Personal Stores Archive #31

Date: February 28, 2006

Story

Hi again! I wrote a story here at April 28, 2005. I'm still the 16 (turned 17 now btw) year old boy from Norway who had a surgery at April 1, 2005. My wound was finally healed in late October 2005. Think about it; an open wound in my butt crack for 7 months!! It's pretty weird. But as I said, now I'm finally healed. The wound got smaller and smaller in late spring 05. I had regular hospital visits, just to control that the wound was healing with no complications. After a control visit in June, I got really optimistic. The doctor told me that the wound would be healed before the summer was over. It certainly didn't. I had some problems during my healing periode. In July the nurses who took care of my wound left the Aquacel OUTSIDE the wound! The wound closed itself over the night, and a doctor had to cut it open again, without any anaesthetica. That was bad!

In September, when we thought the wound was only 1,5 cm long, I could feel some pain not far away from the anus opening (yes, my wound was that long) where we thought the wound had already healed. The nurses had a look, and a bit of the wound wasn't healed! It now was 2 small wounds. Bad work again by the nurses. Now we had to take care of two wounds. The wound close to anus had probably been there for two weeks, and looked really bad to be honest. But that small wound healed really fast and in a couple of weeks it was gone. I had sitz baths every day during the healing period. The other wound was good-looking, but it took 2 more months before this was fully healed. In the end of the healing period we stopped using Aquacel, and started using regular dressings again instead. It's now 4 months since my open wound was fully healed, and I haven't experienced something "creepy" in my crack so far. I can only pray to God that I won't get this shit again, because the 7 month healing period was probably the 7 worst months in my life. Now I'm ver aware of gooooood hygiene and I'm also removing hair from the crack every 2-3 weeks. Hope the best for you all, and good luck with the cyst healing!

Date: February 27, 2006

Story

Hi! I am a 19 year old male from sweden who has just got rid of my pilodinal thing.. It all began for about 3,5 year ago when i got a lump at my butcrack region. The lump turn later into an abscess, which wasn´t nice. It was bleeding and caused me a lot of pain, but it went dormat from time to time. So I ignored it for about three years because I hoped it would go away and I was ashamed to tell anyone. About a year ago I finally decided to make a doctors apointment. It took the doctor about 5 second to look att my ass, and then he sent me to a hospital which specialises in different stuff. I met a suregon there who took a look att my butt for about an additional 5 seconds. She (The surgeon) told me a litte about my disease and had me join a examinaton that she was doing on that specific disease. I later was appointed for surgery in june 8 2005, but i had to cancell it because I was going to graduate two days later from that date. I got a new apointment in early september 2005 (they where closed during the summer).

The surgery day came and I was thrilled. I went to the hospital, put on my hospital clothes on and waited for an hour in my bed. Then they rolled me into the room where they where gonna slice me up. First there came some nurses who stuck a needle in my hand, and then they all helped to spread my butt real wide, so they probably had a good lock att my a****e. After that one of the nurses started to shave my butt (It actually felt good), but at last the long awaited but terrifying suregon came in the room. She had a big needle in her hand. She told me that it was soon going to sting a little bit, and at the exact moment that she said sting it hurted like hell. I never felt a pain that intense in my entire life. And not did she only stick a needle in my ass one time, she did it about a good eight times. When that pain was over i suddenly couldn´t feel a thing. I heard there was som slicing and dicing going on, but I didn´t feel a thing. However.. The surgery took about 30 minutes and then I was back in my room. The surgeon came and chatted once, and then came and asked me if I wanted to pee, and stuff like that(They also brought me a sandwich.. for free).

An hour later I was ready to go home, and I was just waiting for the anaesthesia to wheare off so I could feel the unbelievable pain that was waiting for me. Guess what... Many hours passed and I didn´t feel any kind of pain, I just felt a little sore around that area. And nor did I feel any pain later on next day or something. After surgery I spent the next two months going to a nurse starting off everyday and as time went more and more less. The nurse put some grease like stuff in my open wound and then sent me home. The wound eventually got smaller and smaller until it closed for about two months later. Now I was very happy!! So that was in november 2005. Some months has gone and all I have now is a beautifull scar on my butt that will remind me of my pain in the ass friend, litteraly. The only thing I regret is not going to the doctor more soon. So the moral of this story is... Go to the doctor more soon. Have a nice day!

Date: February 27, 2006

Story

I am a 20 year old female and first had problems with what I thought was my tailbone in January of 2004. At first it started out being very sore and tender and then grew to this horrible pain whenever I sat, stood up straight, and when I drove. I went to my general physician, who felt my tailbone and said it was broken, so he sent me to the local hospital for x-rays. The X-ray technician said he thought I had a hairline fracture in ym tailbone, even though I told him I had not doen anything in order for my tailbone to break. he prescribed me soem antibioitcs and eventually it went away.

Then in October of 2004 I was at my OB-GYN and went to sit up on the examination table and all of a sudden felt the same pain I had felt in January. Over the next week, the pain became unbearable and my "tailbone" began to look like it was sticking out of my back, so my mother took me to the emergency walk-in clinic, where the on-staff doctor took oen look at it and said, "This is a Pilonidal cyst." He referred me to an amazing doctor, Dr. Barrett, in Binghamton, New York, and told me that if my pain grew to the point that t was unbearable, to call Dr. Barrett and he would get me in immediately. He prescribed with Vicodin Extra Strength, which did absoultey nothing for the pain, although it made me drowsy enough to fall asleep so I couldn't bear the pain any more.

My appointment was scheduled for the next week, but I woke up one night and it was to the point where I thought I was going to pass out from the pain, and mind you I have an extremely high tolerance for pain. I called Dr. Barrett's office at 8 am and his secretary told me she would cancel his next appointment and get me in ASAP. I went to Dr. Barrett's office immediately, and he was very efficient and one of the best doctors I have seen. he explained everything about pilonidal cysts, and then proceeded to give me a shot of local anthestitic, which felt like a bee sting in my tailbone, and then told me he was going to lance it. I didn't feel anything when he made the incision and drianed it, the only thing I felt was the shot of anthestitic which had numbed the area. It was immediate relief, I was so happy that I couldn't feel the pain any longer that I cried. He then put a drain in it and gave me the steps on what to do and made a follow up appointment with me for the next week.

Everything looked great, but Dr. Barrett told me that more than likely it would come back and the only way to treat it was to undergo surgery to have it completely removed. Then in August of 2005, the same thing happened, right before I was to move down to South Carolina, where my fiancee was stationed in the US Marines. I had no isurance at the time that I tried to hold off until we got married so I would be on my husband's insurance and get it done then. But it became so unbearable that on my last weekend home, I went into the Emergency Room, where the on-call doctor tried to lance it and did it incorrectly. I began to cry since my medical bill was almost $1,500 and the doctor had'nt even done it properly. So that Monday, the day before I was flying down to South Carolina, I called Dr. Barrett's office once again and he got me in ASAP and performed the lancing for the second time in less than a year. Dr. Barrett then suggested that once I was on my husband's insurace, that I would need to undergo surgery to have it removed at my earliest convenience.

My husband was so wonderful, I was so and tired from the painkillers and we would draw me baths and changes my bandages for me without any hesitation. We got married on the beach two days later. Then, yesterday, I began to have the pain come back and began to cry. My husband called his Staff Sergeant and took me to the Emergency room at the Navl hospital where we live, and we waited there for lamost two hours because their ER is absoulutely horrible. Finally I called my regualr doctor at the Naval Hospital, but she was out for two weeks, so I was referred to Lietenant Junior Gearhart, and we left the emergency room and went right up to his office. He was wonderful, he checked it out and told me he would prescribe a painkiller for me and set me up with surgery to have it removed, so I am waiting to hear back from the Naval Hospital at this minute. But to anyone and everyone who has had a pilonidal cyst, I understand what you have gone through. They are incredibly painful! I reccommend taking a hot bath to ease the pressure, and also a heating pad to just rest right on top of it. It doesn't take the all of the pain away, but it does help. And get it removed or lanced immediately, don't wait for it to come back like I did! Good luck to you all!

Date: February 25, 2006

Story

HI all, i am a 25 yo female and I got my PD around age 20. At first i thought it was a bruised tail bone, but I could not remember falling on it... so I ignored it... at the time I had a desk job, so it was quite hard staying off my rear.. the pain became excruciating, but I just went on and beared it. one day I went to work wearing light khakis and off course when I sat down in my chair i felt a sharp pain and wetness.... I went home and went to the ER. AFter waiting for HOURS while bleeding, I finally got called back. The doc looked at it, told me very little and said that he would have to lance it. Fine whatever, i thought, whatever it takes to get it to go away. So him and the nurse come back and ask me to lay on my stomach. He then proceeds to jab the very tender area with a syringe of lidocaine. But, that does nothing for the pain. So, then he begins to incise the cyst, and I start screaming, mind you, i am very pain tolerant, i have been walking around on a broken ankle for 6 months..... The nurse is holding me down and I am crying. It hurt so bad I pulled a part of the table off. Meanwhile there was that smell. And the first time you smell it, you just want to puke. I feel warmth running over my buttocks, which was the drainage. He packs it, hands me a prescription for a few days worth of Percocets, tells me I got the cyst because I smoke, and sends me on my way with instructions to go to the Health Dept to have the wound redressed.

I spend the next couple of days on my stomach whimpering in pain. So, a few days later I go to the HD and wait for hours to see the NP, she says that she cannot do it there, and sends me back to the ER. Basically, if it weren't for my mom knowing a nurse, I would have had the old packing in until it fell out or grew in. The PD still gives me tons of trouble, it flares up here and there to painful and smelly exacerbations. Especially during my monthlies. I think that the ER doc treated me badly due to the fact that I had no insurance. First of all, I am now a nurse, I WOULD NEVER allow a pt to go through what I went through. You always medicate prior to packings, I & D's , and anything that will be painful. As a nurse you NEVER hold a pt down-that's plain inethical. I am utterly disgusted with the care I got and if I ever see the MD in my professional travels, i will let him know that he is just horrible. But I am in the middle of a flare up now and waiting for my new health insurance to kick in, and then I will hopefully get this treated once and for all!!

Date: February 24, 2006

Story

I had just turned 14 years old when I got my Pilonidal. It came up so fast along with pain that no one should ever have to go through. It was terrible. I couldn't sleep and could hardly even walk. I had surgery about two weeks after it came up. I couldn't handle the pain. After I had the surgery all the pain I was suffering through was completely relieved. I was left with a cavity about 3 inches deep and 2 inches wide. It took about two months for the cavity to completely heal. I am so thankful for the amazing excellence of the doctor that performed surgery on me. He did an excellent job. This is a disease that nobody should ever have to suffer through. I am 18 now and have had an amazing recovery. I hope that if you are suffering from this disease you go and seek help from your doctor soon.

Date: February 24, 2006

Story

KiRsH 10 pm, the night before surgery, kinda nervous, just can't wait till this is all over.... i will try and keep everyone updated on what happens KiRsH

Date: February 23, 2006

Story

I'm a 35 year old canadian (originally from Malaysia though) and developed my pilonidal at age 17. I was scared of surgery so lived with it for 18 years. At first it would flare up every year or so, heavy anitbiotics cured it temporary but I was determined that I didn't need surgery. It went away for a long while (about 6 years) but I always knew it was there. I guess I was living with a very slight pain. For example, I knew I couldn't do any sit ups! Unfotunately at the worst time that it could possibly hit me (when I started my own business and worked alone most of the time) it came back and came back to stay. What triggered it though was I went to the bathroom for number 2 and forced myself to go really fast and hard as I left my business unattended to run to the bathroom and then after I finished doing my business, I saw a drop of blood drop but didn't know where it came from.

Well less than 24 hours later I could feel it flaring up. I didn't think anything of it so didn't go to the doctor for 3 days. By that time there was no turning back. The first doctor I saw was at a walk in clinic and he gave me some antibiotics and then something for the pain (Tylenol 3). I took it for 2-3 days thinking it would work. Not. I couldn't sleep properly as I couldn't move much as the pain was too great. I took 30 Tylenol #3's in about 3-4 days. I took 2 tablets every 2-3 hours. When I got down to my last 2 pills I knew I had to get some more otherwise I wouldn't be able to walk. The pain would be too great and I'm not a sissy. I'm not overeggagerating either, it was really bad. My sister who's a nurse said I should get myself to my doctor. When he saw it, he made arrangements for a specialist to see me that day. The specialist was a colon/rectum specialist and hadn't seen anything like it before. He almost had a heart attack. He lanced it then said he wanted to see me the next day.

