I had my first pilonidal in my early 20's - I thought I was going to get away with just the one but here I am sat on the floor on one cheek, 2 days after my 45th birthday.... I now run my own business and have 2 very young children and am struggling not to be concerned over what may happen this time. My first pilonidal ended up in deep surgery, sorry to be graphic but I was up to my knuckles reaching into a wound to get the packing which at first was a length of bandage about 2 metres long! It took 12 weeks to heal and about 2 years before I was comfortable and starting to forget about it... although even to this day though I can't 'roll' from one cheek to another without a deep aching pain. I am desperately hoping that 25 years on there may be an alternative to the procedure I had back then - basically the removal of a big chunk of tissue... I have read here about the conservative treatment methods- dare I hope that there is a way to cure my condition this time without the trauma... One final thing... I am currently taking antibiotics to reduce the infection while I wait for my appointment with a consultant, I have a family holiday booked in three weeks time which includes a five hour drive - what can I do to help manage my condition through this period. I know I'm heading for the surgeons knife again but I don't want my family to have to suffer a cancelled holiday too... Any advice or shared experience would be most welcome... My own offering of advice: several weeks ago my office chair malfunctioned slightly... just enough to tilt me forward a few inches.. I persevered with it for a few weeks before realising it was placing a lot of uncomfortable pressure on my coccyx area. I really believe that this was the cause of my flare up. I have since spent several hundred pounds (of company money) on a new chair - obviously too late. My advice then is also obvious and confirms the advice on this website: if you spend a lot of time sitting down make sure you are sitting correctly and protect that tailbone... Quite a ramble for my first post, good luck to all my fellow sufferers..
Hi Tafkad, I have lived with my PS since I was in my late 20's, I'm now 44. Last year it was starting to bother me again. I did a little research and discovered a surgeon called Prof Jon Lund. He works at Derby Royal Hospital. He does a procedure where he injects a fibrin glue, filling the sinus and cavity. He apparently has had a lot of success with this treatment. I made an appointment through my GP ( I live near Derby) and saw his colleague, a Mr Speak. He was great but advised me to leave mine alone unless it became worse and affected my lifestyle. Apparently once you get on in life they often go dormant! What he did advise though was to get a a coccyx cushion, which I did. It is great, I no longer get flare up's of any size (10 months free now which is good for me). So an option might be fibrin glue as opposed to having a chunk of flesh removed. Hope all goes well.
Hi Adders, thanks for taking the time to respond - as of today I have one day's antibiotics left and still no sign of a consultation / referral letter so I'll be off back to my GP (Sheffield, so not too far from Derby) and will raise the question and see if I can get an appointment in Derby if there are none forthcoming locally - the worry is about what is happening while I leave it alone, my experience first time around was worse for not acting quickly enough... the coccyx cushion is a definite though as I have a 6 hour drive to Newquay coming up in a few weeks!... Hope the dormancy thing turns out true -it's funny that although the hair on my head is disappearing slowly but surely - none seems to want to fall out of my d**n backside!!! Many thanks again and good luck to you
