Pilonidal sinus

pookie82

Well at least that means it's not all kept inside (this is pretty eeeeewww) so maybe it hasn't progressed too much. Good luck with the doc.

metoyou

@ MagicMarker
good luck with the docs if you do go... would seriously recommend it too!

pookie82 knows what he/she is talking about!

mines gone in reverse over the last few weeks, healed and then reopened :mad:
NOT GOOD!


Good Luck!!

pookie82

metoyou wrote: »

@ MagicMarker
good luck with the docs if you do go... would seriously recommend it too!

pookie82 knows what he/she is talking about!

mines gone in reverse over the last few weeks, healed and then reopened :mad:
NOT GOOD!


Good Luck!!

I'm a she

Sorry to hear that things have gone in reverse for you. It's awful to get to the last stages of this and have it play up on you again. Unfortunately that's the way this thing seems to work :mad: Hang in there and do all you can to keep the area clean and dry. The last thing you need now is another infection to set in. Hope it goes well.

metoyou

Ahhh im a she too!

Good news


IM NOT INFECTED :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

BUT
i have to trek all the way into the hospital in the city centre to get dressings from now on, every second or third day
Surgeon just said that something must have happened when i was getting the dressings off the public health nurse, so he said i should get them in the hospital from now on, what a pain!
Im not really that bothered, just delighted its not infected and no more surgery

hope everyones in good form too!!

pookie82

metoyou wrote: »

Ahhh im a she too!

Good news


IM NOT INFECTED :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

BUT
i have to trek all the way into the hospital in the city centre to get dressings from now on, every second or third day
Surgeon just said that something must have happened when i was getting the dressings off the public health nurse, so he said i should get them in the hospital from now on, what a pain!
Im not really that bothered, just delighted its not infected and no more surgery

hope everyones in good form too!!

that's brilliant!!! I'm really happy for you. Great news! And although the trek to hospital sounds like a pain in the ass [pardon the pun:)] I'm sure it will be worth it to have it close and go away for good. Make sure to keep it clean now!!! *wags finger*

mishno5

Just to let you all know that asked about Carl he had the operation on Monday. It's very rare to use a hoover theropy dressing on this condition, its generally used on the stomach.
The plastic surgeon recomended it and if it works then I think everyone that suffers from this condition should ask to have it done.
They had to cut extreamly deep, they said you can see the bone, but luckly they are not going to remove his coxics. The dressing is like a big sponge with a hole in the middle and a tube attached which leads to a little hoover machine that sucks out the infection. The sponges have to be changed every 5 days, but they are changing Carl's today and to reveiw it.
They are going to fit a portable hoover on so hopefully he can come home tomorrow. The hoover has to stop on until it has healed. He's sufferd with this for so long fingers crossed that this works, and if it does I hope that people that read this consider having it done. I'll let you know of Carl's progress.
Michelle

BraziliaNZ

oh god michelle I wish him best of luck my heart goes out to him and you his mother.
My story is thus - I had a HUGE chunk taken out of me over 9 years ago as I had a hole at bottom of spine. Before that, I think there was soreness under the skin for a few years and swelling. So I had to be packed etc by my darling mother for a couple of months afterwards I think. I dealt with it quite well though I think didn't let it get in my way of life.

Anyway about 8 months later I noticed another opening, this time in a more awkward area, further down if you know what I mean. I went to the doctor who had a look and he said it's back but not bad, and some people just live with it all their lives. So I don't have any pain and it doesn't affect me now, just gets itchy sometimes, and every once in a while a bit sore. Now with all this talk of it burrowing into my spine etc. I'm worried!!! Is there any evidence of it really hurting people? I can't find any on the web, i.e. interfering with the spine or bowels or rectum etc.

mishno5

They have always told Carl that the tracks where going into his spine and there was talk of tracks maybe going into his bowels but nothing else has been said. I think they just like to keep an eye on you.. Like I said before though they did say that Carl needed to have the bottom of his spine taken away but they haven't done it......thank god.
I don't think they can ever cure them fully but I do have hope with this hoover dressing.

Andy-Pandy

I have it as well, its a serious pain in the ass.

I dont think i have it as bad as a lot of people though, and luckily it has not flaired up in a while (3-4 months). When it does im lucky as it is not to deep and im able to burst it like a spot (is this normal?) and drain all the gunk away. I've mastered the draining process now and can usually clear it out in an unpleasent day or two. I'm the only person that ive read about that seems to be able to do this, am i just blessed with this? When it first happened years ago i pulled a hair out of it that was about 2-3 feet long it was insane? im guessing i was lucky i was able to do that cleanly, although its never really been explained to me.

metoyou

mishno5
Fingers crossed for your son. Hopefully he'll be rid of it from now on!

Andy-Pandy
I must say... that is quite gross!
Have you been back to your doctor any of the times its flared up again?
I know that when the wound is left open to heal that if healed properly, the scar tissue should be too hard to allow any hair to regrow and cause infection.
Was yours left open after surgery?

pookie82

Mishno - please come back on and let us know how your son is doing. I have my fingers crossed and wish you both the best. Really hope he comes through it this time.

Andy-Pandy - have you seen a GP about this or are you just treating yourself? From what I've read/heard there are some people lucky enough to be able to handle it/"treat" it themselves. Often, though, there's a chance it will progress to the next level and you will develop too much pain for it to be left unattended. You asked if it's normal to be able to burst them like a spot - yes it is. At one stage the lump on my back was so bad that I had to intervene and burst it too, thus relieving the rtension and draining the gunk inside. But this was never a long term solution as mine was too painful and went too deep to live with.

