Pilonidal sinus

LegacyUser

Just wondering how long people had pilonidal sinus for and how is they cope?

GetOffMyPatch

You need an operation and dressings for a month
Should be ok after that

LegacyUser

I have now had pilonidal for 4 yrs, 2 op's and no improvement
and begining to get me really down, have to get my mam to dress wound
everyday and its really getting me down.

easyontheeye

hi,

i had one about a month till i went to the A&E as the pain was unbearable. The doc operated straight away as the cavity was so deep and poison filled. i had about 2 weeks of dressings after that. how come they cant remove it or sort it out?

LegacyUser

Its being about 4 yrs now since I 1st got PS and the doc's operated 3 times and nothing is changing.....still being dressed everyday....

LegacyUser

Hello my names is Ian
I'm a 43 year old man who has had pilonidal sinus disease for the past 3 years i'v had two operations to remove it the first operation involved opening the cyst up along the midline of the cleft between my buttocks removing and draining the cyst area and closing the wound. i had the stiches removed 14 days later and was symptom free for 8 months. The second operation occured 14 months after the first and was similar only this time the wound which was 8cm long and almost 4 deep the surgon miz carton said it was to that date the depest she had removed. The wound was left open (not stitched back up )and packed with a dressing called caltastat wicks to stop the wound from healing over. This dressing had to be changed daily in my case at the dressing clinic in Louth county hospital which has fantastic staff. I spent from 29 may 2007 til the september going daily to get the dressing changed and finaly on the 24th of october the doctors decided to stop dressing it compleetly and let it close. It's now march the 12th 2008 and my symptoms are back tomorrow i have a appoimtment in Louth county Hospital Dundalk to see the surgoen again.
Most people are luckey the first operation is sucessfull and only 10% need reaccuring surgery hopefully your one of the 90%if you have the disease. if anyone needs to talk to me mail me at <snip> if my experiance can help or if you just need to talk to someone who's had the disease mail me

tbh

Hi Ian,

it's boards policy that users cannot post personal details like email addresses. Can I suggest you create an account, and you can invite people to PM (private message) you. Hope your appointment goes well.

mishno5

My son has had this problem since he was 13, 10 years now. He's had 15 operations, one being plastic surgery, which they did to cover the problem up cuz it wasn't healing. Now everything has turned yukking inside. The consultant said where normal sinuses are a bout 2 to 3 inches in length my son's in about 10 and the bigges he's ever seen. There are tracks running from it leading to his spine, they are talking about removing the tip of his spine cuz of it. At one point they thought he had a track running to his bowels, but they are fine. The only thing that is infected there is the tube running from his bowels to exit waste from his body this is infected and the smell is just terrible.
Some people are very luck and heal quit quick but my lad has been told he'll have this forever.
If anyone thinks they have this problem please get it seen to right away, you can't mess around with this condidtion.

phelixoflaherty

I had that a few years back. It was like a huge spot on the cleft of my ass, and growing. Eventually it was so painful I could hardly sit down. One day while reading on my bed it suddenly burst and what came out was the vilest stuff I've ever smelled. Went to Doc, put me on Antibiotics. It cleared up. He explained that crude cure for it. Didn't fancy that. It reappeared after a few months and went the antibiotic route again. Started to reappear a third time, and was at a party one w/end and had a lot of Gin and Tonic. The lump on my ass disappeared. Could be chance but hasn't come back.
It's quite common in young men, I think cycling can aggravate it.
Good hygiene in that area is essential with antiseptic stuff like teatree oil etc.
All the best

niallon

I am currently recovering from removal of a pilonidal sinus which was located just at my waistline at the back. I believe from what I've read online that I am very fortunate with the location but it is still wuite a large cavity it has left.

The best summary I can give the procedure is awkward. I was operated on last Monday and still have yet to feel an iota of pain. The problem is keeping the wound clean afters. Obviously it's dressed etc but trying to keep a bandage on in the one spot of your body that you move even if you don't mean to day in day out.

Some of the posts I've read above show that it can definitely vary in extremity and I wish the best to all sufferers listed above who seem to have cases of it recurring etc. but for any of you noticing a pilonidal for the first time now and so who more than likely only have a benign case, get it sorted now, don't dwell. Even I tried to ignore it for the first few months thinking it was just bruising or something but due to the nature and location it is the kind of thing that can only get worse.