When I went back he lanced it again (he didn't do a good job the first time I could still feel some pain) but the pain was relieved after the first lancing as I didn't need the painkillers anymore which was nice. Anyways with the medical system being the way it was I had to wait a month and a half to see another specialist (the one who would preform the actual surgery) then the surgery was a few weeks later. I had to wait about 3 months between the lancing and the surgery but that was ok. The pain was still there alittle though. Whilst waiting the 3 months the pilonidal made it known that it was NOT going anywhere and I needed the surgery. There was no hope in healing this one. The surgery went extremely well, I couldn't have asked for a better surgeon. He was so unbelievably great. Under general anaesthetic he went in, scraped out all the lining of the pilonidal cyst and I was left with a really big cavity. It was 3 inches across, 6 inches in length and 3 inches deep! Probably one of the largest cavitys anybody could have they tell me. This I accredit to my 18 years of delaying this surgery :( I didn't realize the trouble I would get into thereafter with all the aftercare of this pilonidal.

It was extremely extremely hard to live after the surgery. The medical system (homecare) was suppose to come once a day and take care of the cleaning etc but they wanted me to go to their clinic! I couldn't bend to even get into a car so forget that. So my sister (the nurse) came over twice a day to clean, pack etc. and help me. It worked. After about a month she came over once a day then after 2 months my boyfriend took over and did it. My surgery was August 14 and I healed Nov 15. It took that long for it to seal up. Anyways my advice to everyone who has one of these is don't be scared to get it operated on. The sooner the better otherwise it will come back and come back bigger and bigger the more you delay. Secondly find the right surgeon. Someone who will get all the lining of the cyst out, otherwise you may need to redo the surgery so do it right the first time. The healing process is too great to risk the time. Good luck with this, it's a challenge but you can get through it, don't be scared just be prepared and informed and you'll be just fine.

Date: February 22, 2006

Story

I just want to thank this website and all of the stories posted on it. I'm a 20 year old male and for several years i've had a little tiny cyst on my backside. It never bothered me, it never was an issue. Unitl this past November when it got extremely swollen. It had to be drained. The treatment center told me I had anal fistuals. THEY WERE WRONG. Thanks to this webiste I've learned about my condition and now know I have pilonidal disease. I'm getting it looked at and hopefully will get properley taken care of. Thank you, SJR

Date: February 21, 2006

Story

G'day. I wish I had of stumbled onto a site like this about 6 years ago when I went through similar experiences to your own. (I'm not entirely sure why I'm reminiscing about this rather unpleasant time in my life but felt obliged to add my experience). Like a lot of you I first became concerned when this pimple on my backside didn't seem to heal up. My GP explained very clearly what the problem was and what was involved to rectify it. Being a 21 year old uni student and competitive sportsman at the time, the prospect of an open wound and months of healing wasn't that appealing. However, upon consultation with the surgeon we decided surgery was probably the best option.

So in the Christmas Holidays 2000 I went under the knife and hade a golfball sized portion of tissue removed. The surgeon upon closer inspection told me he thought the group of short hairs that broke the skin and casued the sinus was probably due to hair from a haircut so showering and washing the area post-haircut is something I have maintained in order to prevent reoccurrence. I was probably fortunate that I didn't experience any pain post surgery whilst in hospital or over the proceeding weeks. Healing took 3 months and involved a daily sea salt bath followed by packing of the wound by the lovely community nurses who visited me every day. I was given the all clear by the surgeon and went back to uni happy that the experience was all behind me (pardon the pun)............Unfortunately 1 or 2 months later while sitting at the pub of all places I felt a massive discharge of fluid from the healed area and knew pretty much straight away what was going on. I saw the uni GP the next day and explained to him what had gone on during the 4 months or so prior and in the hope of good news told him "I don't care what it is just tell me it's not a reoccurrence". He just nodded his head! I consulted a different surgeon who used a different technique (I'm sorry but I'm not sure the name of the procedure) but it involved far less healing and didn't require removal of surrounding tissue. No problems 6 years later although my old man still thinks its pretty funny to call me "2 arses!". All the best

Date: February 19, 2006

Story

sunday 19th feb 06 UPDATE FROM THE 1TH FEB well still seeing the nurses everyday to get my dressings changed and its healing well now hopefully will all heal up in about a week xx sheila

Date: February 19, 2006

Story

I originally posted back on January 6th, the day of my surgery. Six weeks later, my wound is healed shut. I had an open wound and cleaned it out and re-packed it 3x per day for the first month. For the last two weeks, I've been doing it 2x per day. It started out about 1.5-1.75" long and 1" wide and about 1-1.25" deep. The worst pain I experienced was when the surgeon put silver nitrate in the wound 10 days post-op, but besides that there really wasn't too much pain. I've got plenty of my Vicodin prescription leftover, that's for sure. I went back to work 12 days after surgery and resumed weightlifting 24 days after surgery. Right now, my wound isn't completely healed over, but it is healed shut. I basically just have to keep covering it with gauze until it finally scars over the top layer of skin.

Date: February 19, 2006

Story

21 y.o. male from west Texas here. I just had my excision yesterday morning, February 17th 2006. Today I finally got back home from the hospital. They kept me overnight for observation, as I had general anestesia (for which I'm very grateful). Today, I saw the wound for the first time. It really did freak me a bit, as the sinus I had was rather large thus the excision opening is large. I wasn't nervous at all before the surgery, just rolling my eyes a lot. They gave me the anestetic and the next thing I know the surgery's over. I haven't had any pain at all from the operation, only a bit of soreness, as if from a bruise. What was an ugly feeling was the soreness in my throat from the tracheal tube, but that went away after a few hours. Last night, in the hospital, I slept on my back with only a little discomfort. Tonight I'll pepbably sleep on my stomach, as I think I should (my c/r surgeon never talked to ma about that). My C/R doctor perscribed me Vicodin, but I haven't had any pain yet; I'm hoping that it lasts.

Date: February 18, 2006

Story

Hey everyone, I 'd like to share my story so that I might get some help or advice. It will be 2 years in April since I discovered I had a cyst and then had surgery to remove it. I had a long recovery from a closed surgery. Well, it was closed for the first few weeks then it opended to which my surgeon said we'll leave it open to heal. It took at least a year before it completely healed, with many appointments to my surgeon (whom I lsot faith in), wound care doctors, plstic surgeons and finally a colon rectal surgeon (whom i had the best success. Well, for the last 6 months at least I have been going through a bad pattern. My doctor tells me I am healed only for me to discover a few weeks the wound has reopened. I got back for treatment. Same pattern, few weeks to heal, I am declared healed, few weeks later it reopens. I am beyond frustated with this. I have gone through being depressed about it, to trying my best to forget it is there. If anyone has had a similar situation, please let me know. I am now again going back to the doctor b/c it has reopened (very small opening). I want my life back. Feel free to email my at rockets76tx@yahoo.com, if you have any advice. Thanks.

Date: February 18, 2006

Story

i am a 21 year old female who has undergone surgery 7 times over the past 5 years & i have recently been diagnosed with 3 further pilonidal sinuses which the surgeon wants to remove and the recovery time will be 6-8 months. Im extremely afraid as previous surgery to remove sinuses has simply resulted in the growth of even more sinuses. this condition has almost taken over my life as on may 1st 2005 i had an abcess lanced and the wound STILL has not healed, i am still dressing the wound 9 months later. basically i wanted to say i really like this site as it has made me feel like im not alone. Thanks

Date: February 18, 2006

Story

I am a 25 year old female who is in the recovery process after having my cyst excised. My first occurence was in the 8th grade. Like many of you, I noticed my tail bone hurt when I sat down and later developed into a grape sized cyst that was excruciating. Sitting, standing, moving...I couldn't do anything without crying. My doctor lanced it and within a few days I felt much better. I have had 3 more occurences since then and each time had the cyst lanced and went on antiobiotics. This last time (Right before Christmas) my doctor highly encouraged me to have the excision surgery. I checked into the hospital, went under anesthesia and had the operation. We live overseas so the language barriers live me questioning exactly how successful the surgery was. I was stitched up and sent home...to come back daily to have it cleaned. When they removed the stitches all was well for a few days...when I went back in the incision had gone from about an inch long to about 2 1/2 inches long. The doctor said this was about 50% normal and would just take longer to heal. The next doctor who did the cleaning didn't speak English so I'm unclea on what all was actually discussed. Once we return to the states I'll go back to the doctor and have everything explained to me. At this point I'm on the fence on whether or not I would recommend the excision. I had learned to avoid (somewhat...since I did have recurrences) cysts by limiting the amount of time I spent sitting...and lancing was no where near as bad as this recovery has been. I still can't sit comfortably and worry that sitting is what made the wound open up more...but like I said with the language barrier it's hard to know what I should or shouldn't be doing to speed up the process. Anyone else have this happen??? please help!

Date: February 17, 2006

Story

I am a 42yr old male who has gone through four surgeries with absolutely no success. I currently manage the levels of discomfort from no drainage, mild drainage to inflammation. My first cut happened in 1994 when I had an irritating small hole near my tailbone. Typical surgery ( general surgeon)but after 3 days I was not healing and went back in for cleanup work by the doc. Dealt with it for 1 year of being partially open. Next surgery was done by a plastic surgeon; again wound opened after 2 weeks. ( and I was diligent about NOT sitting and stayed on my stomach for one solid week.) This time the doc tried healing the wound from the inside with packing and silver nitrate burning of th ewound to let scar and granularity tissue build up. No success.

6 months later I went for a consult at another doc who said he could try but I may have more succes just managing the situation by keeping it clean and dry which was nearly impossible living in S. Florida. Surgery # 3 happened much later in 1999 with a board certified head of surgery in FL. NO SUCCESS. Surgery # 4 2002 in the Northeast at a prominent hospital and again no success. Fine for a few weeks this time but again the wound opened and I manage a small hole that my index finger would fit in. Much drier climate so infection is less but still drainage from time to time. every once in a while a flare-up of a small infection but after 12 years I'm so used to the pain that I don't even go in for antibiotics anymore. ( I was probably screwing up my immune system anyway) All the surgeries were primarily slice and dice with no special cuts such as the flap, z-plasty, etc.I was diligent about not moving during recovery but eventually you gotta get on with life. Last surgery was a painful 2 weeks on the stomach and no success. Be very careful about your surgeon, ask if they've performed this and what level of success they've had. I started with a small hole the size of a pinhead and now have this. Good luck in your decision on how to deal with your problem.

Date: February 17, 2006

Story

Hi All from Australia. I am writing as a 21 yr old female, I didn't know what on earth was wrong with me. I had been suffering pain in my lower back, not wanting to go and see the family doctor and have everyone laugh at me I let it go. I first started having these pains when I was about 17 yrs old, occassionally it would open a little and puss would come out but I was scared and embarrased and tried to go on with life as per normal. I met someone and moved interstate to be with him, I didn't feel like I could tell him about it either, I didn't want him looking at me differently, I thought it could be something to do with my back. While visiting his parents who live about 10 hours away, I was having trouble walking, didn't matter which way I laid in bed, I could not get comfy, it hurt my back every which way. I was in more and more pain every day ..... just took some pain killers and tried to fight it.

It was about a week after we got home from visiting them when I went to have a shower before going to bed and I could feel something was wrong, I put my hand around to feel it, only to see a whole lot of blood and puss. Being home alone and no car, I rang my partner and asked him to come home from work I had to go to the emergency room. We went straight away and I was taken into the ER and waited for about 8 hours and was then taken in for surgery. The doctors explained to me what was going to happen and that it wasn't a life threatening problem ....... all I could think of was that I wanted it over and done with. All the doctors and nurses kept telling me was "its often found in males between the ages of 13-50" .... thanks make me feel worse than what I already did. The following day I was allowed to go home and was told to go to my local doctor and get the dressing re-done everyday and that it should clear up in 6-8 weeks. 12 months down the track and it is FINALLY starting to look like it is all over and done with .... I still have to dress it everyday but hopefully that will all come to an end within the next couple of months. The pain I experienced I would not wish upon my worst enemy, it was that painful. I would also recommend to anyone that if you have any symptoms that are explained in many of these websites that you should visit your doctor asap, don't let it go on and on. Fingers crossed this is the end of it for me .... I have had enough.

