Pilonidal Sinus Advice

LegacyUser

Hi, already seen my gp about this a while ago, didnt find him very helpful.
Has anyone else has this condition? what treatment where you offered for it
or how did you look after this.

Just to give some back ground on this. I have had it on and off for the last 3 years , some times for a day or so others for up to 5 days, sometimes its not too bad, others it can be very uncomfortable / painfull even just sitting down.

Ive been ok for last 6 months or so but today is a little sore.

I will see my GP again but i would like to know what others with this condition have done. I really dont want to have it operated on as you can imagine, BTW im a 26 year old male.

Gordon

ouch_advice wrote:

Hi, already seen my gp about this a while ago, didnt find him very helpful.

You should not have left your GP dissatisfied.

I will see my GP again but i would like to know what others with this condition have done. I really dont want to have it operated on as you can imagine, BTW im a 26 year old male.

A mate of mine had really bad problems, in and out of work for ages at a time. Eventually he had surgery and it got better but he still has to watch out for it.

Go back to the doctor and get more info.

b3t4

Go to a different doctor and get a second opinion.

A.

ntlbell

There seems to be two options.

Live with it.

Get it whipped out.

Why does your age matter, and I can't imagine why you wouldn't want it removed if you can't sit down.

youcancallmeal

Both my brother and a friend suffered from this. My brother had an operation to have the cluster removed, it took ages to heal and he had to go to the hosiptal daily for the first week or so to have it cleaned and dressed properly but it eventually cleared up.

My friend also had to have surgery but he wasnt as lucky and a few weeks after it was removed he had to go back for surgery again as it wasnt healing properly. After that he went through the same post op treatment as my brother and it cleared up aswell.

Basically with proper treatment with surgery and antibiotics is easily dealt with. As others have mentioned you should really go back to your GP or get a second opinion. See here for more info.

randomname2005

I suffered from this a few years back, and know what th OP means about pain!
Like the OP I went to 2 docs, the first said it was a cyst, but the second (a good while later) diagnosed it correctly. He sent me to a specialist and I had an operation.

If you do get it operated on expect a lot of pain afterwards, I would suggest looking for a tube from an old car tyre. The hole in the middle will allow you sit without putting pressure on the sorest spots!

R

Julietta

Hi there

Both my sisters and a friend of mine had this condition and from what I've seen (not literally), surgery is the only option - all 3 have had it and have had no recurrences.

I won't lie to you, the op and the immediate aftermath (dressing changes etc) weren't pleasant.....but neither were long periods spent laid up with this painful condition.

I would probably go to another GP though, this is a common condition and no GP should be unhelpful about it (or anything else).

Good luck OP

Julietta

Definitely look into the surgery option. I had this once, came on very suddenly and had it whipped out within a week.
Spent four days in hospital, I was very comfortable on painkillers and it never came back. It was far more painful before the op than after.
You don't have to live with it, so don't!

damnyanks

Know lots of people who have had this prob. Seem's to be very common and a real pain in the ass

One lad I was in school with fecked up his whole year cause he had to goto dressing place every single day for months on end. Surgery seems to be the common way of getting rid of it.

King of Kings

Edit***
I read that late at night and read it wrong. apologies.
next day hindsight read differently

GBX

I had it myself. found it painful to sit etc. as its been said, go to a doctor and have a second opinion. the wise thing would be to have it removed. its a bxtch, akward with dressings etc, but ive not had any recurrence of it.

davyjose

youcancallme>al wrote:

Both my brother and a friend suffered from this. My brother had an operation to have the cluster removed, it took ages to heal and he had to go to the hosiptal daily for the first week or so to have it cleaned and dressed properly but it eventually cleared up.

My friend also had to have surgery but he wasnt as lucky and a few weeks after it was removed he had to go back for surgery again as it wasnt healing properly. After that he went through the same post op treatment as my brother and it cleared up aswell.

Basically with proper treatment with surgery and antibiotics is easily dealt with. As others have mentioned you should really go back to your GP or get a second opinion. See here for more info.

I had one, they whipped it out, I was out of College for a few days. Not a bother. Two weeks later te stitches came out, never thought of it again! It's not all bad.

Evil Phil

King of Kings wrote:

eat FIBRE. FIBRE and more fibre.
if your diet is **** then fibogel can be bough from chemist
cut out chocolate and other kak like it
I am assuming that it's not a operation stage yet.

um ... okaaay.


Anyway kid on my road had is removed (closed?) when he was 12. Had to have the wound dressed for a couple of weeks and then they took the stiches out. He seemed fine but kids bounce. At 26 I reckon you'll bounce too.

pyramuid man

I had it removed. It is the best thing I had done. Will be out of action for about a week or two. After that it is ok. Get it done and get it done now. You dont have to live with it.

LegacyUser

'alot of you seem to be in favor of the surgery, from the sounds of things with your experiences average recovery was only a couple of weeks???

from reading about this on various places there seems to be 2 different methods for removal. what ye guys are talking about is being stitched after the op, sounds ok but the other op involves the wound being left open to heal. (Pics are not pretty ) and the recovery time on that is about 6-10 weeks.

If i could ask how restricted where u immediatly afterwards eg did u have to lie down all day. And also has anyone used any form of hair removal afterwards be it wax or shaving etc??

thanks for all the replies i didnt realise so many others would have experience with it.'

NotMe

Been there done that. Seriously you wanna get it removed ASAP. I have the lump for years but I never bothered going to the doctor. It would swell up and get painful every few months but it always settled again so I just ignored it. That was a mistake because eventually it got to the stage where it swelled up to over twice as big as it had ever been and I was in agony. I made an appointment with the doctor and I had to take painkillers constantly for that week. It hurt to sit, lie, walk...

When I went to the doctor she took one look at it and said "you need to go to the hospital right now!". They said it would have to be operated on and I was given antibiotics and painkillers to take for 5 days before the op. Went in, got it done, stayed the night in hospital and home the next day. It had to be left open to heal - no stitches and I had to go to the hospital every morning to get the dressing changed for nearly two weeks. After that I could change it myself.

You don't need to lie down all day after the op or anything like that. Sure I was walking to the bus stop and getting the bus to the hospital. You just move a bit more slowly/carefully when sitting down or leaning over or whatever. It felt great to get rid of it though. It takes 6-8 weeks to heal fully but after 2 weeks you're back to normal really.
I believe it you get it sorted early it can be done under local anesthetic and just stitched up. I just regret leaving it so late.

Oh yeah it is a pretty common thing. I was surprised when I was telling people why I was in hospital that a lot of them knew someone that had it before.