Pilonidal Sinus Removed
Posted , 2 users are following.
Hi,
I had a pilonidal sinus removed 6 days ago. My lump was approx 5cm in size. The removal was carried out under general anesthetic, so I didn't feel a thing during the operation. After the operation, I felt drowsy from the anesthetic, but had no pain from the wound. I was discharged from the hospital in the afternoon and given painkillers to take at home, although I still didn't have any pain.
I still didn't have any pain the day after the operation, so decided not to take the pain killers. I was uncomfortable when bending down or sitting down, but could stand, walk and lie on my front or side with no discomfort. I have had no problem sleeping at night.
The surgeon has left the wound open and stiched down the sides with disolving stitches to keep it open. The wound is around 7cms long and about 0.5 cms wide, and although not particularly nice to look at(!), has only caused me discomfort when sitting or bending down.
Although there are terrible pictures and horror stories on the internet (which I don't doubt are true and are horrible), this operation is fairly common and I'm sure the majority of patients have an experience like mine. I hope to return to work at the begining of next week (after 1 week off) and make a full and quick recovery.
Regards,
Alan
0 likes, 3 replies
Guest
Posted
Can you tell me how you are feeling now and how quick it recovered in the end?
My lump is just getting to the point where it is uncomfortable to sit and a little when i walk. It is not infected so the doc said and prob not bigger than 2cm.
My main problem is I am supposed to join the forces at the end of next month and I am worried I won't have recovered in time to do hard training.
Also I only saw the doctor on Friday. Any idea how quick they do the op on you?
I'm quite worried after reading some bad stories that people have problems for weeks and months.
Cheers,
Steve
sara123
Posted
Guest
Posted
After I was diagnosed, I went on a waiting list which should have been 3 months maximum, but I ended up \"overflowing\" the waiting list and the NHS sent me to a private hospital, so it took a little longer than the 3 months, but less than 4.
Its now nearly 8 weeks since my op and I'm almost completely recovered. There is still a little bit of liquid seeping out every day (I still use a dry dressing), but I'm fine sitting down and walking around. I'm just back from holiday in Italy and had no problems on the flight (2.5 hours) and swimming in the pool was fine (I didn't go in the lake as the wound hasn't completely healed yet (hence the liquid)). I've not gone running or played football since the op, but plan to go to both in the next week.
Every op will be different as every sinus will be different, so you're best to speak to your GP or surgeon to find out what your recovery time will be, although its likely that they won't know until after the op as they won't know what the infection (if any) is like.
As far as I know, I didn't have Bascom's procedure. I think that's where they close the wound over. Mine was left open, but stitched down each side to keep it open, so that the wound heals from the inside out.
There was a difference of opinion between my surgeon and my GP/practice nurses on how to treat the wound after surgery. The surgeon was happy for me to clean and dress the wound myself, but the GP & nurses wanted to clean & dress the wound daily for me. I went about a week of dressing it myself, then it got a bit dirty, so the nurses did it daily for around a week and a half, which meant I had to go to the doctor's every day and had a district nurse come to the house at the weekend. Three weeks after the op, I went back to cleaning and dressing it myself (by that time it was easier as it had healed a bit more).
I was back to work after 7 days off and had very little pain from the op (although the surgeon said that was to do with the fact that it was stiched open). The wound hasn't shown any signs of re-infection, although the nuses say that Its more likely to re-infect if its closer to the anus (my wound stops a few centimeters away).
Hope this helps!
Alan