Date: February 16, 2006

Story

Hi, My name is Lisa and I started with PD in 2000. Actually, I think it started before then, but this was the first time that it was painful enough for me to go to the doctor. I went to the doctor and she gave me some antibiotics to alleviate the infection and reduce the swelling before she could "help" me. After about 5 days of this, I was in more pain than ever. Couldn't sit, couldn't stand, couldn't anything. I went back to see her and then she sends me to the surgeon and he says it needs to be drained. He proceeds to take a scalpel to me and tell me to come back tomorrow to have the packing changed. This was the most painful experience ever!!! Nobody told me that they didn't give you painkillers to change the packing. Needless to say, I prayed to God that I never had to experience this again.

Well, it's now 2006, and I can now say.....no such luck!!! It hit me again in May '05. The one thing I can say is that it was not painful this time. It was just very uncomfortable and I did have drainage (sometimes bloody). This time, I went straight to the surgeon (a new one!!!) and explained that I had this 5 yrs prior and wanted to know what were my options for a full recovery. She told me that my best option (since I was a previous sufferer) was to have a complete excision w/an open wound. She explained the procedure and what my anesthesia options were. Her saying those words completely freaked me out. All I heard was "SURGERY", "OPEN WOUND"!!! I wanted no parts of it. She told me that this was my best shot to live a pilonidal-free life. I decided right then and there that if it HAD to be done, I wanted to be knocked the hell out.

So I sucked it up and went for it. July 5, 2006 - I arrive at the hospital and after having a truly incompetent nurse jam the thick IV needle into my arm, I am wheeled to the operating room. The anesthesiologist proceeds to inform me that he SUGGESTS a spinal block, as opposed to the general, because it has a "better" recovery process. I think he didn't want to spend the time to prep me and monitor me throughout the procedure. Anyhoo, I tell him that I will take the spinal but he has to drug me so I'm not aware of someone cutting my a** open. So he proceeds to have me take the fetal position and he inserts the needle in my back (at least, I think he did--I didn't feel a thing!!!). The next thing I know, I'm in LaLa Land. I drift in and out of consciousness. The next words I hear are, "All done. Off to recovery you go!!!" Now, I have heard stories about both forms of anesthesia, but I can truly say from experience that I would do the spinal again. The only drawback (for me) was that it did take several hrs (around 7) for me to regain feeling in my legs. And for anyone who has ever had a spinal, you know that they will not let you leave the hospital until you are able to stand unattended and most importantly, use the bathroom. To bring to a close a very long story, I had a pretty easy recovery. I had good days and some bad days. I was out of work for 5 very loooong wks (my job consists of me sitting for 8 hrs straight...not a good idea after surgery), and that drove me a little crazy. I am now 8 mnths out from surgery, and I feel good. I still get little twitches every now and then and feel a little discomfort if I sit for too long, but all in all, I'm happy that I did it. I will be even happier if I never have to go through it again!!!:))) I hope my story has helped somebody else who is going through this or who needs a different perspective on your options. Good luck to you all.

Date: February 16, 2006

Story

*Update* I Posted my "story" on February 5th. I had my surgery yesterday and I feel like a million bucks today! (except for that wad of gauze in my tooshy which I get to remove tommorrow!) Here is what the past day and a half has been like for me. I woke up and just for tourture I made my son and husband breakfest! Then drop my one year old off at the babysitter ( a little worried cause this is the longest I have been away from him since he was born plus he is breastfeed and I couldn't pump at all!) So at 9 am off to the hospital where I get there and wait for like two and a half hours then they have me take a shower to make extra sure I'm nice and clean (I'm not a dirty person I swear) then another hour later they come take me to start my IV. Two anesthesiologist, four "trys" and a husband that almost passed out later they finally got the IV going (usually it is one and they are in I have know idea what the deal was). Next thing I know they put some nice stuff in my IV and I kiss my man goodbye and I think I had a great dream I really don't remember.

Now I'm waking up punching a nurse. I didn't really feel any pain at all but since she was so nice she gave me demerol (I think it was becuase I punched her) then I feel nauseous and say hey lady I'm going to puke she gives me something that does nothing at all. Then they transfer me into a chair (what is this? hello?!? do you know where I just had surgery?!?) So I sit in their chair and go back to my room. Success! I puke and feel tons better then I eat my little snack and take a percocet and go potty and then let me go home! Yippee! It was about 5:30 now and I wanted to see my baby! All the while I thought man I thought this was suppose to hurt but it really isn't that bad. Before I went to bed I took another percocet just to be safe then I wake up this morning not really in any pain except when I bend over or just sit the wrong way. We decided since I'm not feeling bad I can go grocery shopping other then the car ride making me sick I feel fine not really in any pain. I don't know if it is because I have a "closed" wound or what but I have been doing great (other than the fact that I can't hold my son). I hope everyone has as good of luck with theirs as I have had. Oh and for anyone who is wondering for future references if you are under like gerneral anetheisa (don't just take my word ask around) but I was able to breastfeed my son as soon as I saw him. I didn't need to pump and dump or anything like that. He hasn't shown any signs or any problems with the anetheisa. I will update this as I finish my healing. Again thanks for this website I have made my whole family read it so they know what all I have been through! If anyone ever has any question or just wants to vent from a bad experience I'm here for ya at littlemansmama17@yahoo.com ~Sarah~

Date: February 14, 2006

Story

Hey there. I am 35 years old and was diagnosed with PD about a year ago. I had surgery in late September and my wound is completely healed now. I have documented my entire story (with pictures) on my website: http://www.brianmcdonald.net/pilonidal

Date: February 13, 2006

Story

I am so glad I had my surgury. Granted, it has only been 11 days, but I had my first follow up today and everything is going better than expected (but not perfect worldish)and well on its way to healing. Im 31, but my problems began 6 years ago on a camping trip. Suddenly there was a lot of pain about 2-3 inches from the midline. My girlfriends dad lanced it in the kitchen with some lidocaine, but did not realize that it was just making a second opening and that the real problem was cyst. Neither did my doctor, who did think the abscess should be removed, or the doctor after him who would not take out the abscess because it was infected! I went on antibiotics, but then shortly off of health insurance.

After that it was drain a little bit every 2-3 days out of either the abscess hole or at times the actul cyst along the midline. For years. Skip ahead. New insurance, new doc. Recognized it right away, so it was off to the surgeon. She decided to cut open the abscess leading off to the side, cut out the bad and stitch it closed (it was 2-3 inches long). She also made an 1.5-2 inch incision down the midline and an inch long ("pretty hairy", not that I am) cyst was cut out. The surgury was great, I was asleep, then awake with almost no pain. Lots of anesthetic in the wound! I only took one vidodin at the hospital and then ibuprophen (800 morning and 800mg at night) mostly to keep down the swelling. No antibiotics. I could sit down the next day (friday) and was back at work on Monday. The only time it really hurt was standing up. About 5 days in the I started to get a little more pain. I spread the "cheeks" apart to get a look in the mirror and the miline incision was about 0.5 inches open and drained right on the floor. The draining has continued, but today the Surgeon said that was some left over granular tissue. She removed the stitches today, then she swabbed the whole grape sized cavity with silver nitrate. Now that did not hurt right away, but as I was driving back to work it did. I really feel for all of the poor people who have to pack because it was easily the worse pain yet. However, I really feel like things are moving in the right direction and cant wait to get back to normal. Most of all, I am looking forward to seeing a long movie at the theater and not having to sit sideways to enjoy it or even sit comforably on the floor. I cant remember the last time I could do that. Lastly, if you are wondering, I got my surgury at Group Health in Downtown Seattle.

Date: February 13, 2006

Story

Hi my name is Andrea and i'm also glad that I found this site it has helped me out so much. I also if you all haven't guessed yet..have pilonidal disease. It all started when I fell 2 yrs ago skiing and broke my tailbone. every year after it would flare up and hurt about twice a year painful but not unbarring. Well starting in November 2005 a couple of days before thanksgiving it flared up and I had tremendous pain I couldn't sit, lay, or even walk. So, I went to the doctor and they put me on meds and sent me to a surgeon to have it removed. Well before I could get to see the surgeon, it had started to drain that night...very painful....when I got there he said that it needed to be drained before surgery and packed...that was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life but after he drained it, it was instant relief. The packing not fun at all, I had to have a friend come and pack it everyday because I could not see to do it. That lasted a month and I just had my surgery Feb 3rd. I had local anesthesia in the out patient setting. He removed it and did closed wound healing. I only had 3 stitches, and it didn't hurt at all. I just went today 2/13/2006 and had the stitches removed and he said everything looked good, and that it was a ruptured cyst. so we will see if this thing comes back, I really hope not I don't think I can handle pain like that again, but when you have this disease it can happen again. If you have any questions, or have any advise for me in the healing process please feel free to e-mail me at onix1980@aol.com. Good luck everyone.

Date: February 13, 2006

Story

My name is Jay. I've read several of the stories today about PD and see that all have some variations. So I thought I'd add mine to the list. First of all I had the surgery done twice when I was 18 years old. The first time it was closed then six months later had it done and left open to heal. Needless to say I didn't sit down much my senior year in high school. But now I'm 53 and had it done again on December 20, 2005. Almost 8 weeks later and I'm still home recovering. Two days after the surgery I was in ER with a temp of 103 so they admitted me to the hospital. They loaded me up with antibiotics to fight the fever but they had not idea what was causing it until I'd been in the hospital for 3 days. My surgery was done closed this time and the incision had started draining a lot one morning. The doctor showed up about that time and opened me back up while I was laying on the bed. He got me cleaned out then packed it. Ended up staying in the hospital for 10 days to get rid of the fever and infection. So now the wound is open and still healing. It is much smaller at almost 8 weeks later but will probably be another month before it's closed completly. My incision was rather large, cut from my rectum to the top of my crack. I hope to return to work in two weeks on limited duty. My employer would prefer me back at work at 100% so they have me on long term disability for now. At any rate I find the healing is much slower than it was when I was 18 years old. I put up with my PD for about two years this time before I finally had the surgery. For those of you who are wondering if you should have the surgery, eventually it will bother you enough that you will want to get it done, even though the healing process can be lenthy, it's worth it in the end. I'm just looking forward to being able to sit down again and getting back to work. Everyone have a good day.

Date: February 13, 2006

Story

feb 13th 06 hi my name is sheila glad i also found this site, well ive just been through surgery for the second time for the same thing Pilonidal Disease, i thought oh its only tiny so they wont have to cut mutch away..........WRONG i came round to find a had a scar of about 6/8in on my butt and painfull. im being looked after my my district nurses everyday as i have to have the hole packed and then dressed (by god it hurts to) not sure how long it will take to heal, this is as i said my second lot of surgery for the same thing BUT last time was in my groin area (that was bad) i had to have skin grafts ect and nurses for over 12mths

Date: February 11, 2006

Story

Hi glad i came across this site. I'm a 18 year old female and I found out that i had a piliondal cyst about 2 years ago. I couldn't stand the pain on my lower back side so i went to the doctor and he had me go to a surgeon and that week the surgeon scheduled my surgery to have it removed. I thought it was easy to have surgery to get it gone but when i found out that i had to change the dressings every day i hated it. My doctor had to cut it deep because it had grown down to almost the bone. It hurt so bad because you had to stuff the wound and replace them. I had the surgery in May 2004 and it took till Dec 2004 for it to heal. It does feel better to have it gone but now since i know it can come back i go everyday washing it and looking in the mirror to make sure it's not coming back. It also still hurts like when i sit in a different position or sit for a long time. It really does suck to have this disease because i don't go a day without worrying it's coming back and to live with it hurting there still it sucks but without having that surgery it would be a lot worse so i'm very happy i did that. If you have any syptoms at all go to a doctor the sooner it gets taken care of the better since mine grew really deep you don't wanna go through the pain of having it stuffed with dressings deep in the wound trust me.

