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My son had an operation in March 2003 for the removal of...

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Guest
Guest

My son had an operation in March 2003 for the removal of a pilonidal sinus. He had daily dressings which were done by the district nurses. The wound got infected and on May 30 2003 he had a second operation and I have been packing the cavity every day since. He still suffers severe pain both during dressing changes and when he is walking around. He can't sit properly. We have seen 3 general surgeons, two plastic surgeons and a skin specialist. We have tried every kind of dressing I can find on the net and nothing works. The cavity is smaller than the original wound but it just won't heal. All the specialists say that it is a good clean wound and there is nothing more I can do to speed things up, that sometimes these things take a long time. My son is an otherwise, very healthy young man. I am at a loss to know where to go from here. We just keep on doing more of the same. This week we are using a manuka honey product all the way from New Zealand. Next week it will be seaweed. We have been here before. Nothing seems to help. It is now 2 years and 2 months since his first operation.

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0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    My sympathies for the ongoing problems with the healing process. As I have had 4 of these procedures over the last 20 years with another shortly I feel somewhat qualified to offer some advice. On a personal note I found a daily dunking in the ocean (salt water)an absolute Godsend in the healing process. In fact my surgeon was worried that it was going to close over sooner than the granulation had completed. Luckily that did not happen. Keep the dressings up and get your backside into the sea!!

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  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    My son is 15 and hasn't had the operation yet to remove his pilonidal cyst I'm very worried as the surgeon intends to remove a very large area. All my son is worried about is will he be able to sit and play World of Warcraft the same day as the surgery. Thank goodness children are so resiliant. Geoff seems to have the right idea, swimming in the ocean will be fun. My prayers go with you.

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  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    we tried hyperbaric oxygen treatment for post op care and it worked for us, my son had 6 operations and after the 6th op we did 10 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen treatment during the postop care

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  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    Do not apply anything to the wound! Salt baths are recommended (1 cup salt to half a bath of water) and packing with countostat (seaweed type of dresssing to absorb any blood or ooze) I live in New Zealand and yes the benefits of manuka honey are large and varied, but not for this type of infection/wound. I was advised against it by both doctor/surgeon/district nurses. Keep the wound as clean and dry as possible. My daughter is 17, has had one sinus operation to remove a hair follicle, took 6mths of daily dressings to close the wound by the 'open healing method', however two years later yet another sinus appeared and same procedure carried out, this time wound is healing faster but now an abcess is present and so a third sinus has appeared ozzing pus and blood. We are going to leave off a third procedural operation and just keep it clean and dressed. She is now taking a course of antibiotics, the ooze is less after just two days, pressure is less as is pain.

    I hope this is the last of this dam thing, it is very inhibiting to a teenagers social life, as often she spends alot of time laying round the house on her stomach to lessen pressure on area etc.

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  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I Totally understand what your going through i'm currently on operation number 7, by 2 different surgeons over the last 12 years. The clean wound is nice to hear but i guarentee you he will tell you it feels a right mess on the inside as mine is. I have to see the surgeon tommorow but i know ill have to have another, why cant someone set up a orginization to concentrate on dealing with every aspect of this because it's no easy ride for anyone.

    If anyone has tips or want to ask anything please feel free to contact me on ****

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  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I went through this operation about 2 years ago and it only recently healed completely, maybe about 2-3 months ago. I still feel the pain when I sit down and after doing quite a bit of physical activities. Dressing wise, I recommend using Kaltostat 2grams. It looks like a rope made of of light goldish-coloured fine hairs. Stuff that into the open wound. It is slighltly medicated and the good thing is that it doesn't hurt when removing as it absorbs whatever discharge is produced and kinda lubricates itself so it doens't peel off any new flesh with it.

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  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I had an operation of Pilonidal Sinus about 4 years ago. It was the secondary healing method etc. and it took a few weeks to heal. There after I have been following the restrictions like not driving bike or not sitting for a long time etc. But unfortunately, the wound seems to open at times not necessarily with pus. However just the last week, pus has featured on the scene.

    Consultations with my surgeon indicate "Prevention is the only Cure" i.e. taking proper precautions to prevent the occurence seems to be the only time tested remedy.

    Cheerssmile

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  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I feel for your poor son,it must be terrible for him,just a thought I have just been reading about leeches and the benefits of them healing hard to heal places,I know it does not sound very nice,but I'm sure its worth giving anything a try ?have a look on the net and see what you think,best of luck to both of you.

    smile

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    • Lino_Arino
      Lino_Arino Guest

      Posted

      Im from south Sudan,

      And leeche have been good for healing wounds .

      Cyst was not commons in my country but many people get heals by leeches since we did not have access to health system.

      Scary but it did works for me too!

  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I thought this site needed a positive story. My husband had a PNS cut out 5 years ago and healed without problems. I think it was a combination of factors. First, the community nurses all commented on how good the cut was. They deal with a lot of these and I guess they see a few botched jobs. So I guess getting a good surgeon is #1. Following the procedure (which was left open to heal), he soaked his bum in a bath of warm salt water for about 20 mins twice per day before redressing (we didn't live by the sea, but I suspect this is similar to just taking a swim at the beach). I would then run an additional saline solution into the wound and then stuff with the Kaltostat (some kind of seaweed related stuffing mentioned elsewhere on this site), tape a bit of gauze over the area and then cover completely with padding. He also used a 'donut' pillow to sit on for a long time to keep the pressure off. He healed quite quickly using this method, only 3-4 weeks. Maybe he was just one of the lucky ones, but for those facing the operation I hope this info is helpful and provides some optimism. Good luck!

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