Four women in my family have had pilonidal cysts including myself. The first time i noticed a flare up was when i was about 16. I took a road trip with some friends so I guess all the sitting took a toll on it. I went to the Doctor once I got home and she told me it was just a staph infection. She SQUEEZED it to get it draining and then sent me home. It was definitely a traumatizing experience.
Now 2 years later i’m 18 and the cyst has come back. This time the dr. said it was a pilonidal and she attempted to drain it but it wasn’t big enough. when it finally got really bad i went and spent 6 hours waiting in the emergency room. I felt that i wasn’t being taken serious but people have no idea how awful of a pain it is. The infection was about the size of a baseball, according the the ER physician. right when they got it opened and draining i immediatly felt relief. 2 weeks later I had surgery and i’ve been recovering for about 3 days.
I’m a little sore but it’s nothing compared to the infection. i looked at the cavity created from the surgery and it’s pretty scary looking. you’d think it would hurt more. I would definitely recommend getting them removed.