Date: February 11, 2006

Story

OK, first off: if your doctor tells you you don't need surgery, he doesn't know shit. If your cyst is 'too small for an intervention', tell him to do it anyway, because it WILL keep growing. Now, I went to a doctor with a wallnut-size cyst and he told me 'a surgical intervention is easy, you can always have it', here's an antibiotic, blah blah. Surgery at that point would be performed under local anestethic, the recovery period wouldn't be more than a couple of days. Well, bottom line, I underwent surgery on my tennis-ball size cyst under spinal anestethic (injection in the spine that makes you not feel your legs, ass and everything else under the waist for about 6 hours) 5 days ago. This shit hurts, I have a huge gauze-stuffed hole on my ass, I can't sit properly and I have to dress it every day for the next 40-50 days. So when your doc tells you it's nothing, bitch-slap his ignorant ass and make him schedule an appointment with a surgeant for you.

Date: February 10, 2006

Story

Hi my name is Keenan. I just found out the reason for my lower back hurting. I'm sure you all know what it is, a pilonidal cyst. I'm not sure how long I have had this, but for the past two weeks I have been in the worst pain. It hurt to walk, sit; lay dow, whatever I did it just hurt. I finally went to the ER on Tues. Feb 7. The doctor told me it was probally PD, and I should see a surgeant right away. That night was also the first night I started having blood in my urine. I don't even know if this had something to do with my cyst or not. I was prescribed some pain medicine and antibiotics. The next day I saw the surgeant, who confirmed that it was pilonidal. I had it drained that day. I didn't think it would hurt so much. I have to pack it for another day or so, but I'm still in a lot of pain. I see the doctor next week. I hear everyone talking about having the surgery to remove it, but I'm in college and I have already missed a week of school. I'm really thinking about just getting the surgery over with, I can't take this pain any more. I don't want this to flare up again either. If any one can give me some advice on what I should do my email is patriotrocketk@yahoo.com. Any advice would help.

Date: February 10, 2006

Story

hi i thought i would add my story to this web page, im now 20 years of age and i started with this problem when i was 17years old. It started when i had been out one night and come home not drunk but on my way and i was very sore on my tailbone and had a lump. Everyone thought i fell over or banged myself but i didnt, a few days later i was very very sore, so i went to the A&E department and seen a doctor the doc said i had an infection and gave me some antibiotics, i started to take these and as im asthmatic i had a reaction to these and ended back in with an illergic reaction. they changed the tablets and i went home again. About 3 days later went on and it got to the stage were i couldnt walk without it being so painfull, i looked really ill and felt it to. I went back to the hospital and they was going to give me gas and air but i refused and when the doc came he refused to touch it and sent me in for emergancey operation. I went and had my first op and everything was going fine as they packed it and i had nurses coming out to me to dress it.

About 3 months went by i needed another op as it had got a bad infection then i went through the same packing once a day everyday,a few months later another op and then,I went on for another 3-4 months and needed another op but this time it was bad they went 5 1/2cms deep 4 1/2cms down my back and 2 1/2 across, this was very very pain full i had packing left in my back which nurses didnt notice for 1 full week and it was huge, by this time my wound began to rot inside. Each time i had antibiotics b4 an op was done but they took no affect. By this time my body begin to react with penacillin and im now illergic to it. This time it healed after having antibiotic after antibiotic to stop infections etc, then it started to leak fluid and smell really bad, i went to see my consultant and i had an ultra sound done but the could only see abit of fluid and i had to go under anisetic again for a needle to be put in to try and drain this fluid, When i came round they said they couldnt find any fluid and nothing else was done. Then i had another op after this as it reopened this one was not as big and was healing fine i had no probs with this one and it healed fine i was so so happy and it didnt bother me for about 3 months or so and the it started bleeding and pussin i went to my docs and they sent me into hospital again but this time i was in a diff town and had a totally new consultant and he did it.

Everything was going fine with this i was so pleased no infection no bleeding no nothing i got discarged from my new consuktant about 1 month being his paitant and then the day after he discharged me it reopend. Then it closed and reopend and every since then i have had problem after problem with it reopening and closing, bleeding and smelling bad. Everytime i go see my consultant i was under the first time it gets better cos i have to wait so long to see him, I was in hospital again with it about 1 week ago and i had a ultra sound done and they cant see and absese or fluid but its very very red sore and smells it was bleeding and fulid was and is leakin out of it still. I have beein on antibiotics again and again and i have reactions to so so many for being on them so many times now im going out of my mind with the pain, i had did and do everything they tell me to do each time so i dont no what is wrong with it. I have had this for 3 years and had 7 ops on this and still have probs with it now, i have to go see my consultant again next week and see what he wants to do i think he was on about surgary again :(

Date: February 10, 2006

Story

Hi my name is Nick. In 1993 i had a boil on my crack and did not know what it was. I had this nasty smelling liquid come out of it, went to see my doc who sent me to a surgeion and he removed it. Guess what the darn thing came back in 2002, this time they did the surgery under general anesthesia and opened up about 4 in by 3 in deep, cleaned it out and stuffed it with gauze and let it heal. It took 2 months of daily packing the wound and changing the dressing. My doctor was good that he let his nurse pack the wound since it is was so hard to reach, in his office for free. After 2 months of going to the doctors office everyday and letting it heal inside out, the cyst was gone. Now two years later it is back. I am thinking of taking some anitibiotics and try to drag it for a year or so before i go through surgery and another two weeks of hell.

Date: February 09, 2006

Story

To provide a positive healing story... I'm finished recovering from having one of these cysts removed. In total, 7 days of packing changes, after that a little less than a week of itching and discomfort. 100% better.

Date: February 09, 2006

Story

My name is Sandra I'm 26 yrs old and i just had surgery today, Feb 9, 2006. i lived with this pain for at least 3 years, i thought as everybody did that i fell and i had a bruise, but then after a week I experience extreme pain so I decided to go to the doctor and had surgery. my mother in law just took me to Walmart to buy a medical kit and some gauze so far I'm feeling ok, let's just wait until tomorrow.

Date: February 08, 2006

Story

I'm a 15 year old female, and I just got surgery on February 3rd. The whole experience happened so fast. I went to the doctor's on the 1st, saw the surgeon on the 2nd and had surgery on the 3rd. My cyst quadrupled in size in 2 days. I was in excruciating pain. I had an infection, so the surgeon wasn't able to remove it fully, but they did lance it and I'm going through open healing right now. It's quite an experience and I can't wait for it to be all over. I was nervous about the surgery, but now that it is over I'm so glad I went through with it.

Date: February 08, 2006

Story

UPDATE!! <b> Hey everyone! It's Lauren again. I posted here back in January right after I had my surgery. I just wanted to let everyone know that I saw the doctor last week and he said that everything healed up perfectly and I don't have to worry about having anymore surgery. <b> Let me just tell you, I feel SO GREAT right now! I feel the way I felt before I had PD. It is an amazing feeling. The only time it still hurts is if I'm in class and slouching in my chair. If I correct my posture, everything's good. <b> I just want to tell everyone that if you are nervous about the surgery, dont worry about it, we've all been there. It is such a relief to have it done... please if you are considering it, do it. You will feel so amazing and relieved afterwards. <b> If anyone wants to contact me with questions or anything, my email again is blondie419lx@yahoo.com. I hope I'm able to help anyone who needs support. GOOD LUCK to everyone about to have surgery or in recovery. You guys are awesome!!

Date: February 07, 2006

Story

Hi, I am 19 year old college student. I was recently sick, and spent about a week and a half in bed. I guess there must have been some type of irritation, and a few days ago I started getting extreme discomfort on my tailbone. It quadrupled in size in the next two days and got to the point where I could barely move. The doctor said it was a pilonidal cyst and today I had it lascerated (which was extremely unpleasant). Turns out my grandfather and uncle both had the same exact condition. Judging by these stories, I am assuming I will need surgery. I have it dressed now, but was told to take it out tomorrow and not re-dress it... is that odd? Anyway, I am extremely nervous about the possibility of surgery. I am supposed to be going on spring break next month, and I want to resume my normal life again (partying, sports, etc). Anyone who can either offer me any advice, or encouraging (or truthful) words would be much appreciated. My email is brmharri@indiana.edu.

Date: February 07, 2006

Story

Hey everyone. Im a 25 year old male. I have had this problem for some time now. The first time i really noticed it was when i was in high school. I was playing b-ball and fell on the floor "butt-bone" first. I thought i had just brused my butt-bone like the old folks say. After waitng a few weeks the pain went away but i could feel a lump right were the pain was located at. A few years went by and i got married. I lived in Martin TN at the time and my wife lived in NC. I noticed the pain comming back between trips to and from TN. I took medication i got from a quak doctor who told me it was just a bruse from sitting so long. Finally last year it came back again. I went to the doctor this time "different doctor" and he pressed on the spot so hard i was in tears and sweeting bullets. He told me later that was the only way he could tell if it was a cyst or something else. He put me on anti-biotics and told me not to sit down for long periods of time and not to drive just lay around the house. I called work and told the hr rep. She informed me that if i didnt go to work and fill out FMLA paperwork i would be terminated.

So against doctors orders i drove to work in very much pain and filled out the paper work. That noght the pain got worse and i developed a fever of 102. I took some fever reducing tablets and went to bed. When i woke up the next morning the fever was backl and the pain was unbearable. I called the doctor back and he told me to get to his office as fast as possible. When i got there they lanced the cyst. Through all that pain there was a feeling of relief. I guess all the pressure that built up being let out was the relief but then there was the cutting and the massing. I was told that there was a 70% chance of total recovery with no chance of it comming back. Here i sit almost 1 year exactly from them cutting me and its back. They gave me ceplexan this time and it appears to be helping alittle. Im just nervous because next week i am going to an out of town conference and ive got the cyst. I only hope and pray that i make it through next week before going back to the doctor.

Date: February 07, 2006

Story

Greetings. I'm having a hard time over here trying to figure out if I really have PD or not. My cousins, my aunt, and my grandfather all had it to some degree, but their cysts, like mine, weren't relegated to just the buttocks. My cysts do end up in the normal area for PD but it from this website it says that it is rare but it does show up on the breasts, underarms, genital areas, and legs. Myself and my cousins have had cysts in all these locations. As a matter of fact a doctor where my one cousin lives wants to take a blood sample of me to see if there is some weird genetic link. My other cousin had a surgery to remove some glands and his cysts disappeared. My other cousin had surgery where it looked like she was flayed alive. They all said it was a form of PD, but not a well known one. I'm getting ready to be sent their medical records so I can show them to my dermatologist so I can get a better understanding of what is going on. All I know for now, is that I am practically covered with cysts and I'm in constant pain. Has anyone out there had a similar problem? If so, please email me at GothicFaerie55@aol.com.

Date: February 05, 2006

Story

I'm a 20 year-old female who has been living with Pilonidal Disease for about four years now and I'm finally getting surgery on February 15th! So lets start from the beginning. My senior year of high (2003) my tailbone began to hurt so natuarlly I thought that I had just bruised it. As the week progressed it became harder and harder to sit down and even lay down. So my mother took me to the doctor who diagnosed me with a fissure. Later that night at home the pain got so bad all I could do was lie on the couch. I put a heating pad on my booty thinking hey it works for cramps it may work for this. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (half asleep I didn't even notice any pain) and as I was wiping I saw this blood that shouldn't have been their so I go into my parents room and get my mother and she says lets go the the ER. So we load up in the car (I'm lieing in the backseat to scared to sit up who knows what else my come out of me). Then being slow as the ER in my town is we wait for about 2 hours me in pain and bleeding. Finally they get me back in there and I get the dumb doctor who doesn't know anything and he just starts squeezing away me screaming he finally gives me some morphine which makes me sick and then pass out.

Afterwards I am told it was roughly the size of a grapefruit. The sill never gave it a name. So i think I just have a boil. I am much to embarrassed to tell anyone that I had a boil on my booty (boils are for old farts and unclean people). With it all behind me I move on with my life and put it in the past since the great ER doctor told me it would never come back. I go off the basic training and the to AIT (where I met my perfect husband). All the while not even thinking of my nice scar I have from my "boil". Then in 2005 I'm nine months pregnant my tailbone starts to get sore. So I go about my business barely able to walk cause my booty hurts and will I'm a petite person with a big ole belly. After about three days of limping around I finally convince myself the that "boil" must me back so I have my husband take me to the ER. We get in there and finally hallelujah I hear the words Pilonidal Cyst. They lance it and drain it and tell me after I have my baby to have it removed.