Twinkle84

I have now had 2 operations for this, currently recovering from the 2nd one which was done in February 2008, was nearly healed but has now opened up again, feel like its never get close. Anyway when I had the first operation it was suggested that I have some sort of Laser Hair removal in the area which should help to stop it from happening again. I never got round to it the first time, was just wondering if anyone has had this done and does it help?

Thanks

niallon

No but I'd definitely be considering it now, it seems that this week, when the wound looks to have mere days left to heal, a hair has worked it's way into it and now I'm back to square one again by the looks of things! Arg!!!

pookie82

Laser hair removal is extreme but worth a shot. Anything to prevent it coming back. But until you can afford/get that procedure, use veet hair removal cream on the scar (not on an open wound but on the healed wound to prevent it growing back in) on a regular basis. That should stop the hairs in their tracks.

pookie82

niallon wrote: »

No but I'd definitely be considering it now, it seems that this week, when the wound looks to have mere days left to heal, a hair has worked it's way into it and now I'm back to square one again by the looks of things! Arg!!!

Is there no way to work it back out before it starts the damage??? I really feel for you - been there :mad:

LegacyUser

~I am just out of hospital with one. had it about a week and just kept feeling worse with it. went to a & e and they operated. just got out saturday. definately worth going to hospital for as even only 2 days after operation it feels much better like big pressure is gone.

i was at two gps that gave me antibiotics, the second lot of antibiotics cost me 70 euro and i only ended up using one days worth, does anyone know if there is any way of recovering that cost because i have spent 200 euro seeing gps in the last week and thats not including the hospital costs i will be getting. and i never even used the antibiotics.
was a total waste of 70 euro especially when you cant afford it.

metoyou

Hey!!

I had my surgery at the end of April, after months of keeping it quiet!
I eventually did some research and freaked myself out enough to go see a doctor and got diagnosed straight away!
Got referred to a surgeon who has a high success rate so i was instantly happy with that! He said we caught it early enough which i was suprised at seeming i kept it quiet for so long!

Anyway, had surgery(on my birthday too) put a downer on things!!!
Was left to heal as an open wound.
It was just at the base of my back, not to far down, basically where tail bone is located.
Got dressings off the local public health nurses everyday for 7 weeks!
Was fairly deep too!
Went back to my surgeon for a check up and everything was great he said!
Just the usual, be careful and keep it clean etc!
Still needed dressings, but wasnt much packing!

The week later, 8 weeks after surgey, everything was grand, nurse came after leaving me for a week, and said she was discharging me, great of course!
Anyway two weeks later, now its week 10, over the last week or so its become really sore, like the sore you get when you forget youve had surgery and you go and sit on it by accident, and thats not good!
So im back on the difine to stop the pain but its not helping!

And to make matters worse it seems that the scar is re-opening or something cause theres a very faint hole appearing at the top of it!
After a frantic call this morning to public health nurse, she ll be calling out tomorrow to check up!

I hope to god she doesnt refer me to surgeon!
I dont think i can take the news of having to have more surgery.
Out of work for 4 weeks, not being able to do anything except lie on your side or front!
Not the kind of life you want at 19, or any age for that matter!

Fingers crossed

pookie82

metoyou wrote: »

Hey!!

I had my surgery at the end of April, after months of keeping it quiet!
I eventually did some research and freaked myself out enough to go see a doctor and got diagnosed straight away!
Got referred to a surgeon who has a high success rate so i was instantly happy with that! He said we caught it early enough which i was suprised at seeming i kept it quiet for so long!

Anyway, had surgery(on my birthday too) put a downer on things!!!
Was left to heal as an open wound.
It was just at the base of my back, not to far down, basically where tail bone is located.
Got dressings off the local public health nurses everyday for 7 weeks!
Was fairly deep too!
Went back to my surgeon for a check up and everything was great he said!
Just the usual, be careful and keep it clean etc!
Still needed dressings, but wasnt much packing!

The week later, 8 weeks after surgey, everything was grand, nurse came after leaving me for a week, and said she was discharging me, great of course!
Anyway two weeks later, now its week 10, over the last week or so its become really sore, like the sore you get when you forget youve had surgery and you go and sit on it by accident, and thats not good!
So im back on the difine to stop the pain but its not helping!

And to make matters worse it seems that the scar is re-opening or something cause theres a very faint hole appearing at the top of it!
After a frantic call this morning to public health nurse, she ll be calling out tomorrow to check up!

