I wrote this Pilonidal account in November 2017: I suffered from a pilonidal cyst from early February of 2017. It started like much of the other stories you hear. I started to feel a pain in my lower back at the top left side of my cleft. I thought I had just hurt my back from sitting on the hard wooden chairs at Starbucks as I would do in the mornings before work, where I would read and organize myself. In a weeks time the pain started to increase and under much reluctance, found that the area has raised to a bump the size of a gum drop.
Days later, the whole area swole to make the entire cleft area sensitive to stand, sit, sleep. At the time I was thirty years old. I am of west Indian descent, and both overweight and hairy. My dad said he used to get these “boils” and told me to expect considerable pain that would only find relief when it would be cut. It also reminded me of a close friend in high-school who shared the same body type as I, who in senior year got an excision surgery which he humorously regarded as his second “butt crack”.
At some point my wound started to drain red and white gunk but the pain did not leave, and I was forced to go to work lining my underpants with gauze and paper towels. I finally went to a clinic where the doctor took a look at it and said I had a pilonidal abscess. He said I was feeling pain because the infection hadn’t drained completely and he would have to cut it open and place medicated gauze inside the wound for a day. I generalized the process in my writing, but the whole ordeal was painful… with everyone from nurse to doctor telling me that even the numbing agent wouldn’t help for what they had to do. Then he gave me antibiotics, and told me to pull the gauze out in a couple days in the shower.
A couple days went by, and I realized I did not have the nerve to pull the gauze out so I had that doctor yank that out. He said I was healing fine but the possibility of reoccurrence was in my future. Three months later, I got another, it abscessed and the pain left, I still went to the doctor. This time he didn’t place gauze inside, he just gave me antibiotics. It came back a month later. But this time I was fed up with making trips and opted to try home remedies of sitz baths, warm compresses, I even tried baking soda, white vinegar, turmeric, castor oil… my med cabinet became an alchemist lab of b.s. that served no purpose other than possibly bringing it to head to drain. I tried shaving the area with electric and razors, using non irritant soap, but much to my dismay I had two more flair ups.
Around the last one I went online to read other people’s accounts, and talked to many people at work who had the same problem. A lot of them have tried open excision, closed excision, pit picking and still had reoccurrence. Yet, people kept stating that the only true cure would surgery regardless of how much people stated it failed them. I don’t take the concept of surgery lightly and even with insurance, I wanted a permanent solution. That is when I really started to research how pilonidal cysts operate. They are essentially a nest of hair that pierces the skin and grows inside, and your body makes the area swell because it treats that hair as an invader. So the idea of permanently getting rid of the hair came to mind.
After my last occurrence drained in late October, i got a consultation at a local med spa that has actual nurses. They were kind and supportive of both my affliction and my anxieties, because I had no idea if others have tried this procedure without having any kind of surgery prior. Each nurse confidently said that they have dealt with someone just like me, and those who go through with the sessions have never come back because of complications.
They also explained that because of my dark skin and black hair that they would be using a YAG laser in a device that treats the area in a circular shape about the size of a quarter. While I had this consultation, I would also like to note that I felt like I had another reoccurrence rearing its ugly head by the sheer itchy irritating feeling I had in the area. It took me a day to crunch numbers but the absolute fear of a flair up drove me to go through with it. I dropped two thousand dollars, and they were ready to give me my first treatment. They had me disrobe and lay on my stomach while wearing protective glasses, when the nurse started it felt like rubber bands being snapped on my skin. You can imagine that the feeling alone was not comfortable, and when she worked on top of where the cyst was, it was more sensitive than any other area. It stung but still nothing compared to the pain I went through before. It took about fifteen minutes, and I was done. They gave me gauze with cool aloe to put on the area, then I was ready to go. They said it would take about 8 sessions to completely remove all the hair in the area, but I should start seeing results within a couple weeks. The reason for multiple sessions is that hair grows at different stages, and they need to attack the follicle at particular stages to ensure its gone.
I stood next to my car outside, and took in the weird experience I just had. Also the cool aloe made me feel awkward. However, I immediately felt better. Good enough to sit down. It is about to be thanksgiving, and I have had no reoccurrence. I have even tested my luck by sitting through a couple movies and I am fine. The growth under my skin has shrunk considerably, and I feel like my old self again. I know everyone is different, and I know the pain that happens with these cysts will drive you crazy. But I would recommend trying the laser hair removal before the surgery because it has made all the difference in the world to me. I still move with caution, I keep up good hygiene, by cleaning the area with soap and water.
As a hairy guy, I also relish the fact that upkeep in the area is simpler now that I don’t have to worry about dingle berries and such. I did not change my lifestyle, though I probably should. My diet is still questionable and I am overweight. But that is a different story. If I have an update, or reoccurrence, I will certainly post right away. But as of right now, I feel remarkably normal, and the anxiety I have of my next reoccurrence has subsided. For anyone feeling the disparity of the cyst, abscess, and sinus, I feel for you. The emotions reflect the affliction. It is a collection of embarrassment, pain, anxiety, and frustration that stays just under the surface, until it painfully comes to head, exposing all its awfulness to the public when you have to explain to your jobs, schools, loved ones, all the details just so you can recover.
It was the depressing the heck out of me and learning about the many people around me that suffer from it only depressed me more because some of these folks had been in surgery multiple times with no solution. This was my solution, and though the results are still in its infancy, I feel better, and I can think clearer, and that is a start.
Best wishes. Update (February 2018): I have still had no reoccurrence and my doctor checked everything out and said he doesn’t feel a cyst. I went for my second session of laser hair removal in January, and no irritations. I feel normal. I didn’t have surgery. I just wanted to share this story when more time elapsed (pilonidal paranoia). I hope this helps someone out there, because I feel like I have a second chance at life.
Take care folks!