So a month later I have my baby (a handsom boy if I may add) and after about six months I have some soreness on my tailbone so I get to the doctor and she pokes at my lump on my tailbone and says "hmm I don't feel anything". Can you believe this lady? I'm telling her it hurst and it is a pilonidal cyst and it needs to be removed and she just sends me home with nothing! Which bring us to a week ago I'm getting that sore lump on my tailbone so I make an appointment with the doctor and she refers me to a surgeon (it is about time lady!) and gives me some amoxacillen to take in the mean time. Two days after that I see the surgeon and he says "Oh a Pilonidal Cyst these are common you have four sinuses that I see that we need to remove you will have surgery on the the fiftenth". I'm thinking oh dear god! So my delimea right now is my son is 11 1/2 months old and breastfeed (he does take solids) and I don't know if I will be able to feed him with all the anesthesia. If anyone has any information that would be greatly appreaciated! Email me at littlemansmama17@yahoo.com As far as the surgery I will keep you all updated! And Thank you so much for this site it is the best things in the world!

Date: February 05, 2006

Story

Just thought i'd share my story, i'm 20 and had my operation on the 10th December last year which makes it almost 2 months...and i'm STILL not healed!! i'm still off work and feeling like all my friends are fed up of me being ill, i'm fed up of it myself, some days I can hardly walk and my wound is still being dressed everyday. Don't think that this will happen to everybody, i've been told that it is very rare for it to take this long.

Date: February 05, 2006

Story

My wife let me on to this webpage this morning, since after 2 1/2 years of fustrating times, i have started to look for ways to HEAL. I have had three surgeries now, since my previous cyst either grew back or was never cut out completely. I have a scar that runs the length of my crack, but really who cares, that isn't the prettiest part of my body anyway. My last surgeon actually tried to "pretty it up" by moving one of my cheeks over to help give me a normal crack. It seems to be healing ok, but it is a slow process. I don't know how many doctor offices i have made in the last 2 years as follow up appointments, But(t) hopefully they have cut it all out. For those who are going thru this, the surgery isn't all that bad, just make sure you do it when you can lay around for at least a week. Mine was pretty bad, i think the longer you wait the worst it gets. so try to do something about it. whether surgery or other routes, deal with it now. of course i was shy about my first visit, i mean really bending over so your doctor can examine your crack is an exciting way to spend 15 minutes.(NOT) but it is better than standing up off the bench press bench and noticing a larger amount of fluid, that just drained out of your extra hole.

Date: February 04, 2006

Story

Well...I am 20yrs old. I was diagnosed with a pilonidal cyst roughly over a year ago and doctor said "you are an active person and you've had no problems DO NOT do the surgery, it's open and very painful" My surgery is on Thursday:) Around Thanksgiving i noticed a dimple above my crack, and it broke the skin and discharged blood. The doctor sent me to a dermatologist would told me it was a Pilonidal Cyst, and it needs to me taken out. Well my surgeon was a little unsure if I should go through with the surgery or not, but he did start performing laser hair removals. I've had two session and have just about no hair left. During my last visit he looked at my open wound and said its time to do it. I have no clue how big it is, how deep anything. I thank this site for provifing me the information, and I now know the proper course of action for my healing after the surgery. If anyone had there cyst "tunnel" or has any other information, please feel free to email me, I am frankly a little scared about the whole opertion process. bacardi_00785@hotmail.com

Date: February 04, 2006

Story

I am 26 years old and had a pilonidal cyst removed off my tailbone two weeks ago. I was first diagnosed with it during the time I was a mormon missionary. (common due to bike riding) They drained the cyst in the doctors office and I was out and about 2 days later. I returned about 2 months ago, and only drained small amounts. I can sympathise witha lot of you and say yes it is embarassing to go see a doctor about it, but will say that the sooner you catch it the better it will be for you. I had to wait a week for surgery so it got a little bigger but the surgery was short. (only about 1 hour to completely excise it) I was told it was about the size of a walnut. I still have to sit on a donut or some other padding but am relatively pain free. If you think you may have this don't wait. Go see a doctor! The longer you wait the worse it can get.

Date: February 04, 2006

Story

hi im 25 year old male an i just had a surgery done on my sinus,i was living with it 4 years not wanting to go to doctor or look 4 any help or even telling someone about it it was relly emberesment 4 me plus im extremely shy guy so anyway now im left with a huge hole on top of my crack its about 2.5" deep 3 " whide and about 3.5" long and im wondering if anyone had a big wound like this after the surgery and how long did it take to heal and how bad of a scare was left after it if anyone would know pls e-mail me at fury_lf@msn.com thanks 4 reading

Date: February 03, 2006

Story

Let me start off by saying, I'm glad I found this site. It has made me finally realize what I believe I might have to be a Pilonidal Cysts or abcess. First of all it started when I was 17, now I'm 36. I had a painful bump on my tailbone and one day my sister accidentally kicked me there and it popped open. It releaved the pressure and a few days later it was fine. Now at 36, I banged my tailbone at work 2 weeks ago and it seems that made it come back again.It is draining right on the top of my(how should I say it)I guess crack of my arsh. It started out as a clear fluid, now it has traces of what appears to be blood, and has an odor that smells like rotting flesh and is very painful. From the stories I've been reading here it sounds to me to be a Pilonidal Cysts. If anyone can help me determine what to do, or if anyone has or had the same symptoms and didn't go get it taken care of, How worse will this get for me? I don't have health insurance. Anyone that can help me, Please e-mail me chef52@yahoo.com Thank You, Brian

Date: February 03, 2006

Story

I'm a 24 year old female, and I discovered I had pilonidal disease when I had my first flair as a freshman in high-school. At first it started as a tender spot right on the top of my crack that hurt when I would sit or move around very much. Because I didn't know what it was, I just ignored it. I thought that it was nothing that it would eventually go away on its own. It wasn't until it swelled up to the size of a grapefruit and I couldn't walk that I finally went to the doctor about it. I ended up having it lanced and then later had a total of 4 major opperations to have it removed. The first 3 procedures were preformed by a local surgeon who ended up not really knowing much about my condition. It wasn't until I had to have my 4th opperation that I was able to find someone who actually knew how to treat it. For nearly six years I have lived with occasional flair ups that usually last a couple of days. One of the most important things to do is find a doctor who is familiar with this disease and knows what needs to be done.

Date: February 02, 2006

Story

I'm wondering if anyone on here has had the surgery and had it come back after that, because i have and feel like i am the only one! I am a 25 yr old female and my first flare up occured my freshman year in college, i was 19. Since then i have been to two different surgeons i've had the abcess taken off in the office, under local anesthesia 2-3 times, then finally went to a different surgeon who did the surgery. My surgery went fine, it wasn't near as bad as i thought it would be. I recommend having someone though to help you out, my mom took care of me which helped so much because it is very hard to get around for at least a week. I even had a drain! After that i was fine, until about 6 months later i got another one, in a different spot. I would get them occasionally but they weren't near as bad as they were before the surgery, they would flare up and be sore for a day to 3 days then drain and be fine. this went on about every 3 months or so. Until last month, in December i had the worst one yet it was right on my tail bone (previously the one i had surgery on was right above the top of my crack) i couldn't walk or move this one was so painful i called my surgeon and he took it off in his office that day. It hurt like hell, but it's back again! and i am so frustrated i am just at my wits end it brings me to tears to think about it it is the most frustrating thing to have. i know this isn't the worst medical condition to have and i thank god i dont have cancer or something deadly, but i feel I've exhausted all my resources and dont know where to go from here! From reading below i think i am going to visit a colon and rectal surgeon. but anyone who has had a similar situation or can help with any suggestions please feel free to email, would love to hear from someone who can relate!! Lorab33@aol.com

Date: February 01, 2006

Story

I am a 21yr old male in the US Navy. I have had what first was a lump right above my butt crack for the past year. For a very long time it was painful to any kind of pressure and would daily produce puss and it'd leak that. I have had two minor surgeries done on it , not by any surgeon but by navy corpsmen in the hopes it will just stay gone. So after those two and its return my ship doctor finally decided i should go to the hospital and get it removed. I had my surgery on the 31st of January, it took 20 minutes and I'm now left w/ a 1 1/4 inch vertical slit and .5inch horizontal one. Today is my second day w/ it and I'm not interested in changing the packing out myself, it's painful. So far everything has gone well though.

Date: February 01, 2006

Story

I am a 21 year old male and have had this disease for two years. I just had a small surgery procedure done, and a month later the cyst is back and worst than ever. I will soon have to have a cleft lift done and i am very unhappy with what my body is doing to me. This has been a huge blow to my self confidence and the way i used to live my life before. I hope that the next surgery will be a success. I would like to hear from people who have had the clift lift done and maybe i could see after pictures as well. I am very curious to see what my bottom will look like after the procedure.

Date: January 31, 2006

Story

These things hurt to have removed, however, it's better when they're gone. Some history of my experience: I am 28 and in the US Navy. Since sometime in high school there was some unknown lump off to the side of where my tailbone is... and had basically paid no mind to this all that time since it appeared shortly after an accident that broke or somehow distorted my tailbone. I had assumed it was a bone chunk or something. Somewhere in 2000 it flared up and started swelling, eventually forming a sinus when enough blood had built up to break through the skin. Within several days it was back to its normal lump. As a struggling college student, I opted to ignore it rather than spend the money on healthcare.

Fast forward again to late 2005, where the area around the sinus was getting noticably darker and it was itching frequently. This is about the time I started to wonder if the "tailbone piece" that I thought I had stuck in my butt cheek was trying to come out. Several days ago (friday) this thing started swelling very rapidly, and it built up enough pressure that sitting down caused it to burst, and it drained all weekend. This convinced me that I had a serious problem. Sunday night I found this site and knew I had a problem. Monday morning I went to my doctor (a Navy doctor), who identified it as a Pilonidal Cyst in a matter of minutes. The rapid approach of Navy medicine: It honestly took longer to wait in line to see the doctor than it did to have the cyst excised. From the time the doctor left the room to go grab an assistant and surgical tools to when I was getting dressed afterward was about 15 minutes. Having read some of the other stories posted here I was expecting to have to go to an operating room. Mine was excised in a typical examining room with very little fanfare. I can't say that it didn't hurt a lot, as only a local anestetic (Lidocane) was used, and it doesn't do well in acidic areas like a cyst. It did hurt a lot (the doctor promised me several minutes of "excruciating pain", but the pain of the excision was actually less than when it had popped by itself), but the speed of the whole process I think made it worth it. Like I said, after 15 minutes in the examination room I was walking out of the building with a bag of Motrin (800mg) and gauze packing in my butt cheek.

Recovery: I ended up with a wound about 3/4 inches long by 1.5 inches deep, which gets repacked every morning. The first few hours after the excision I felt fine (thanks to Motrin), but that afternoon, even with Motrin, it was pretty painful (felt like a stab wound). I'm finishing day 2 now and I haven't taken a Motrin in about 8 hours. I can feel the gauze-stuffed incision but it isn't all that painful, just uncomfortable. I'm expecting the first hour or two of each day to be the worst, just because stitches or surgery always feels horrible if the body hasn't moved recently... and getting packing shoved in with a long swab doesn't really feel good either. The doctor expects packing for about a week, and two weeks for full recovery. I'll post a follow up if anything changes.

Date: January 29, 2006

Story

Hiya, i'm an eleven year old boy and I had a very irritating pilonidal cyst. At first, I developed a boil which hurt very bad right at my tailbone. It was a minor problem at the time. I was in Pennsylvania at the time, though I live in New Jersey. When I came back, I went to a docter and he gave me some medications and a cream. It subsided in two days. Two months later, I had a throbbing pain in my rear end and realized it was the boil again. I went to the docter again and got the medications and antibiotics and neosporin, but this time it didn't work. After about one or two weeks, I saw my docter again and he said it was a pilonidal cyst that was highly enflamed. The pain was so bad, even with painkillers, that I went to the emergency room to get it lanced off. The emergency surgeon said that the emergency room wasn't the place to get rid of something like this, but tried nevertheless. He was pushing his weight on the knife, but couldn't get to the roots of the cyst. He said the roots would be sort of a clump. I had a hole in my rear end, which was covered by a pad.