I hope to god she doesnt refer me to surgeon!
I dont think i can take the news of having to have more surgery.
Out of work for 4 weeks, not being able to do anything except lie on your side or front!
Not the kind of life you want at 19, or any age for that matter!

Fingers crossed

Hey, how did you get on? I hope the news was good.

I suffered with this from age 15 to 18 and had five operations. I'm told I was a rarity though, to have to have so many. But they're a bitch for re-ocurring and it doesn't seem to matter how many procautions you take or what you do. I waited months at a time agonisingly waiting for each surgery to heal up, only to find a few weeks after it closed that it would re-open adn start again and back to square one. For some reason all looked well right up until the final stages and then bam, in the last crucial week it would decide it was still infected and start again. It was very emotionally and physically draining and I spent years trying to get rid of it. In the end it was so deep my surgeon had to sttich it back up layer by layer. But the last round worked, and it was stiched closed (usually the most successful surgeries are those left open but that didn't work for me, and the healing time is much slower).

I really hope it's not back to square one for you.

metoyou

Hey pookie82

My nurse called in yesterday to have a look and she even said it was bad that it had reopened!
Asked is she could tell if it was infected at all but cause it was so small she couldnt be sure!
Was packed and dressed and sent on my way!

But last night... my god... everything was ok, no pain.. nada!
But Then got up this morning for my daily (and annoying!) salt bath and what do you no, wound.......TOTALLY reopened!

Anyway nurse was due to call back in and she did, and she said, thankfully, that it didnt look infected!
But its back to dressings over the next while
Damn and id just started getting back into my run of life again!

She had even said it was all too good to be true!
Cause id seen so many different nurses from the health centre, but she was my main one, that they all went back to her if i was healing good!
They all had said that i healed so quick it was unbelievable!
Looks like towards the end it just did a big jump and quickly formed new cells but didnt form completely and looked like it ended up healing outside in instead off inside out!

Shes back tomorrow and friday, and we ll see how things are friday, if im still in pain, i wasnt today!, then ive to get antibiotics or if im any worse ive to make an emergency appointment to see surgeon

What you said there about stitching it up by layer... may be a good suggestion if the need ever arises again.. hopefully not!
I want rid of this once, now twice, and for all!

It is totally emotionally and physically draining, i dont know how you coped with having to go through so many surgeries!

I feel for those who, if any are reading this and just found out you have it, its an awful annoyance but unfortunatly its got to be lived with!

pookie82

God that sounds so familiar!!! (Don't panic though, not as in it happened to me five times!) I just mean that when the wound is left open towards the end it kind of "rushes" to close itself before it's totally healed inside and what happened to you is the result of that - it hasn't filled in underneath and the skin reopens. But if it doesn't look re-infected then it may just be that it re-opened itself in order to heal properly. The reason that these wounds are packed with dressings for so long is that, left to its natural devices, your body would try to close up a huge open wound as soon as possible. So it would try to seal the opening and keep underneath clear of infection. Which makes sense UNLESS underneath was infected in the first place and needs to have the air get at it to clear up.

Towards the end of the healing process in particular it tends to "rush" closed and I think this is normal. Mine took a long long time to close but then towards the end it rushed closed in a hurry. Rapid healing time, while the most convient for the patient, can mean that it has a likelyhood of recurring.

But if your isn't giving you pain it sounds good. Did the pain stop when it reopened? Maybe your pain was a sign it had closed too quickly and now that it's open again the pressure is off. I really hope that it goes well. Don't worry, chances are you won't be as unlucky as me! Even if it does take a few more weeks it'l be worth it to be rid.

If you ever need anything (advice or to talk) always feel free to pm me. I'm not a medical doc but I know all there is to know about this unfortunately!!!! Good luck :-)

metoyou

yep pain stopped, well the major pain stopped anyway, when it reopened!

yea been talking to family and nurses bout it, and basically what you said is what happened, rushed to heal at end but didnt heal properly and the bam back again!

yea if it takes a few weeks to rid of it once and for all itll be worth it in a way!

thanks for your help!
Ha, Maybe you should look into working for this yourself!
God knows you`ve enough experience!!!
Thanks!
Good luck to you too!

mishno5

Well my son is going into hospital on the 3rd aug for his 19th operation. This is the big op, he's infected that bad that there are tracks running into his spine so next week he may have to have his coxics removed.
Although they are doing something to try and heal it which they don't generally do, they are putting in a hoover dressing. Don't know how he's going to get on with this but if anyone wants information just let me know.

metoyou

NINETEEN????

my god, that is soooo bad!
sounds nasty what he is having done.
Hope everything runs smoothly!

