Pilonidal Cyst

midnightgale · 05-20-2008, 05:26 PM

I was just diagnosed with a Pilonidal Cyst. I've had it for years but was too embarassed because of its placement. As I've read its at the top of my 'natal cleft' aka my butt. So finally after showing my doctor she suggests i go have a surgeon look at it for which will be most likely the removal of the cyst.

www.pilonidal.org had the most information on this that I found. Basically it's a hair follicle that gets agitated and forms a cyst. Some are lucky and it just needs to be lanced. Others need surgery to remove it, which, depending on the form of closure can take up to 8 weeks to fully heal. 1 week til you go back to work, usually.

I haven't seen the surgeon yet, that's next week, but I'm really not looking forward to it. Main reason: I'm finally in a relationship, but we both have high sex drives. Silly reason I know, but 8 weeks with no bed time play? And until I find out what my options are I don't want to tell my bf. I want to have the answers for him when he asks what and all that...

Anyone have this? If so, what was your experience like?

TennisNut · 05-20-2008, 09:28 PM

My sister had one. It was terribly painful for her, she couldn't fully sit down for many weeks. She had hers lanced twice, and then she ended up having surgery. The surgery was pretty tough, but I think she had a pretty bad one. (It absessed after riding a bull one night, a fake one of course. No, I'm not kidding). If the lancing has a chance of working, I would go for that!! :o)) Again, not to scare you. I think hers was pretty bad. Good luck!

witchy1 · 05-20-2008, 09:44 PM

I had one when I was in the 7th grade. It went down all the way to my tail bone and was infected. I had surgery to remove it. It took forever to heal and I am still paranoid about my scar back there.

MommaMcCoy · 05-20-2008, 09:50 PM

Yep. I have this exact thing. I've had it for years, but it was at its worse when I was about 35 weeks preggo with my son... talk about misery! It hurt so bad and was so big (and my belly was so big) that I cried the whole way to the doctor. They lanced it and the doc told me that I needed to have it surgically removed when the baby was born. Well... he's seventeen months old now and I have yet to do that, and as I sit here I can feel the stupid thing. I can't wait to have it removed, but doc did tell me that more than likely it will grow back... but I'll get rid of it longer by having it removed than by just having it lanced. Compared to the pressure and pain of it being huge and swollen, having it lanced was not painful at all... I'm sure surgery wouldn't be any worse, either.

Chandra · 05-21-2008, 12:02 AM

I had one too. I had surgery on mine, after years of lanceing and draining, it abcessing on it's own. I had my surgery in 1994 and have never had another problem with it. When I had it lanced it was left open to drain. When I had surgery the doctor put 7 or 8 stitches in. In my opinion having an untreated pilonidal cyst is far worse than the surgery.

Good luck with your appointment.

Mim · 05-21-2008, 06:21 PM

Mine got infected when I was 15. I was in Ohio visiting relatives, and had to ride 600 miles sitting on it to get home (in a two-door, so I had to get in and out to let the sisters go pee at stops), spent another two days in agony before making a 3 hour trip to the children's hospital in Montreal- where I got to spend my 16th birthday in the emergency room and was diagnosed with a pilonidal cyst. It was quite the event every time I went in. I'd be laying there and someone would be all, 'hey Joe, come look at this!' >.<

This is when I found out that I have a fairly high pain threshold. I think I only cried twice the whole time. -.-

Had my surgery at 17 (on Christmas Eve!), but it was really huge and I was warned I might have to have another surgery done later to get the rest of it. It did end up returning- I've had it get infected twice since then- but the pain isn't nearly as bad now because of the nerves they cut out. I have a huge numb spot. It's kinda cool.

I haven't gone back for another surgery, mainly because it hasn't bothered me in the last five years and I've had enough of people staring at my bare ass. Next time someone stares at my ass I want it to be because it's cute, not because I've got anything that involves the word 'pus'.

MommaMcCoy · 05-21-2008, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mim

Mine got infected when I was 15. I was in Ohio visiting relatives, and had to ride 600 miles sitting on it to get home (in a two-door, so I had to get in and out to let the sisters go pee at stops), spent another two days in agony before making a 3 hour trip to the children's hospital in Montreal- where I got to spend my 16th birthday in the emergency room and was diagnosed with a pilonidal cyst. It was quite the event every time I went in. I'd be laying there and someone would be all, 'hey Joe, come look at this!' >.<

This is when I found out that I have a fairly high pain threshold. I think I only cried twice the whole time. -.-

Had my surgery at 17 (on Christmas Eve!), but it was really huge and I was warned I might have to have another surgery done later to get the rest of it. It did end up returning- I've had it get infected twice since then- but the pain isn't nearly as bad now because of the nerves they cut out. I have a huge numb spot. It's kinda cool.