I got better and better, but I still had to go to a real surgeon to get the pilonidal abcess fully removed from my body. At first, when I was in the hospital getting ready in my little room for the surgery, the anesthesia department of the hospital gave me this liquid informally called "silly syrup" and I felt irritatingly happy inside. It really was like a smile was numbed onto my face. Then, I was carted to the room where the surgery took place. The surgeons put a mask on me and transfered "laughing gas" into my mouth for me to breathe in. I actually started laughing. Then, I looked at the surgeon. Since he was wearing blue, he looked like a blue blob. Then, I sort od seized up, and then everything blacked out. After that, a second later, as it seemed to me, I woke up in the recovery room odf the hospital. I learned that they took out much of my flesh and stiched the gap in my rear up. Even today, which is four days from my surgery, I am recovering. I hope I will Be better soon!

Date: January 28, 2006

Story

Few years ago I used get this pain in the natal cleft area that would go away after a while. Once it didnt, so I went to see a surgeon who explained that it was pilonidal sinus and that I shouldnt worry as it would disappear in few days. I was meant to go on a business trip in a day and the doctor reassured me that I could still go. On my trip to France, the pain was getting worse, the area swelled up so much that I could hardly walk or lie in bed because of the enormous pain. Eventually I got this smelly fluid coming out so I decided to go to the local ER although it was mostly inconvenient as I was on the business trip.Luckily I could speak French well but still it is very stressful, especially with my whole family in another part of Europe.

After four hours of waiting the doctor checked me and explained I need to have an operation immediately as it was a bad case of pilonidal abcess with risk of infection spreading. So the following day I had the surgery done with anaesthetic injected into the spine - I was so scared my legs wouldnt come to life again afterwards but in a way it was quite cool to be able to chat with the operating staff. I stayed in the hospital on drip for few more days before flying back home and I actually had no idea what exactly they have done to me until I went for dressing to hospital back home. The doctor was in shock how massive "hole" they have carved in and they left it open for the tissue to regrow. It took like two months for the tissue to grow back, I spent the first month just lying in bed on my stomach (and half of the time crying with pain - they had to prescribe me analgetics almost as strong as morphine) while my mum had to do change the dressings (very traumatic for her too as she is not used to see open wounds several times a day). I was lucky that my insurance company paid for it although they were reluctant at first as I went abroad with the problem. Luckily the first doctor wrote in my file that it was ok for me to go which means it wasnt my fault as I respected her advice. Nevertheless I was seriously upset cos if she wouldnt let me go and suggested surgery earlier on, I could have avoided ruined business trip, stay in a foreign hospital and it could have been just a small surgery with short recovery time, not the hell I went through. Now I still have scar in the area and the skin has regrown in an odd way. Since then I got this tiny painful nodule in the area again once. I went to see the doctor immediately but in the end it actually disappeared by itself.I hope that was the last time.

Date: January 28, 2006

Story

Hi folks. I'm 47 and I just got my second cyst 19 years after the first one was removed. I had the first one for three years. The first surgeon told me after surgery that he had closed it and I should be fine. Well, the genius forgot to remove the sinus and a year later I was back in a doctors office. The second surgeon was fantastic. After I got through all the "this is the biggest cyst I have ever seen" comments it was lanced and removed about two weeks later. After the surgery, I had a hold in my rear the size of a softball. Firt mistake, curiosity. I looked at it. Almost fainted right there in the hospital room. I spent the next 8 weeks in the bathtub four times a day. The bath was very warm water, 1 cup of peroxide and about 4 ounces of betadine solution. Besides have the cleanest lower body of anyone within 50 miles, the hole slowly healed in and I was on with my life once more. Now it's time for "Return of the Cyst" and I'm not even playing with this one. Ran straight to the doctor, got on anitbiotics, (first time they worked before needing one lanced) and I will be having this one removed. While I'm not looking forward to sitting in the tub 4 times a day for 8 weeks, it will give me a chance to catch up on my reading. My adive, get it removed, don't wait!

Date: January 26, 2006

Story

i had a pilonidal in the UK age 15. i first notcied something was wrong when the area started to bleed painlessly on holiday during getting changed. a few weeks later i felt some discomfort and a week or so after that it started to leak. i was 15 at the time and at school it was hard and uncontrolable, as the amount it was leaking was enourmous. a big absorbant plaster would last just a few hours. each morning i would have to squeeze it to try and drain it. i visited the nurse at the local clinic for a quick check, i had to battle with the NHS to get it done ASAP. After the worst 4 months of my life i had the operation. The surgeon said it was massive and if it had been operated on when i had it it would have been way way smaller (the UK health service waiting times are appaling). The wound was left open and to begin with a couldnt sit down for around a month and nurses came to the house to dress it. There was actually an upside to this, entinox (i think thats how to spell it). its gas that makes you giggle a lot and everything goes numb, its great! After a few months i agreed to let my mum dress it as this was much eaier than having a nurse come out as i could get it dressed when i needed it. I am now fully recovered, but due to the wait for the operation my recovery was around 14months, although i must stress that the last 6 months required a tiny tiny plaster on there. I now regulary shave the area. i have to get someone else to do it. it is embarassing (as any 17 yr old would be!), but im not taking the chance of having another pilonidal problem!

Date: January 25, 2006

Story

Well I never thought I would be posting on here but then again I never thought I could have pilonidal disease. I am a 20 year old male and this past August I noticed that my tailbone area was really sore and sensitive. I spent the summer driving a riding lawn mower as my summer job while I wasn't going to school. The ride on the mower was very bumpy and rough and I (being lazy) would sink down in the seat putting all my weight on my tailbone. Anyways, after about a week of the pain getting worse each day, I felt something wet back there and touched the area only to discover blood. I called up a friend who has pilonidal disease and told him what happened and he told me to go to the Dr's. That evening I went to Urgent Care and was diagnosed with a Pilonidal Cyst and given some antibiotics just in case. I went to see my normal physican and he told me that by switching jobs and taking baths that my opening would hopefully heal. A

fter a few weeks nothing had happened so I went in to that Dr. again. He started me on packing, but I went on vacation so they couldn't continue. While on vacation it closed up and I thought I was all healed....WRONG! About two weeks later it began hurting again and opened back up. All the time that it was open it had very minimal to no drainage and I was told that I had a minor case. My hole was about the size of the tip of a Q-tip. I went to school about a week later and continued to take baths everynight hoping that it would heal. 2 months later nothing had changed, the hole wasn't closing up, wasn't really draining much, wasn't flaring up, wasn't really painful, but it was annoying and sometimes uncomfortable. 4 months had gone by since the whole thing started and I decided to see another Dr. but this time down at school who referred me to a surgen. I had the consult and the surgen told me there was less drastic ways to combat this disease first without surgery but he couldn't guarantee anything. (this is where the info from this site helped a ton!!!!) I told him I didn't care what I had to to or how much pain I had to be in I just wanted it gone. He scheduled me for surgery and I did it 2 weeks later...

I had the surgery Monday afternoon and today is Wednesday night. The surgery lasted about 45 minutes, I was given a local (the most painful part) and then he began. He said I had a "classic case" and he removed stiffs of hair and basically opened up the wound significantly. He also removed a large section of tissue and other stuff. My new best friend is Vicodin, I can't sit, it hurts to walk, and sleeping is miserable...but it is getting better everyday. I will be doing packing changes for about 6 weeks (thats their estimate) and when that is done I should be healed, hopefully forever. In the morning I take out my own packings which is somewhat painful, but also a mind of matter situation. Then I soak in the bath tub for 10-15 minutes, then head to campus to get the new packing put in. I hope and pray that this will cure me for life, and I am glad I just went ahead with the surgery and didn't mess around with the other options first. My Dr. said I never would have healed for more then a few days if he hadn't had removed the tuffs/stiffs of hair in the wound. I just want to thank whoever started this site because it has been a huge help in me understanding what problem I have. It is also so nice to hear from other people and to know that others are going through this same thing.

Date: January 25, 2006

Story

I HAD NO IDEA DOCTORS WERE SO CLUELESS! I'm reading all of your stories and I feel so bad for all of you! 1. One doctor said that it is rare to see this in light haired people? That's crap. It is hereditary. Both of my parents come from German/English backgrounds and basically all of my aunts and uncles on both sides (including both my mom and dad) have had pylonidal cysts. 2. If your doctor says that you don't need surgery or you don't have a bad enough case, get another doctor. If you let it come and go and inflame and drain constantly, it will just make it worse. Get eh surgery! I had the surgery when I got my first one when I was 18. Thankfully since it runs in teh family, my mom already knew what it was. I was given an epidural and the doctor removed the cyst along with 5 sinus tracts. Sinus tracts are tiny holes that will eventually become cysts. I don't think antibiotics solve the problem. Sure teh swelling goes down and you feel better but the cyst is still there, waiting to be aggrivated again. Last month I got another one. I went to the doctor as soon as I was 90% sure it was a Pylonidal cyst and was given antibiotics. It went away but the spot where it was still felt like there was something in there. And now, I have another just below where the pain was last month. The doc I went to said that they don't do the surgery unless you have 3 flare ups in 6 months. Well, here's my second. There is no reason to go through all of this pain and nastiness. I am going to tell my doc that I want the surgery. If she says no. I'm finding a doc who will. cepagel@yahoo.com

Date: January 25, 2006

Story

Hi everyone. I'm a 29 year old male. After doing a large amount of research on the medical papers on this site I have come to a conclusion on how I will deal with my PD at this point in time. I too had a small peanut size node in my cleft which sometimes was painful when I did sit ups on the floor. I believe I had it for about a year or so with no problems. However, just a few weeks ago, it flared up to the size of my finger and started a pimple like covering a little higher on the cleft. The doctor who originally diagnosed my harmless little peanut now indicated that I had an infected cyst, a pilonidal cyst. Thankfully I'm in the military and pretty much have free reign to see doctors whenever I please. So they sent me to a military surgeon and that doctor lanced the cyst and drained it. I've had the two wounds repacked for the last two weeks. They've begun to heal and now, most importantly, I can see two small sinuses, or "pits", as some like to call them right in the middle of the cleft, not far from the site of my two lancings. I'm not sure if I've always had these since I was a baby, but I believe I've seen one there before. Going forward, here is what I'm going to do: My plan is the conservative approach. 1) shave the upper cleft(crack) regularly 2) clean the area daily 3) wipe downward and not upward after a bowel movement 4) seat cushions: I've just bought two TushCushs and the benefit they're doing to my back is an added plus. 5) watch it carefully... From what I've seen in my reading, this is Dr. Pingrell's conservative approach. Dr. Banscom would probably advise removal of the "pits", but since I'm getting close to thirty, hopefully with the above tactics I won't see a re-occurence of this "disease". God Bless you all and best of luck with your treatments!

Date: January 25, 2006

Story

Hello everyone. I am a 20 year old female that has just had the pleasure of experiencing this pilonidal cyst. Im sure all of you know it is not a very pleasant experience that have had it. This whole thing started back in early December last year for me. Like everyone else, I was having tenderness right above my butt area. I thought it was nothing. The next day, it hurt to sit down, and lay down on my back. It sort of felt like a pimple was forming because I had so much pressure in that area. There was a bump that was there so I had my mother look at it. She tried to pop it but nothing came out of it. And she thought it was a pimple as I thought it was too. The next day was much worse. The bump got at least 4 times the size it was the previous day and became red and inflamed. Again tried to pop it, but to no avail. Much more pain and pressure than the previous days. So I tried to go to sleep that night, but just couldn't. I was having to sleep on my side but still there was no releif. Therefore, couldn't sleep. So I get up at around 4:00am to go to the bathroom and I notice that something is wet back there, and this awful smell that was coming from there. So I wiped and there was this nasty redish brownish stuff that was on the toilit paper. Oh the smell was just horrible!! So by this time I am starting to freak out and have a panic attack!! I go to wake my mother up and tell her something is not right with my body. I am just crying so much at this point and scared because you know something is seriously wrong with you, and that this is not normal.

