Talk:Pilonidal cyst

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Personal experience

I've got one these things, looked like a pimple at first, kept discharging blood. Went to the doctor who diagnosed me with the condition but said he didn't really know what caused it, could have been an ingrown hair or a result of how my spine fused as an infant. My cyst was rather small and was identified early, just above my buttocks, it required a minor surgical procedure. They cut the cyst open and packed it with gauss wich had to be changed daily. The cyst drained and the hole healed from the inside out. 4 months later I am very close to fully healing, the infection is gone and the surgical wound is almost completely healed over. Ill update this with my total recovery time. Apparently its quite common but is not discussed due to its embarrassing nature.

Another personal experience In 1999, I too went through the same experience. When I first came across the pain, I was unsure that caused it. It worsens by days where sitting down became impossible and forced me to go see my primary doctor. He right away calls a surgeon and made an appt with him. Once I went to the surgeon, he identified the problem as 'pilonidal cyst'. It first appeared as a pimple at the tailbone. It was a bit swollen and was red around the area. The infection was so bad, he right there and then perform a minor surgery which is called 'draining'. He explained to me at that time that there will be two steps, one is draining the cyst (getting all the infection drained out) and second perform a surgery to remove the cyst. I had to wait to be infection free for about a month and half. Then he scheduled a surgery to remove the cyst completely. He made a four inch cut going down the buttock and it was 2 inches deep. The infection was so bad, he decided to go with natural healing which is to keep the wound open and let it heal naturally. For that, daily packing was required. Prior to the surgery, I had homecare where the nurse came once a day, post surgery, twice/thrice a day. The packing consisted of medicated strips which had to be completed packed into the wound so no infection is left behind. Eating protein was a must to heal faster. The total healing period for this particular type of experience was from May to Sept. It was a complete surprise to me. It was a bit embarrassing at first but the pain and agony made me strong. As the nurses came for daily packing, their stories made me very comfortable as well. There are many people (men/women) with the same diagnosis which aren’t discussed openly due to the location of the surgery. Though, I have never felt so comfortable since then. (I saved my sister from the same thing, she too had the same pimple type swollen redness at the tailbone, we right away went to the surgeon, went through surgery and she saved herself 4 months of healing. She healed in a month and went on with her routine life). The pain is unspoken of. Each time packing is performed, not one day goes by without crying. Amount of painkillers in the system still doesn’t take away the pain. For all those months, lying on your stomach isn’t the ideal thing for a 19th year old. Though, days went by quick, so did the healing process. Again, in 2007, the pain in the tailbone came back. This time he tried to treat it with antibiotics yet no change. So again a minor surgery was performed. The cyst removed in 1999 did not have a hair in it at all. It just happened (might have been irritated). So it's not always true that Pilonidal cyst contains hair. The culture test on my infection/cyst did not have hair like substance. Just serve infection. Again daily packing with gauze pad is required. Accept this time; it isn't so bad for me. The healing time is about a month. Once you have gone through this, you will never forget the pain and experience. The knowledge/experience helps out if this comes back. One will not wait as long as the first time due to embarrassment. Hoping it doesn't come back but if so, I will be ready for it…03:48, 14 March 2007 (UTC)NY