I haven't gone back for another surgery, mainly because it hasn't bothered me in the last five years and I've had enough of people staring at my bare ass. Next time someone stares at my ass I want it to be because it's cute, not because I've got anything that involves the word 'pus'.

It's funny you mention that, because when I had mine lanced, every doctor who would come in to "help" me would eventually call in other doctors and nurses to look at it... it was embarassing! What's with that?!?!?!

Mim · 05-21-2008, 11:07 PM

I know! Talk about insensitive. I mean, hey, I'm bare assed to the world here. D'you mind?

Yeesh. Doctors.

(The up side is that if they're doing that, it's because they don't care they're looking at someone's bum. It's just something medically interesting. Which is a little comforting. That they don't really notice your bum, I mean.)

laikola · 05-22-2008, 01:35 AM

I had it too!! I actually just had surgery back in November. Some surgeons leave the incision open to heal. (You have to keep it packed with gauze, and it heals from the inside out. And takes 7-8 weeks or so to heal) And now some surgeons are closing them. (This is what I had done) When the surgeons close it, it takes less time to heal (mine took 2.5 weeks) and there is a slightly higher rate of the cyst coming back.

With them closing it, it still hurt like hell!! They pulled the skin together, packed my "crack" with gauze, then put really thick sutures through my cheeks and pulled them tight. I had to leave that in for a week and a half or so...and then had it removed. And whenever i'd shower the gauze would soak up water, and THEN dry out and become SOOOO hard. It hurt the whole time I had my sutures in!!!

I was out of work for 3 weeks. I LOVED IT!

witchy1 · 05-25-2008, 07:54 PM

Mine was left open to heal. I had 9 yards of gauze packed in my rear that my mom had to pull out. I also had to go in once a week to have it catuerized since I heal really slowly.

Mim · 05-25-2008, 08:14 PM

Mine was open as well. My mother dressed it at first, then I took over. It was really, really deep - my dad took one look and had to leave. But he's notoriously squeamish (he actually fainted flat out when she was dehorning goats once... After that, I was the helper.

)

I heal pretty quickly, though. It was just the last inch and a half that took a bloody long time to close. Months and months, the bugger. Guh.

AngelaGrace · 05-25-2008, 08:33 PM

I had one lanced in 8th grade. And in the ER, ALL of the Dr's and Nurses came in to see it! (They asked first, and I was like, "Sure, my @$$ is hanging out for everyone to see." I really didn't care.) I guess it's like a medical phenomena? Well, it was BIG since I had been putting a heating pad on it (not then realizing what the heck it was, just that I was in pain.) Lancing it was so painful, and I have a little scar back there (not not like anyone can see it.. ha!) But lucky for me, no problems since! I have an uncle who got them over and over, and had to have the full surgery.

Best of luck to you!

witchy1 · 05-25-2008, 09:59 PM

I wonder it having a=had this makes you more suceptible (sp?) to boils/staph infections...

AngelaGrace · 05-27-2008, 09:06 PM

TMI WARNING...

responding to witchy....

I don't know.. but I have to be careful w/ my armpits. If I use a regular razor like I do on my legs, about a week later, I get 1, 2, 3 boil-type things in my armpits! They are absolutely rediculous!! My dr. said it's folliculitus (sp?) and to not shave or use deodorant. I literally laughed at him. I am not lucky enough to be ok w/ having hairy, stinky pits. BUT.. I use my DH's beard trimmer and just trim the hairs pretty close, not at close as a regular razor would, but it's not bad. And I still use deodorant. And I go for months and months w/ maybe 1 tiny cyst thing developing in my pit.

Not sure if that's something you were referring to, but just wanted to chime in.

midnightgale · 05-27-2008, 09:42 PM

Saw the surgeon today... Basically my problem is the cyst shot off the center line to the left and the resulting scab just won't heal completely. We're going to try a 10 day antibiotic course and gauze pads to protect it from clothing rubbing against it. Hopefully this works because the main cyst hardly ever bothers me. If not it'll be one of the longer heal times because he'll have to take so much. I'm praying this works.

Thank you all for sharing, it really does help knowing you're not alone.