Im back in with my surgeon wednesday morning to find out why this is gone in reverse instead of forward!

Best of luck with that.

Supercell

I had this when I was about 16.
Went into my GP because I thought I had a boil at the base of my spine and it was really painful , she referred me to a specialist in Dun Laoghaire hospital who admitted me there and then and had the op the next day.

Didn't have to get daily dressing but they put this sucker thing with a kind of billows over the wound and stitched my cheeks together.

After a week in hospital they removed the sucker thing and dressed the wound and gave me laxatives and told me to drink plenty of fluids and try not to stain when on the toilet.
They did tell me there was a pretty high risk of reoccurance but it never did, seems though the proceedure I had differers from others here?, the doc did tell me that it was a new proceedure at the time (about 20 years ago now) but surely that wouldnt be the case now.
Maybe i was just lucky they caught it early enough to remove all traces?

pookie82

Some people just seem to be lucky with it Supercell and others not so lucky.... A good mate of mine who had been really good to me all through my years of surgery ended up getting it herself a few years later. The poor girl was terrified after seeing what I went through but thankfully she only needed one operation and was back to normal in about a month. It never reared it's ugly head again for her.

Mishno5 I really feel for your son that's awful. By the time I was having my last operation they had to go so deep that there was a chance I'd be left paralysed or incontinent - luckily neither happened and they didn't warn me beforehand (only my parents) so i didn't freak out. I can't imagine what it must be like to go through all that 19 times and still not have a recovery. Tbh honest most get rid of it in one go, max two - but there are a few people who it seems to effect really badly and the doctors are baffled as to how to stop it.

Metoyou - I hope it's going well for you and hasn't deteriorated too much! Let us know how you get on :-)

MagicMarker

Jebus!!!

I've had one of these for years now, it started when i got an office job, coinciding with when i first started driving, sitting down all day. I've always known what it was by looking it up online. Reading other peoples stories it was quite clear that i really don't have it that bad, generally it's painless except maybe a few days every month or two where it swells up and really sore, but then it dies down again and i barely notice it. I'm pretty sure my brother has it too.

To those that have had the surgery, how long were you out of work? And how long were you in hospital?

Pardon the pun, bit this seems a real pain in the ass.

Supercell

MagicMarker, from reading the stories above its not something that i'd wait and see if it went away by itself!
I did a lot of cycling at the time and it was making that almost impossible which is the only thing that promted me to go to the doc in the first place, I think I got lucky as a result.

MagicMarker

I never thought it would go away, however i was hoping it would just stay as is, and not get a lot worse, which it hasn't. But reading the replies here, the least i should do is go to the doctor and see if antibiotics will do the trick.

Surgery really isn't an option for me in the foreseeable future as i just couldn't take that kind of time off work.

pookie82

MagicMarker - Depending on the extent of your wound, recovery can take anything from a couple of weeks to a couple of months (if you're lucky).

As you may have gathered, there are two popular methods used to try to clear it post surgery. one is to stitch the wound and hope they've gotten all of the infection out and it clears up in about a week or two (depending on getting stitches out etc).

The more popular method is to leave the wound open. It's then "packed" on a daily basis with surgical dressing to ensure that it doesn't close too quickly and trap an infected area under the skin again (read some of my discussion with metoyou above and this might help to explain this method). This often takes a month or two to close. Once it does that should be that, as long as it's kept hygenic and well cleaned throughout recovery time (though this can be v hard due to its location!)

Yours sounds pretty benign if you've had ot for a long time and it's bearable. My pain was literally unbearable and it ate into a nearby muscle causing me on one occasion to pass out with pain. The general feeling of a really deep, bruised soreness in my lower back was too unbearable for me not to see to, and i have a pretty high threshold.

I would advice that you see a doctor though. many are willing to try a course of antibiotics before jumping for surgery and a few have had this work for them. you could also ask if draining it is an option (again, not a surgical procedure but it may ease the problem). But I would strongly advise that you get it checked out. If left unattended these things can go pretty deep. The reason it's such a horrible affliction is that once you contract the infection, it sometimes doesn't show up for months. You then get a strange bruised feeling and a lump or a boil and think you have a fairly easily remedied problem. What you don't realise is that what's going on on the surface is a tiny fraction of what's going on underneath in most cases. The boil or lump is only an outlet - the big problem can spread inches down the skin.

