Archive for Experience of Pilonidal Sinus from 2005

My 18 year old son had a pilonidal cystectomy which left a large open wound about 2 inches deep. It healed in about 8 weeks. It was left open to heal with daily packings. The surgeon was not the least bit worried about shaving around the area, but did shave 2 times. He says it may not be hair that causes these cysts. After 8 weeks we went back thinking all was healed only for him to tell us it came back and he needed to repeat the whole horrible surgery again. We had it repeated about 6 weeks ago. I have used light therapy on the wound to heal it faster. It is a dynatronic light unit called the Solaris. I expect it to be healed in 6-7 weeks. I think the Doctor is not getting all of the sinuses cut out, but instead he says it may come back to cover himself. I asked him if there were any imaging test to show where the cyst and sinuses are and then get them all. He said no. Then I asked him about the blue dye and he said oh ya you can use that but I dont. Talk about not answering questions! I am really wondering about this guy. I wish I would have taken my son to a colerectal surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. We will go there if he needs a third surgery.

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I am currently waiting for my op of the pilonidal sinus, having the whole of the sinus removed. I have had this for a couple of years but has layed dormant.It first got passed off as a boil which was under the skin. Then this year it really flaired up and was so painfull could hardly walk. Then in the space of 6 weeks had another two come up in the same area but in different places. Mine is a 'closed' pilonidal sinus so it has never come to a head with pus or looked that obvious as it was just a large swollen mass which was quite red. I think it got passed off as something eles because im a woman of 22 yrs and not covered with hair.

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I had an operation to remove a chronic pilonidal sinus about 23 years ago.I do think it started from a sports injury falling on my coccyx.I had many years of pain upon sitting with many visits to the gp and a&e.The diagnosis came after being ill with glandular fever and GP seeing a hole.The operation was of excision and primary closure.I was in hospital for 2 weeks.No problems since except numbness in that area and I can't sit for long in one position.(I'm 1/1000 female to get it)

Now married I have a 18 yr old son who has developed the condition over night!The abcess was huge and luckily he was operated on a month later.He has had it excised and the nurses are packing everyday.He has already had 2 lots of antibiotics and it does look healty healing skin.I was horrified to think the condition has been passed down a generation and he has had to endue the pain and suffering that I did.I just hope his op. is as successful as mine was.

Goodluck to any sufferers.

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I had a pilondal sinus removed that was then left to heal by secondary intention, albeit with regular application of a red liquid (the name of which I now forget)to encourage scar tissue growth. Admittedly this was nearly 40 years ago and I'm sure procedures has since changed, but I have to say that it was almost 18 months before my wound healed completely. Fortunately I've not had any subsequent problems or recurrence.

I suspect the possible underlying cause to be an injury some four years earlier, when a fellow student pulled my chair from under me as I sat down. My coccyx took the full impact of my upper body hitting the floor, leaving me in considerabe pain for a lengthy period of time.

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I had my abcess excised and drained 2 weeks ago. It is packed everyday and is becoming smaller rapidly. I have no pain now. The pain when the infection occured was very bad,but my GP did not recognise what it was. She thought I had pulled a muscle.

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I suffered from sevre PNS about ten years back and had extensive surgery (totaling seven operations and a skin graft over two years) to remove the infected area. The wound was dressed daily with sylastic foam followed by klatistat (a seaweed derived wound dressing). I was informed that there was a possibility of it recurring and think that this may be back as i've now suffering from discharge and bleeding.

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Some years ago when my children were in their early teens, three of them had this, 2 girls and 1 boy. The girls both had surgery (both had to have the area packed every day by a district nurse) but the boy caught it early, I was told it was not Hereditary but I'm not too sure about this as it seems funny all three had this one after the other, now my oldest daughter who is 41 has it again.

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I had Pilonidal sinus and i got it cut of by an operation. Now I always keep the area clean and shave it ones a fortnight. Its always good to get it operated as soon as you see the symptoms. The sad thing is not many doctors are aware of this and they give you antibiotics and ask you to come and see them in a while. Always go for a surgen and get it treated as soon as possible. As the longer you leave it in the bigger it gets. Other thing is after the operation take bath with salt water and let the water go to your operated area. chance the banded when its wet but its important to let the salt water go in as it helps in healing and keeps the area clean.

Cheers

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I'm an active woman of slight build with an entirely hairless bottom; not your typical polynidal patient apparently. I had the surgery about 12 years ago when I was 29 although I'd been suffering the pain ever since Maryjane McGrath kicked me in the bum when I was 13 years old out by the school toilets - for no apparent reason by all accounts. I cursed Maryjane interminably for a whole 16 years before a doctor finally diagnosed my problem. Maryannes guilt however, remains unresolved.

