscopy anyway...
Date: November 01, 2005
Story Ok hi my names Cory and my first post was on May 4th of this year. I had my first flare up and then surgery in Late April of this year, and now guess what its back. Im really getting tired of this thing the first surgery was expensive enough and put me into major debt but now im gonna have to do it again? So heres a few questions for you guys that have had to deal with this multipal times. Is there a good way to deal with this problem without surgery? Anybody tried just seeing if it will go away on its own (LOL yeah right)? Did you use antibiotics and if so what was the result? I live in a podunk town where i swear the doctors dont know anything lol and one more thing any other cases of PC's coming back after only a few months after surgery, and if so does it just keep comming back every few months lol, i mean how am i supposed to work, go to school, and even live with this "Pain in the ass" ohh well. my e-mail is Cory_manning2000@yahoo.com e-mail me if you can answer any of my questions please and god bless
Thanks,
Cory
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