I have terrible anticipatory anxiety, so dealing with this condition has been torture, and I am not sure reading all these stories helps. But I will share some of my views on it.
My first encounter with my pilonidal cyst was when I was 23, traveling in Ecuador, and spoke very little Spanish. At first, as is so so common, thought I had taken a bad bus ride and bruised my tailbone. I had no idea what was happening. By the grace of god, a friend I had made really wanted to go to a local hot spring. There I soaked and soaked, when I got back to my hostel, the cyst ruptured. It smelled terrible and I was horrified.
That same friend took me to the doctor the next day, where I had to show my ass to a doctor I could not even speak to. He knew his stuff and wrote it out on a piece of paper: pilonidal cyst. He gave me a super strong antibiotic, and I was on my way. I did not feel it or think about it until last summer, when I was 28. The cyst returned and turned into an abscess. I took myself to urgent care and was informed that it was infected and had to be lanced. It seemed like a good idea, and the practitioner joked that since I had a tattoo, I would be able to handle this.
The doctor stuck me with anesthetic and then sliced in. It hurt like hell, there was no numbing. It was so much pain that I puked and almost passed out. Then it got worse. Nothing drained from that initial cut, so then I had to return 2 days later with a larger abscess. By this point I had shared all the gory details with my mom, and she came with me. This doctor had some actual skills, although it still hurt terribly. And it drained, and my mom, who was trained in nursing, did the aftercare. I have two scars embracing my butt crack. Let me interject here and make some comments. I am not hairy at all, even the specialist I saw noted that.
After seeing a specialist last year I made sure to clean the area with Hibiclens – surgical cleanser – every shower. I would often clean the hear with rubbing alcohol when sitting on the toilet. I was raised to eat very healthy and still do – meaning I eat no fast food, very little sugar and almost no prefab foods. My job doesn’t even require me to sit all day, and when it reemerged this summer, I was into a great fitness practice. So all the ways that people make you feel like it is something you did, how you messed it up, just cannot be the case. These are just evil little skin demons, as far as I’m concerned.
So right now I am in the middle of an infection, right along the scar tissue from last year. And I did not allow the Urgent Care doctor to cut into me. I am on antibiotics and a painkiller to get through this week. On Monday I am meeting with one specialist who is in my insurance network. Then at the end of that week I am hoping to meet with a specialist who is referenced on this website. I am taking my time and collecting as much information as possible. I will have to make the horrible decisions that everyone here has had to make:
1. wait for it to die down or get it excised continue to live with it and increase my daily care
2. get a traditional surgery and spend my summer healing
3. try to get a non-surgical option that may or may not work I will update this site once I speak with the specialists and work through my own options.
Thank you for being here and sharing your own stories.