So I would get it seen to to ensure that you don't end up with a much bigger problem down the line.

MagicMarker

pookie82 wrote: »

MagicMarker - Depending on the extent of your wound, recovery can take anything from a couple of weeks to a couple of months (if you're lucky).

As you may have gathered, there are two popular methods used to try to clear it post surgery. one is to stitch the wound and hope they've gotten all of the infection out and it clears up in about a week or two (depending on getting stitches out etc).

The more popular method is to leave the wound open. It's then "packed" on a daily basis with surgical dressing to ensure that it doesn't close too quickly and trap an infected area under the skin again (read some of my discussion with metoyou above and this might help to explain this method). This often takes a month or two to close. Once it does that should be that, as long as it's kept hygenic and well cleaned throughout recovery time (though this can be v hard due to its location!)

Yours sounds pretty benign if you've had ot for a long time and it's bearable. My pain was literally unbearable and it ate into a nearby muscle causing me on one occasion to pass out with pain. The general feeling of a really deep, bruised soreness in my lower back was too unbearable for me not to see to, and i have a pretty high threshold.

I would advice that you see a doctor though. many are willing to try a course of antibiotics before jumping for surgery and a few have had this work for them. you could also ask if draining it is an option (again, not a surgical procedure but it may ease the problem). But I would strongly advise that you get it checked out. If left unattended these things can go pretty deep. The reason it's such a horrible affliction is that once you contract the infection, it sometimes doesn't show up for months. You then get a strange bruised feeling and a lump or a boil and think you have a fairly easily remedied problem. What you don't realise is that what's going on on the surface is a tiny fraction of what's going on underneath in most cases. The boil or lump is only an outlet - the big problem can spread inches down the skin.

So I would get it seen to to ensure that you don't end up with a much bigger problem down the line.

Ugh! Not good!

Yeah, mine is most definitely not as bad as most. Rarely is it a big problem, although it has been quite sore the past few days.. But i know from experience over the next couple of days it will decrease in size and won't be an issue for a while.

But i obviously don't know of any underlying damage, so best to see a doctor. I would prefer a dose of antibiotics first. If surgery is a necessity then i'll have to go down that route, but not for a few months at least.

Question, if you opt for surgery and it's decided to leave the wound open, is it always a case of being visited by a nurse daily or do you have to make your own way to a doctor? Or are you bed ridden for the duration? Also, i would assume you're on some pretty intense pain meds considering you have a gaping hole in your lower back?

pookie82

There's quite an amount of post surgery pain but they'll give you morphine to deal with that. After about a week the pain will fade and believe it or not the gaping hole isn't that painful!!! Not half as bad as the original problem anyway. because they usually have to take nerves and muscle the likelihood is that the "hole" left behind won't hurt at all. When it's knittng back together you may get some musle ticks and weird sensations but pain isn't an issue after the initial surgery.

Yes a public health nurse will be designated to visit your house on a daily basis for a while if your wound is left open. As it heals she'll probably need to come less and less though unless it gets re-infected. As for mobility - mine was pretty extreme and deep so i don't think it's fair to take my experience as the norm. Mine was just on my coxicks (I dunno how you spell that) at the base of my spine so it was bery hard to sit/lie/walk for a while but it gets better pretty fast if well looked after. Driving/cycling or sitting on it for long periods will be out of the question for a while though. But there's no reason for you to remain bed ridden at all.

I hope it's ok if I ask you this - when yours flairs up does it actually burst??? (I know that's gross but it;s important). you say it gets sore and swells but goes down again and gets less sore for a while.... Does this all happen underneath or does anything come out??? If it doesn't I'd get it seen to asap. Cos it's just travelling back down adn burrowing further in if not. If you want to avoid the need for surgery and a long recovery period you need to minimise your chances of it coming to that now. So go get it drained.

MagicMarker

Yeah it does, erm, secrete.... ewwww!:)

Hopefully i'll be lucky and it won't be such a hindrance in years to come. It would be nice to get rid of it for good.

pookie82

Well at least that means it's not all kept inside (this is pretty eeeeewww) so maybe it hasn't progressed too much. Good luck with the doc.

metoyou

@ MagicMarker
good luck with the docs if you do go... would seriously recommend it too!

pookie82 knows what he/she is talking about!

mines gone in reverse over the last few weeks, healed and then reopened :mad:
NOT GOOD!