So she tries to calm me down and tells me she'll call the doctor tomorrow. This doesn't help me, or calm my fears. I didn't get more than 2 hours sleep that night. Next day I am panicking even more untill my mother comes to pick me up. I have a history of panic attacks and major anxiety and ocd(obsessive-compulsive-disorder), so these 3 things together are a bad combination. I am panicking to the point where I almost make myself sick, but thankfully I calm myself down. So my mother comes home and off we go to see the doctor. She couldn't get me in there so we go to a Medi-Quick clinic not too far away. So they look at it and tell me it could be some sort of cyst, they don't know exactly what. This is the first time I have ever been to see any doctor ever. So get my blood pressure taken, and that's normal. But my heart is beating so fast like 130bps. They ask about history and if there's anything wrong with me. No, not that I know of. Time to get my blood taken to see if I have diabetes. Oh god!! I am so afraid of needles as well so the nurse comes in and I hide my head so I don't see. It actually wasn't that bad because it was the most smallest needle I have ever seen!! Test comes back negative, thank god. But it turns out that my white blood cell count is 18,000 as opposed to what it is sopposed to be, only 10,000. Wow. Bad news. Major infection.

The next thing I know in comes a different nurse with another needle to give me... IN MY BUTT!!! That was a shot of antibiotics right in my but muscle. OWWWWW. The stuff is stinging as it's going in. Not very pleasant. Time to go and see a another doctor because she's telling me I need to see a colin and rectal surgeon. So once we get there, I had to pull my pants down with my butt hanging in the air!!! Very embarrasing, and to top it all off, the doctor was a man!! Oh no!! So I'm sitting on weird chair type thing with my butt in the air still, and he starts to numb it with a needle. OUCH!!! That hurt alot. So I don't feel anything back there and he makes an incision and he starts to suck up the puss with this suction pressure device and so much stuff came out of it that he said it was the biggest one he ever saw. Next thing I know it's over with and he puts this stuff on it to stop the bleeding and puts a bandage on it. I am freaking out the whole time of this operation and when I hear about blood, oh god not good. I cannot deal with my own blood at all. Good thing I can't see how much bleeding is occuring. Otherwise, it would have been much uglier than it was.

So it's over and he explains to me what it is and how it forms. Lucky me a pilionidal cyst. And treatment options I could do in the future. He also tells me that if I didn't have this done that day, I would have ended up in the hospital within the next couple of days and could have died from this major infection. Wow. Thank god my mother said to take my blood, otherwise it would have been a much different outcome than what happened. Also find out that this thing can flare up again or be dorment for a long period of time. Great. But I'm feeling lucky that I'm alive at the moment and very greatful that the doctor said he would see me that day. He was going to go home for the day but thankfully he stayed there and waited for me. So I have to go back in a week to see him. I have to take baths and showers at least twice a day. I go back and he tells me there is no sign of infection and everything is looking good. Sigh of releif. So today everything is going well and there is no signs of infection. I have to go back in February to see the doctor. Feeling so much better now thank god. No panic attacks ever since. YAYAY!!! Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. I just thought I should share mine with you since I read alot of yours. God bless everyone, and hope everything works out for the best for everyone too.

Date: January 25, 2006

Story

The first time I had a "flare-up" was when I was 14 years old. I was at the summer lake home with my family and felt uncomfortable. Like I had sat wrong on my tailbone or something like that. I had felt this sort-of feeling before, because I thought I had sat wrong. It kept bothering me for a couple days, so I went to the doctor at our normal clinic(as advise by my mom, who has had this same problem, but I didn't know it). The doctor told me what it was and popped it and instructed me on how to clean and treat it. The doctor prescribed antibotics and Epsom Salt baths. Well it went away(and I didn't know it could come back). About a year later, I had another flare-up. This time it was with a very high fever, chills, and throwing up. I couldn't lay down, I couldn't sit, and I couldn't stand. I went to a different doctor at the ER. He popped it, gave me antibotics, and told me to take Epsom Salt baths. It went away. About 3 years later, On Easter weekend, I had another flare-up. This time I had all of the same feelings as last time. I went with my mom, my grandma, and my new fiance to the ER. The doctor made me wait in the waiting room(where there were no other patients waiting to get in) and came out after about 45 minutes of standing there and leaning on the reception counter(because I couldn't sit and there is no where to lay down) and asked if I could wait and come back tomorrow. I replied, "if you would like me to be Dead, I suppose". Anyway, he popped it, gave me antibotics, and recommended taking Epsom Salt baths. The symptoms immediately went away.

At that point my mom and I talked to the doctor about removing it. He told us that it was not a neccessary procedure and I would need to learn to live with it because no doctor would remove it for me. For every month since then, I felt it start to flare-up and I would immediately go take a shower. It seemed to help(maybe just in my mind). I decided that I was no longer going to go through this. So, my husband and I decided to go visit relatives in his home country(I had never been there before). I was there for fives day before we went to the doctor. The doctor talked to me, looked at the cyst(which was not flared-up at the time) and he asked me why I hadn't had it removed yet. I told him, 3 different doctors said no. Well, this doctor said yes. 4 days later I was in the hospital for my surgery. It took about 45 minutes. The size of the cyst was progressed more than it should have been allowed to be, so they had to even stitch it up(it usually isn't stitched) In that country they take this surgery and recovery more seriously(not just an office surgery, where they have you bend over and lean on a table). So, I stayed in the hospital overnight. I received antibiotics for only one week and I went back to the doctor(the actual surgeon)to have followup visits everyday for 3 weeks to change the dressings. On the 4th week, he showed my husband how to change the dressings and I continued the follow-up visits every other day. Five weeks after the surgery, I was headed back home to the United States again.

My husband took really good care of me, and changed the dressings for another 2 weeks, until I was completely healed. To this day, I still have not looked at it in the mirror. The experience with this problem has been horrible. It has made me a paranoid person. I am so glad that it is over though. I should add I am 24 now. I was tortured for 10 years with that cyst. I can't thank my doctor oversees enough. I am just amazed with the doctors I have encountered in the United States that didn't care.

Date: January 25, 2006

Story

oh boy- glad to see this site, but worried also, because my experience sounds somehwat different than others. Here goes- I am 34. The first cyst I had was after I gave birth to our oldest daughter in 1991. I started having pain whenever I sat down anywhere. I began to think maybe delivery had injured my tailbone, or thought I was just sore from rocking the baby in the rocking chair or sitting too much. It continued to hurt until I finally went to the doctor. We lived in Alaska at the time. The doc said it was a boil, told me to put hot rags on it, let it come to a head and pop it. It never really came to a head- so after messing with it myself several times, I got it to pop... and it was gross but that I thought that was the end of it.

Many years went by, and in 1996 I started having pain in the same area any time I sat again- this time it was after a long road trip. I thought once again, I must've sat for too long. Well, it got so bad I couldnt sit at all, and could barely walk. I went to the ER, where a doctor told me I had a cyst, but he didnt want to lance it. I told him I couldnt take another day of hurting so badly- I had two kids to take care of then, so do something. He lanced it, and wow, not to be gross, but even I nearly threw up from the smell. The ER doc then said " Well, I guess it was a good thing we lanced it- you have a terrible amount of infection back here" Geesh. I was put on antibiotics for 2 weeks, and referred to my doc. It was a big one, so it drained and had to be packed and cleaned daily until I saw the doc. Well, went to the doc- I had no insurance, so I went to a college of medicine- we lived in Oklahoma then. The doc there said I needed to try to have the cyst removed- she could do it there in the office under local anethesia. So, I came back, had her attempt to remove it- several stitches and a few more weeks of antibiotics. She said it shouldnt come back.

Well, after a year it came back again. No insurance and had moved ot another part of the state, I had to start with a new doctor. She said I just needed antibiotics, and it would pop/drain on its own. So it did. And I repeated that inflamed, infected, antibiotics, busted at home routine every year for about 8 years. I did have two flare ups that occured within 3 months of each other. I saw another doc at the office that told me, if it stayed infected all the time, then they would surgically remove it- but since it was so small, and only got infected periodically, it could be managed this way... and maybe it would go away as I got older. I realized that sitting made the problem worse, and once again without health insurance, I decided I would sit as little as possible, to avoid the problem. I bought a cushion for the car, so I would not sit plat out on my seat, and avoided any place I had to do long sitting- movies, resturants, etc. I know, pretty sad huh? It has been. But I have been scared to death that it would continue to get infected, and with no insurance and a very sick husband ( my husband is bedbound from a rare nervous system disease) and kids, the last thing I needed was to get sick from something i thought maybe I could prevent from happening.

Well, you cannot go aorund standing all the time without problems. I noticed my legs hurting more and more, and even getting swollen some days form not getting off my feet. It had been 2 years since my last flare up, so I thought, maybe doc was right- maybe it has gone away now. So, I sat a few times, outings, etc. thinking I would be ok- wrong. Yesterday I went to go run errands, and I sat down in the car and tada.... sore. I checked myself in the shower last night, and noticed some tenderness. I dont know about everyone else, but I get physically sick when I get these. I feel off balance or something- sleepy kind of, and run a fever, and get nauseated.. I started to feel creepy this morning, and am knowing that it is on its way to building up again. Now I have a new doc, but have never had to see him for this problem, and am nervous at what he thinks needs to be done. I cannot imagine surgery right now, and wonder what he will recommend. It hasnt gotten bad yet- part of me is hoping I am wrong, and its not getting infected- but I am sure within a few days I will forced to go in and get seen. I will post back again and say what the docs response is- I just hope its not surgery. Thank you for the site, and for everyone posting- I am so glad today that I am not alone with this, though I really wish no one had to have it. Take care all.

Date: January 25, 2006

Story

Hiya! Just wondering....I already have added my story on here. How many people that have this thing have very good immune systems? I think in my 27 years, I have been REALLY sick about six times...maybe, and one of those is from running around outside in 40 below temperatures with no coat on (just a t-shirt) How many people out there, who have pretty good immune systems who have this disease go without getting it operated on? the majority of the stories on here so far, are of people telling about the surgery and recovery....but what of those people who have one or two flare-ups, and then nothing after? DOES a healthy immune system play a role in the frequency of flareups? Flare-ups are the result of an infection correct? Just wondering

Date: January 24, 2006

Story

Hello my name is amy and I had a pilonidal cyst removed when I was about 13 years old. I was in terrible pain for a year on and off. Until my mother made me go to the doctor. The doctor immediately new what was wrong and scheduled me for surgery. They said I had one of the largest they had seen and I have a scar the entire lengh of my crack. Thank goodness I was blesses with plenty on the backside because it is not noticeble now unless I show it purposely. However, The skin over my tailbone is as thin as paper. I would have the surgery again without a doubt. Recovery was uncomfortable but I am 31 now and have not had any problems at all. Here is why I turned to the internet for research on this. My 11 year old daughter has now developed a pilonidal cyst. She is going to the doctor tomorrow morning. I would want her to have it removed as well. My advice is to get rid of it asap they only reoccur and seem to get worse each time. My surgery they put me completely under and stiched me up except for a spot they left open to drain. I am cinfident that ashley(my daughter) will do as well as i did. Jan.24, 2006

Date: January 24, 2006

Story

I knew my case was bad, but after reading all these stories, let me tell you this… YOU ALL GOT OFF EASY! My story started off the same as most of the rest (pussing, bleeding, general discomfort) but, thanks to a select handful of incompetent Quebecois doctors and nurses, it got a hell of a lot worse. I had my surgery scheduled for the early morning so that I might make it to my afternoon classes that day. When I got to the doctor’s office, the nurse had me bend over a make-shift table. This is how the operation was performed. While the nurse and doctor prodded around “back there” I kept hearing things like “oh my, this is a big one” and “okay, we’re gonna have to dig deeper…brace yourself.” When the pilonidal abscess was finally out, it was the size of my thumb…and I can palm a basketball. The hole left behind was as big around as a 50-cent piece, and about 3 inches deep. The abscess had grown so big that the doctor actually had to make a 2nd incision just to get all of it.

