Hi guys, so glad I found this place; I'm surprised I hadn't sooner. I found you guys by searching about baths in warm water with an open wound.. while in the bath. Quickly, I saw nothing but "It's a bad idea, germs everywhere", and slightly panicked, washed the wound and everywhere else with soap a few times like a massive germaphobe. Anyway, like the title says, I've had this damned wound for years now after having the surgery and leaving the wound open. It. Won't. Heal. If the current part of the wound closes, another part of it opens back up. It's never been infected, just open. I'm SO sick of it. I'm tired of being paranoid every time I drive, sit, take a wrong step, etc. Tired of sitting to the side to offset the weight (I'm pretty sure my back is suffering for it), tired of not being able to swim, tired of dreading long car rides, airplanes, avoiding roller coasters (for the most part, I basically went on a couple at Disney World on our vacation because it's fucking vacation, and I offset all the weight with my feet/legs.. was painful but still fun, it's not like the wound was gonna heal anyway.) Allow me to give you guys a little history so you know what I've gone through trying to get this thing shut. I should add that I'm an artist, and have to sit a huge amount for extended periods of time to get things done.. I can't really get around that and it sucks. Anyway, history with my doctors: First doctor who did the surgery continually cauterized it with silver nitrate sticks, which was incredibly painful and didn't work. My mom had to shave the hair because it's in such a stupid place to access, it's below the tailbone. Refused to use nair because that sounded like the worst idea in history, and I have sensitive skin. Second doctor was a plastic surgeon who just did the hair removal and monitored the wound (I moved for school), didn't really do much. He then started talking crazy plastic surgeon talk and was like "Oh yeah, we should totally just remove some skin from your butt and rotate it over the wound, staple it, you'll have to wear a bag for a month, no problem!" I dropped him. Fast. Then, my third doctor was at a wound care clinic in a hospital. She was great, talked to my surgeon about what he'd done, and didn't bother with the silver nitrate (she thought that was an awful idea). She removed the hair, cleaned the scar tissue, and gave me promogran (dressing that distributes collagen for granulation), and it was going well. I healed up, but it opened again less than a month later, and she was gone from the wound care clinic. My current doctor.. I don't really trust him much any more. He's an old guy and old-fashioned. He cleans and monitors the wound the way my previous doctor is, but seems to think the hair is non-issue (which I REALLY disagree with.. I'm a really hairy guy, and the other docs seemed to think it a priority). He started me with Hydrofera Blue, which I honestly have no idea what it did. Then I switched back to Promogran Prisma, which is Promogran with silver in it to keep bacteria out. It worked to a certain point, and part of the wound closed up, but now a spot lower opened up which is closer to my anus, so they're more worried about infection. They gave me another silver-based dressing to use in tandem with gauze, and I'm not really sure about it's effectiveness. I'm trying a new doctor out this Monday who was a surgeon. We'll see what happens. So I implore you guys, please, give me some help, some tips, advice, anything. I'm so sick of it, and almost feel like crying writing all this out. I've had to deal with two NYC trips that I mostly hated because of pain from irritation and the airplane/taxi rides. I had to deal with starting and continuing to date my girlfriend of two years (and had to man up the courage to tell her about it, and not be self-conscious about it during sex, a naked guy with a white thing sticking out of his crack.. so hot, right?). And a LOT more that I just don't feel like recalling. Please, I hope you guys have some help for me. Thanks for reading, it's a long read I know, but I felt the history was needed.
You have been dealing with an open wound for three years? Wow, your a stronger man then me. Let me start by saying I'm not a doctor and several people on this site have different opinions. The following is my opinion. Get a cleft lift surgery ASAP. I had one and was pretty much good to go after two weeks. If you haven't heard of the surgery yet please read up on it and make an informed decision based on your research. There is a list of doctors on this site who perform the surgery. Hopefully there is a qualified doctor close to where you live. If not I would suggest that you travel to the closest one.
I agree with Durango 100%. One of the primary types of cases the cleft lift surgery is designed for is "an unhealed wound after one or several pilonidal surgeries" (http://www.pilonidalsurgery.com/surgery/cleft-lift) I was one of those cases as well.. I had an open wound for 4.5 months (so yes, I understand your situation but gosh darn I can't believe you've done it for 3 years) before I got the cleft lift done and I couldn't be happier with my decision. In my opinion, it's the best chance you've got at getting your life back..
http://aboilonthebutt--pilonidal.blogspot.com/ A couple posts down there is an article on a "Cigar" to heal open wounds in the cleft or other air tight space. Maybe it could help.
I've been dealing with an open wound for 13 months now, and I'm so sick of it, I honestly don't know how you've gone 3 years with it. It scares the hell out of me, just the thought of mine going another couple of months, nevermind another 2 years. I'm currently looking into the cleft lift with a specialist in the UK, hoping to get that in the next month or so. I see it as the only option to fixing this for me. So like other members above, I'd recommend seeing a specialist about a potential cleft lift. I have a hole right at the bottom of my wound, that slowly heals up, then for no obvious reason, starts to get worse again. Fees like everytime I take one step forward, I then end up going back two steps, just seems never ending.
Hi this is my first post ever and although I'm no doctor I found out how to heal my wound. I had a pilonidal sinus in 2006 and I left it untouched until June 2010. It was a closed procedure and it went well. Two weeks later the doctor removed my stitches and the very next day I feel something wet which was blood. The wound reopened. The doctor kept telling me that it would heal on its own and to give it time. Things were terrible from then on because of the hassles of having someone shave my behind. It was embarrassing and it ate me up so bad that it affected and ended my relationship with my girlfriend. In February 2011 I had had enough and was determined to have this thing closed. The way I was leaking blood was god awful. I decided to take matters into my own hands and found a method to shave my own wound, it took a while but with a small mirror it can be done. As I shaved for the first time and got a good look at the wound I found tiny hairs that crept into the abscess. I got a tweezer and plucked them out. I started a regiment where I would shave and pluck my own behind every three days. Afterwards I'd put aloe vera on and around the wound. Finally, I started putting on a duo derm patch on the wound. The first time the hole could appear bigger but as I kept going it slowly closed. It was actually pretty cool seeing the progress of the skin slowly closing. It finally closed completely by May 2011 and I have not had another incident since. Again I am no doctor and I'm not telling anyone to do this. I did this and it worked for me. I also changed my lifestyle a bit. Protein shakes, green tea, and more fruits and veggies. Hope this helps.