Good Luck!!

pookie82

metoyou wrote: »

@ MagicMarker
good luck with the docs if you do go... would seriously recommend it too!

pookie82 knows what he/she is talking about!

mines gone in reverse over the last few weeks, healed and then reopened :mad:
NOT GOOD!


Good Luck!!

I'm a she

Sorry to hear that things have gone in reverse for you. It's awful to get to the last stages of this and have it play up on you again. Unfortunately that's the way this thing seems to work :mad: Hang in there and do all you can to keep the area clean and dry. The last thing you need now is another infection to set in. Hope it goes well.

metoyou

Ahhh im a she too!

Good news


IM NOT INFECTED :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

BUT
i have to trek all the way into the hospital in the city centre to get dressings from now on, every second or third day
Surgeon just said that something must have happened when i was getting the dressings off the public health nurse, so he said i should get them in the hospital from now on, what a pain!
Im not really that bothered, just delighted its not infected and no more surgery

hope everyones in good form too!!

pookie82

metoyou wrote: »

Ahhh im a she too!

Good news


IM NOT INFECTED :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

BUT
i have to trek all the way into the hospital in the city centre to get dressings from now on, every second or third day
Surgeon just said that something must have happened when i was getting the dressings off the public health nurse, so he said i should get them in the hospital from now on, what a pain!
Im not really that bothered, just delighted its not infected and no more surgery

hope everyones in good form too!!

that's brilliant!!! I'm really happy for you. Great news! And although the trek to hospital sounds like a pain in the ass [pardon the pun:)] I'm sure it will be worth it to have it close and go away for good. Make sure to keep it clean now!!! *wags finger*

mishno5

Just to let you all know that asked about Carl he had the operation on Monday. It's very rare to use a hoover theropy dressing on this condition, its generally used on the stomach.
The plastic surgeon recomended it and if it works then I think everyone that suffers from this condition should ask to have it done.
They had to cut extreamly deep, they said you can see the bone, but luckly they are not going to remove his coxics. The dressing is like a big sponge with a hole in the middle and a tube attached which leads to a little hoover machine that sucks out the infection. The sponges have to be changed every 5 days, but they are changing Carl's today and to reveiw it.
They are going to fit a portable hoover on so hopefully he can come home tomorrow. The hoover has to stop on until it has healed. He's sufferd with this for so long fingers crossed that this works, and if it does I hope that people that read this consider having it done. I'll let you know of Carl's progress.
Michelle

BraziliaNZ

oh god michelle I wish him best of luck my heart goes out to him and you his mother.
My story is thus - I had a HUGE chunk taken out of me over 9 years ago as I had a hole at bottom of spine. Before that, I think there was soreness under the skin for a few years and swelling. So I had to be packed etc by my darling mother for a couple of months afterwards I think. I dealt with it quite well though I think didn't let it get in my way of life.

Anyway about 8 months later I noticed another opening, this time in a more awkward area, further down if you know what I mean. I went to the doctor who had a look and he said it's back but not bad, and some people just live with it all their lives. So I don't have any pain and it doesn't affect me now, just gets itchy sometimes, and every once in a while a bit sore. Now with all this talk of it burrowing into my spine etc. I'm worried!!! Is there any evidence of it really hurting people? I can't find any on the web, i.e. interfering with the spine or bowels or rectum etc.

mishno5

They have always told Carl that the tracks where going into his spine and there was talk of tracks maybe going into his bowels but nothing else has been said. I think they just like to keep an eye on you.. Like I said before though they did say that Carl needed to have the bottom of his spine taken away but they haven't done it......thank god.
I don't think they can ever cure them fully but I do have hope with this hoover dressing.

Andy-Pandy

I have it as well, its a serious pain in the ass.

I dont think i have it as bad as a lot of people though, and luckily it has not flaired up in a while (3-4 months). When it does im lucky as it is not to deep and im able to burst it like a spot (is this normal?) and drain all the gunk away. I've mastered the draining process now and can usually clear it out in an unpleasent day or two. I'm the only person that ive read about that seems to be able to do this, am i just blessed with this? When it first happened years ago i pulled a hair out of it that was about 2-3 feet long it was insane? im guessing i was lucky i was able to do that cleanly, although its never really been explained to me.

metoyou

mishno5
Fingers crossed for your son. Hopefully he'll be rid of it from now on!