Still, the pain was rarely excessive except during a car trip from Sydney to Canberra when I was forced onto the back seat, prostrate and miserable for the duration of the journey. About 3 years later I left work early due to some discomfort around the coccyx and by early evening, I couldn't walk. The next day I was delivered, face down, to the hospital in a taxi. Every bump in the road transferred with excruciating accuracy to my arse. I screamed all the way to Emergency. Almost immediately, I was being turned over on an operating table accompanied by my own agonising primal scream. I woke some time later with a fairly sizable slab of flesh missing from my lower back/upper arse - the medical term of which escapes me right now.

What followed were dialy pethadine injections, salt water baths, and monumentally heartbreaking screams as the nurses changed my dressing twice a day for the next week. I cried and the patients in the "not so private" public ward cried with me. The crying escalated to torrential when they took me off pethadine. I healed up about 2 months later and have been fine ever since.

At a party about 2 years ago I felt the collective shudder of 3 men who'd all had the same operation. A kinship forged in the agony of our bums .......a great tail we thought.

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i was born with this condition and so was my mother and four brothers and two sisters. mine is curently infected, although thankfully this has only happened twice since i was born.

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It has now been 17 months that I have been looking at my backside everyday, for me a bout of food poisoning turned into very painful piles, after 3 months I had surgery, forget pain of a pilonidal sinus, that is the mother off all operations. Before I had chance to get over that I had the abscess visit, my doctor gave me antibiotics and it went away for a month, I had during this time revisited my surgeon and as there wasn't any swelling he convinced me all was well, he dismissed my doctors theory and sent me on my way. Upon my return the swelling was back with a vengence. This time the prognosis was a p/s I had surgery in March, whereupon he had to go 5 inches into my buttock. So the pain of the dressing being removed after surgery had me screaming for morphine. I returned 2 weeks ago as it wouldn't heal this time I was sent for a mri scan which concluded it was what is known as a tract, in other words the core had not been removed! If I had healed properly it would have turned back into a abscess, lucky me. I had this operation on Saturday, have no pain and have been sewn up like a mail bag, has anybody else had a scan, I can't understand why I didn't get the scan first time round so he knew exactly what he was dealing with as this would have not caused me to have the 2nd op. I am just hoping that I do not get a wound infection and I can start paying more attention to my face than my arse! I wish all fellow sufferers all the luck in the world.

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I has my first PND op in 2001. I had been aware of the problem for some time, but (excuse the pun) sat on it until I had the courage to go and see a doctor. What prompted me was the same thing happening to a friend, who was due for surgery. When I had my surgery, I was sutured initlally, but developed an infection behind the stitches. When they were taken out, the would was left opened and was packed each day with a seaweed based dressing. I was off work for one month and the healing took 4 months in total.

3 years later, I developed a swelling with discharge at the top of the scar. This developed rapidly and I was referred for surgery quickly. This time around, a larger, deeper area of flesh was removed and left open for packing. Overall, the healing was quicker this time around, but I was off work for 2 months and the process was far more distressing.

It's now a year later and over the past month I've had swelling, discomfort and yep, you guessed it, some discharge. This morning I bled slightly and I have that old familiar feeling that there's a cavity in my flesh. I'm going to the doctor and I hope it's just a minor hiccup.

How many times do I have to go through this? Why can't it be fixed?

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I've suffered from this condition for several years now but medical advice given to me has resisted surgery. I have a very supportive doctor and I ensure that I always have a course of cefalexin tablets with me at all times. As soon as I detect some swelling, I start taking the tablets. The swelling usually disappears after taking a weeks course of cefalexin tablets.

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At 16 I had what I thought was a boil, popped it myself, 5 years of a little discharge and then nothing. never went to a doctor.

32 now and I had a cyst form right below the scar from what I thought was a boil but may have been a pit.

Went to ER for drainage and was told that it was not a PNS.

My cyst is on the cheek and not midline, some doctors were confused: 4 said not a PNS 3 said was.

Since the cyst has not gone away in the last 2 months, I have agreed to surgery.

Surgeon says it is PNS but off the midline, my tailbone does not hurt but I have this cyst.

A little nervous for sugery not knowing what to expect and especially since they are closing the wound.

I will follow up sometime in mid December.

Cheers from across the pond.

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I had pilonidal sinus 38 years ago when I was 17, I had never heard of it before. I have never forgotten the pain, worse than having children. But, thankgoodness have never had a recurrence, or any problems since, just a lovely long scar to remind me. I had no stitches, just painful plugging of wound everyday for several weeks. I understood that it was a hair that had grown into a pore and become infected. I have heard of many people having it since including my niece who had to have 2 operations as her's wouldn't heal.

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