When he was all done, my doctor told me I would be fine in a couple days, and I even managed to walk home (about 5 blocks) after the surgery. That’s when things got really bad. When I got home, I went straight to my bed so I could lie on my stomach. Sitting up or lying on my back wouldn’t be possible for another 4 weeks. After about an hour, the gapping wound in my backside started to bleed a bit. The doctor told me this might happen, so I thought nothing of it. Within 1 more hour, my clothes, bed sheets, bed, carpet and a whole lot of gauze were completely soaked in blood. By the time the paramedics arrived, they actually said that it was the most blood they had ever seen come out of one person… and this is coming from guys who see a lot of blood everyday in their line of work. I couldn’t stand up, or else the blood would pour out like a faucet, so they constructed some type of giant diaper for me to wear until I got to the hospital, although I bled through that pretty quickly, too. I then spent the next 3 days in the emergency room, waiting for my useless doctor to finish his golf weekend. When he actually decided to show up, he informed me that he had nicked a blood vessel during surgery. This sent the blood vessel into a shock-like state, ensuring that my doctor would be well into his golf weekend by the time my backside became a bloody geyser. Now, because the wound was so deep, it couldn’t be stitched… it had to heal from the inside-out. So, everyday, for 6 weeks, I had to report to a clinic to have my wound packed with gauze. This is not a pleasant event. A few years ago, I hyper-extended my knee (bent it completely backwards, breaking my knee-cap). That hurt, but it never made me cry. Having a hole in my backside (3 inches deep, 1 inch wide) packed with dry gauze, and then really jammed in there with a pencil, reduced me to a blubbering little girl on more than one occasion. Which is weird, cuz I’m a 22 year old man. It’s been 2 months since my surgery, and I am completely healed. But those were the roughest few weeks of my life. Get thins thing taken care of as soon as you hear about it… and don’t get your surgery done in Montreal.

Date: January 23, 2006

Story

I had pilonidal cyst when i was 16, a sophmore in high school. I first thought i sprained that area and tried to heal it like it was bruise. i tried putting ice, a hot pad, and just ignoring it. it kept getting worse and my parents thought i was just being a little baby. well it got so bad that i couldn't sit and i had to lie on my belly in someones car whenver we went anywhere. Finally, my parents decided to get it checked with a doctor. He told us what it was and said it was too late to just get rid of it with antibiotics and had to do surgery. I got the surgery done, which hurt like crazy b/c i dont think the doctor put enough pain reliever in. But it came back august of 2005. I went to a differnt doctor who did the surgery again with enough pain reliever. Now it is January 2006 and im 19 yrs old and it has come back once again. oh joy. i dont think this thing plans to go away any time soon. im goign to start taking antibiotics again tomorrow. at least i know im definitely not alone. well, i pray that everyone else out there with this problem will have better success than me.

Date: January 23, 2006

Story

Hiya! I was jut sufring around, checking up on the symptoms of several things I have had go wrong with me in the past, and I too, tpyed in tailbone infection, and lo and behold....here I am. For me, it was around 1995, or 1994, one of them, I was in a MASSIVE amount of pain. For about a week, my tailbone HURT, a LOT. I figured that I had fallen, and couldn't remember it, anyway, my tailbone area started to get really itchy, and scratching it became an adventure in pain. BTW, I am 27 now, so I was still a young boy, invunerable in my mind......anywho, one day I was trying to scratch my tailbone area, and felt something wet. I always wondered what that little hold near my tailbone was for....never really knew just what it was, anyway, brought my hand around, and looked....covered in some nasty stuff. I figured that I had an infection, but as I am hardly eer sick, I was going to try and fight it off on my own. I squeezed my tailbone area as hard as I could, and boy oh boy, did it ever drain!!!!! I had figured out what that little hole was for. Over the next few days, it got worse, the pain ramped up, the drainage got heavier, got to the point where if I went to sit on the can, that amount of pressure was enough to drain about...oh, I would have to say over 100 ML into the bowl....it was then that I decided that enough was enough....had my dad take me to the doctor. Got myself some antibiotics, and after about two days, everything was back to normal....no pain, no nothing. Since then, I think it has come back once, and then only a LITTLE drainage, and not much pain. The last time that I can remember, I did the same thing, squeezed the area as hard as I can (endured the pain of it) and after about a few days, it went away. Now that I know wht it is that I have......I think I might look into having it dealt with in a more professional manner. Thanks for putting this site together.

Date: January 23, 2006

Story

Pilonidal...a word that I have come to dread. Hi, I'm a 23 year old female and I too, have been infected! It started in June of 2004, which most like the rest of you, I started feeling this pain on my tail bone. It was strange, sore-like, and I noticed it when I first had trouble lying down flat on my back. Night after night I would let this growing pain go on, putting pillows under my lower back to keep the pressure off of my "tailbone" and that worked--for awhile. I thought it was from pushing a heavy filing cabinent that I moved recently at my work while rearranging my office. I couldn't drive with out two pillows and in class...that was horribly uncomfortable trying to take tests and read, sitting with pressure only on one cheek! I even went to a chiropractor because I thought I sprained my tail bone!

So, finally, I couldn't take it any more and asked my mom to take me to the urgent care. The DR diagnosed me with pilonidal and sent me straight to the ER. I wish I would have taken the advice from this site and would not have gone to a hospital ER because it was very painful and the DR there was not very knowledeable of Pilonidal cysts. But nevertheless, he performed the draining process and referred me to a CR surgeon for the following week. The CR surgeon explained to me that we could do the Excisionsurgery, like many of you had, and heal from the bottom up. Or, since I had the cyst drained I may be lucky and it just won't ever come back! So, I scheduled my surgery for early August(ok this is my big mistake) but CANCELLED it because by late July I was feeling just fine! Well, a year passes by and last August comes around and guess what? That same little feeling on my backside came back one night when I laid down to sleep. I saw my Primary DR immediately and he gave me some antibiotics and told me to come back in 3 days... another mistake, I took the antibiotics and the pain subsided- I didn't go back to see him thinking "oh it went away". So, lo and behold, in September, this little thing came back with a mean vengence and it was even more excrutiating than the last time-so I had it drained a SECOND time (which went much better with an actual CR surgeon). Well, now, I finally scheduled the real surgery in early March- but I'm back to my old ways... Is the surgery really necessary? I have no symptoms, I'm feeling great and can I afford to take so much time off from work and PAY? Do I want to go through all of that pain of surgery and healing?? please e-mail me your thoughts/suggestions/advice I could really use some will power! This site is a fantastic resource... THANK YOU denise.montoya@yahoo.com

Date: January 23, 2006

Story

Hi my name is Nethra and I am 21. I had this surgery last Aug, 2005 and till now it has not healed. There is about an inch still open so everyday i have to make sure it was clear. My doc honestly, does not know what she is doing and its so frustrating. Do all of you who have had the surgery still have to clean it? Please let me know. any info would help. my email is nethrarao90@hotmail.com. Thanks!

Date: January 23, 2006

Story

My name is Connie. I'm 18 years old and I just had surgery on my second pilonidal cyst. The first one I had when I was 14 years old. It took the doctors 6 months to actually figure out what it was. I had antibiotics, then they lanced it, then I just had the surgery done to remove it. 6 weeks of recovery followed. With that cyst, it was so large because it had been messed it for so long I had 3 very large deeps wounds to pack. Two of them were a good 4 inches long and 2 inches deep. The third wasn't as bad. When I had the first packing done I thought I was going to literally kill the doctor who changed it. He pulled all the packing out of the smallest wound (since they were all connected underneath). He was like I passed out from low blood pressure afterwards or I woulda decked him. I stayed overnight in the hospital then so the surgeon could check on me and they had me on some morphine. When I went home I had a home nurse come everyday to pack it. I didnt go to school for about 2 1/2 weeks.

Looking back on that now, it doesnt seem so bad. The one that I have now seems worse, even though I know it really isnt. The problem with the one now is we have to find a way to get a better kind of packing since I'm now 18 and just finished my first semester of college. I found the cyst literally the day I came home for my winter college break. All hope of a great break was lost when I went to my doctor and she immediately sent me to the surgeon. Dec 23rd I had a surgery done in the actual office by an intern. Note to anyone..DO NOT DO THIS. The intern used a numbing needle to numb the area beforehand. Apparently he missed or something because he stuck me 8 times with that thing. That hurt more than anything I have ever felt. He proceeded to cut the cyst out and then pack it. So we think, problem solved. My actual surgeon comes and decides I'm going to need to have another surgery done at the actual hospital because there were 2 sinus's still present that werent infected yet. So I go in Jan 10th... they do the operation, but I come out and its all sewn up. Alright, sounds ok, no packing, just a few weeks to let it heal. Yeah ok. Jan 16th... blood. That shouldnt happen right? Jan 17th Im back in the OR. I now have a 2 inch long 1 1/2 inch deep wound that has to be packed. I'm currently sporting Granny underwear and sweatpants. The packing has been the biggest problem though. The pain I'm begining to deal with. I have vicodin, and it really doesnt hurt so much now as it did last week. Its just still a little tender in the shower. We tried a regular packing, long gauze strips in saline to pack then a gauze pad to cover it. Worked fine, but when you're a college student, its very difficult to plan your life around a bandage changing. So we are now trying a packing called Aquacel which is a packing that goes in dry and comes out as this gel glob basically. It gets covered with a bandage that looks like an overgrown bandaid and is suppose to last a few days. The first one we used didnt last 2 days.

We tried something new today, hopefully it'll work out and only need a bandage changing every other day or so. When I called the college health center they told me a lot of college students have to deal with these. Coulda blew my mind, I dont know one of them. They also said they could pack it and they knew what they were doing. This is.. if I take the packing out myself they can pack it for me. I dont know about anyone else, but I cant bend myself in half, split my butt apart and pull out packing from a large wound. One.. it hurts! Two.. I dont have the stomach to deal with that. So we have to get the county nurse service to do this for awhile. Once its not so tender I'm told I'm gonna have to suck it up and pull it out on my own, shower, then walk to the other side of campus to have it re-packed. Let's hope we dont leak out everywhere.

Date: January 23, 2006

Story

I am a 38 year old male. It's been a good 6 months since my surgery. The only problem I had with surgery, they gave me the spinal shot to numb me from the waist down and I still have a minor pain in that area where the needle went. However, it is slowly going away for good. Basically, I use to feel it every night in bed in a certain position, but now it's once a blue moon. It pissed me off, because the doctor talked me into the spine shot and said there were no side effects. It was either this or being on a respirator, which he said could cause you to have a sore throat for 2 weeks. I had a 2 inch long, 1 inch wide, 1.5 inch deep wound from surgery. My wife took care of me and did a real good job with the packing twice a day. The home nurse trained her. The only problem I had with the healing process, which took 7 total weeks, was we were using the wrong packing bandage in the beginning. It was more like a sponge instead of a gauze. It wouldn't let the wound breath, which is necessary for it to heal. I thought it would keep it more moist, but it backfired. Make sure you use the same packing the home nurse provides. The first two weeks, the wound is very sensitive. Meaning, the water rinse was painful. After two weeks, it isn't bad at all. Finally, I now have to put "Nair For Men" on the area every month, so this doesn't happen again. Plus, I sit on a cushion at work. I had a great doctor and a great nurse (my wife). Key elements for a successful surgery. Looking back, it's not that bad. After looking at some of the pics on this website, I was scared also upfront. Take care and good luck!

Date: January 22, 2006

Story

My name is Aimee, I am 20, and about a month ago, I thought I would never walk again! The pain was so excruciating, I wanted to die. I went to the Dr.s and he told me what we were dealing with and tried to cut it open, well long story short, he ended up cutting the wrong side, and the cyst drained on its own. GROSS. I haven't ever smelled anything so terrible. The Doc perscribed me Vicodan, and sent me to the surgeon. My surgery is schedule on March 16th. I am so terrified. Luckily we have a guy living with us who can help take care of me when I have it done. I have 2 dogs, a cat, and a 2 year old daughter. So I will definatley need some help. My email is AimeeRaye17_2003@yahoo.com if you have any words of wisdom, or approximate recovery time. Any words of help are appreciated.

Date: January 21, 2006

Story

I had the surgery done about three years ago. I went through the whole process of having it heal from the bottom up. Very painful, especially packing the wound. From what my surgeon told me, if the packing doesn't hurt, the wound isn't being packed tight enough. I thought I was going to cry every time it was packed. Don't mess with having it lanced every so often. Just go get the surgery and deal with the 8 weeks of pain. That's what I did and I haven't had any problems since. I'm glad I didn't chicken out of the surgery and try to take shortcuts. I have a friend that tried to deal with his cyst without having it completely excised, and his never totally healed, and still gives him problems to this day. Do it right the first time and forget about it.

Date: January 21, 2006

Story

Hi My story so far; I'm from belgium, male, 31 years old