Andy-Pandy
I must say... that is quite gross!
Have you been back to your doctor any of the times its flared up again?
I know that when the wound is left open to heal that if healed properly, the scar tissue should be too hard to allow any hair to regrow and cause infection.
Was yours left open after surgery?

pookie82

Mishno - please come back on and let us know how your son is doing. I have my fingers crossed and wish you both the best. Really hope he comes through it this time.

Andy-Pandy - have you seen a GP about this or are you just treating yourself? From what I've read/heard there are some people lucky enough to be able to handle it/"treat" it themselves. Often, though, there's a chance it will progress to the next level and you will develop too much pain for it to be left unattended. You asked if it's normal to be able to burst them like a spot - yes it is. At one stage the lump on my back was so bad that I had to intervene and burst it too, thus relieving the rtension and draining the gunk inside. But this was never a long term solution as mine was too painful and went too deep to live with.

To anyone treating this themselves, I would always advise that you at least get a GP to have a look. IF it's a bad case they'll refer you to a surgeon. If not they may give you antibiotics and see if that works. If you're happy that it doesn't effect your life too much then it's your choice to continue with it the way it is. But if any sudden changes occur - a deepening, bruised sort of pain, an enlarging of the spot or boil or any other trouble in the area, I'd have it seen to.

An ingrowing hair is the most common cause of these occuring - hence the hair that you found. Perhaps you happened to have unnatural hair growth in that one area which resulted in the infection. Others have suggested that an old injury can set them off, such as falling hard on your coxics (though I think we've all done that as kids!).

LegacyUser

Hi,

I had Pilonidal Sinus about 2 years from February now. However I let it develop untreated for 2-3 years. Eventually due to the pain and immense bleeding that resulted, I decided to attend the GP. It was extremely smelly gunk that oozed out of the wound. Eventually got it seen by a surgeon, got the procedure done, and was in and out of the A+E for about 8 months with a near re-occurrence in between.

I've personally never experienced worse pain than when being treated by the nursing staff during the dressing in the A+E. It was a hindrance of time, and the pain just was unbearable to even sit down at times, thank goodness it's gone now, and even to this day 2 years afterwards, I still regularly keep the area clean by removing any hair that may become a problem. Good personal hygiene is essential.

It's imperative that hair is removed from the cleft and the area is kept clean at all times in the future because a re-occurrence is supposed to be very common. If caught on time, antibiotics and regular cleaning/showers/bathing can remove it before it develops but after a certain point, surgery is almost always required.

mishno5

Hi just thought I'd let you know how Carl is doing. He came home from hospital nearly 2 weeks now. The day after he arrived home 4 nurses and a doctor came to see him, hoover dressings are rare so the nurses had to be shown how to fit them. The wound is inbetween his bottom and is 11cm long and was 6 cm deep, it was said it was that deep the bone was showing. Since he has had it done its healed by 2 cm.
The vac is portable and easy to use. If anyone has been suffering with this condition and they keep going into hospital for operation after operation please ask your doctor or consultant about vaccum theropy dressing. If its a cure for this condition its worth having done.

LegacyUser

Hi everyone,

Ive had a pilonidal sinus operation twice now in the last 8 months. The first one didn't heal after 6 months so they had to do it again and now i'm 2 months after my 2nd operation. I had an awful time with slow healing even though i was eating right, taking vitamins and doing nothing to irritate it. The second excision was 7cm long and 6cm deep and was quite painfull but got to a point where it stopped healing for nearly 3 weeks!! So with the worry of having to have to go for surgury again someone recommended reflexology and after 2 sessions it had halfed in size. Ive now had 3 sessions and its still healing. I didnt think much of reflexology but as you can imagine 8 months of dressings and 2 surgurys was brining me down, not only did reflexology help my wound but it really relaxed me and put me in a great mood lately and i recommend it to anyone having trouble with slow healing or anything like that. Also ive been advised to take manuca honey or something just for anyone whos looking for something to help them

pookie82

mishno5 wrote: »

Hi just thought I'd let you know how Carl is doing. He came home from hospital nearly 2 weeks now. The day after he arrived home 4 nurses and a doctor came to see him, hoover dressings are rare so the nurses had to be shown how to fit them. The wound is inbetween his bottom and is 11cm long and was 6 cm deep, it was said it was that deep the bone was showing. Since he has had it done its healed by 2 cm.
The vac is portable and easy to use. If anyone has been suffering with this condition and they keep going into hospital for operation after operation please ask your doctor or consultant about vaccum theropy dressing. If its a cure for this condition its worth having done.

Hi mishno. That's great news about Carl. 2cm's sounds like quite a bit of healing for only two weeks so surely that's a good sign.

Thanks for informing us about the vacuum dressings. Are they very bulky or do they fit neatly on. I'm sorry if i misunderstand but are they placed on the wound at each dressing and left there or are they just used for a certain amount of time before it's re-dressed?

Thanks and pass on our best wishes for a full recovery to your son.

pookie82

Pilonidal105 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Ive had a pilonidal sinus operation twice now in the last 8 months. The first one didn't heal after 6 months so they had to do it again and now i'm 2 months after my 2nd operation. I had an awful time with slow healing even though i was eating right, taking vitamins and doing nothing to irritate it. The second excision was 7cm long and 6cm deep and was quite painfull but got to a point where it stopped healing for nearly 3 weeks!! So with the worry of having to have to go for surgury again someone recommended reflexology and after 2 sessions it had halfed in size. Ive now had 3 sessions and its still healing. I didnt think much of reflexology but as you can imagine 8 months of dressings and 2 surgurys was brining me down, not only did reflexology help my wound but it really relaxed me and put me in a great mood lately and i recommend it to anyone having trouble with slow healing or anything like that. Also ive been advised to take manuca honey or something just for anyone whos looking for something to help them

Hey. I've had five operations for this and I know from experience that there seems to be a weird slowing down period in the healing process towards the middle - I have no idea why, but I remember getting very frustrated that it seemed to be moving nowhere for a few weeks about a month after surgery or so. it never crossed my mind to seek anything like reflexology (although by the end I was so desperate I would have if it had been suggested to me) as I'm not a big believer in that kind of thing, but i'm delighted to hear it's helping you.

It's strange the way the wound can slow down in the middle and then towards the end kind of rush to close over, sometimes so quickly that it undoes all of the hard work of keeping it open to heal slowly.

thanks for sharing.

pearser

Hi I'm due to have an operation for a pilonidal sinus although it doesn't seen to be as bad as some of the cases mentioned here. Can anyone tell me what exercise could be done during the healing process, ie running, swimming...or will I be completely inactive for a number of weeks? I really don't know what to expect....

kwinabeeste

pearser wrote: »

Hi I'm due to have an operation for a pilonidal sinus although it doesn't seen to be as bad as some of the cases mentioned here. Can anyone tell me what exercise could be done during the healing process, ie running, swimming...or will I be completely inactive for a number of weeks? I really don't know what to expect....

had my op in Mount Carmel 2 weeks ago. OK for 1st few days... just lyin on my side and a few painkillers. Then after 4 days unbearable pain due to infection, got antibiotics and 2 painkillers. Starting to heal now. Still have to go to Public Health Nurse everyday to dress it.I have no Pain now and can sit down for short periods but have to stand and walk around every now and again.

It has to heal from inside out, so the depth of the wound depends on the healing time. I haven't ran or done any exercise as the nurse said wait until its fully healed - prob in 4-6 weeks. Think swimming is a no go until its completely healed!

Best of luck!!!

metoyou

wow kwinabeeste

Thats some fast healing!!! 7 months on from my op and i STILL cant sit down for long periods of time (:mad:) , or run, or exercise or swim!!!!

Spose some ppl have faster healing than others! Best of luck with the healing

Hivemind187

I had pilonidal surgery about 4 years ago for sinus that had ruptured together and were extremely painful. The doctors removed about 4 inches by half to 1 inch deep by about an inch across from the top of my buttock cleft.

It took two years to heal to the point where the wound or scars werent re-opening regularly.

Pilonidal surgery is painful, it is gross, it is (no pun intended) a pain in the arse with regard to your social life and they do recur. But its better to get them sorted out because there is a risk of infection.

Personally I'm keeping a close eye on it and making sure the area is kept hair free (veet or a razor lol ... of all the things I thought I would wind up having to do ...) because I dont want to go through it again and this is one of the few things you can do to reduce the chances.