To anyone treating this themselves, I would always advise that you at least get a GP to have a look. IF it's a bad case they'll refer you to a surgeon. If not they may give you antibiotics and see if that works. If you're happy that it doesn't effect your life too much then it's your choice to continue with it the way it is. But if any sudden changes occur - a deepening, bruised sort of pain, an enlarging of the spot or boil or any other trouble in the area, I'd have it seen to.

An ingrowing hair is the most common cause of these occuring - hence the hair that you found. Perhaps you happened to have unnatural hair growth in that one area which resulted in the infection. Others have suggested that an old injury can set them off, such as falling hard on your coxics (though I think we've all done that as kids!).

LegacyUser

Hi,

I had Pilonidal Sinus about 2 years from February now. However I let it develop untreated for 2-3 years. Eventually due to the pain and immense bleeding that resulted, I decided to attend the GP. It was extremely smelly gunk that oozed out of the wound. Eventually got it seen by a surgeon, got the procedure done, and was in and out of the A+E for about 8 months with a near re-occurrence in between.

I've personally never experienced worse pain than when being treated by the nursing staff during the dressing in the A+E. It was a hindrance of time, and the pain just was unbearable to even sit down at times, thank goodness it's gone now, and even to this day 2 years afterwards, I still regularly keep the area clean by removing any hair that may become a problem. Good personal hygiene is essential.

It's imperative that hair is removed from the cleft and the area is kept clean at all times in the future because a re-occurrence is supposed to be very common. If caught on time, antibiotics and regular cleaning/showers/bathing can remove it before it develops but after a certain point, surgery is almost always required.

mishno5

Hi just thought I'd let you know how Carl is doing. He came home from hospital nearly 2 weeks now. The day after he arrived home 4 nurses and a doctor came to see him, hoover dressings are rare so the nurses had to be shown how to fit them. The wound is inbetween his bottom and is 11cm long and was 6 cm deep, it was said it was that deep the bone was showing. Since he has had it done its healed by 2 cm.
The vac is portable and easy to use. If anyone has been suffering with this condition and they keep going into hospital for operation after operation please ask your doctor or consultant about vaccum theropy dressing. If its a cure for this condition its worth having done.

LegacyUser

Hi everyone,

Ive had a pilonidal sinus operation twice now in the last 8 months. The first one didn't heal after 6 months so they had to do it again and now i'm 2 months after my 2nd operation. I had an awful time with slow healing even though i was eating right, taking vitamins and doing nothing to irritate it. The second excision was 7cm long and 6cm deep and was quite painfull but got to a point where it stopped healing for nearly 3 weeks!! So with the worry of having to have to go for surgury again someone recommended reflexology and after 2 sessions it had halfed in size. Ive now had 3 sessions and its still healing. I didnt think much of reflexology but as you can imagine 8 months of dressings and 2 surgurys was brining me down, not only did reflexology help my wound but it really relaxed me and put me in a great mood lately and i recommend it to anyone having trouble with slow healing or anything like that. Also ive been advised to take manuca honey or something just for anyone whos looking for something to help them

pookie82

mishno5 wrote: »

Hi just thought I'd let you know how Carl is doing. He came home from hospital nearly 2 weeks now. The day after he arrived home 4 nurses and a doctor came to see him, hoover dressings are rare so the nurses had to be shown how to fit them. The wound is inbetween his bottom and is 11cm long and was 6 cm deep, it was said it was that deep the bone was showing. Since he has had it done its healed by 2 cm.
The vac is portable and easy to use. If anyone has been suffering with this condition and they keep going into hospital for operation after operation please ask your doctor or consultant about vaccum theropy dressing. If its a cure for this condition its worth having done.

Hi mishno. That's great news about Carl. 2cm's sounds like quite a bit of healing for only two weeks so surely that's a good sign.

Thanks for informing us about the vacuum dressings. Are they very bulky or do they fit neatly on. I'm sorry if i misunderstand but are they placed on the wound at each dressing and left there or are they just used for a certain amount of time before it's re-dressed?

Thanks and pass on our best wishes for a full recovery to your son.

pookie82

Pilonidal105 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Ive had a pilonidal sinus operation twice now in the last 8 months. The first one didn't heal after 6 months so they had to do it again and now i'm 2 months after my 2nd operation. I had an awful time with slow healing even though i was eating right, taking vitamins and doing nothing to irritate it. The second excision was 7cm long and 6cm deep and was quite painfull but got to a point where it stopped healing for nearly 3 weeks!! So with the worry of having to have to go for surgury again someone recommended reflexology and after 2 sessions it had halfed in size. Ive now had 3 sessions and its still healing. I didnt think much of reflexology but as you can imagine 8 months of dressings and 2 surgurys was brining me down, not only did reflexology help my wound but it really relaxed me and put me in a great mood lately and i recommend it to anyone having trouble with slow healing or anything like that. Also ive been advised to take manuca honey or something just for anyone whos looking for something to help them

Hey. I've had five operations for this and I know from experience that there seems to be a weird slowing down period in the healing process towards the middle - I have no idea why, but I remember getting very frustrated that it seemed to be moving nowhere for a few weeks about a month after surgery or so. it never crossed my mind to seek anything like reflexology (although by the end I was so desperate I would have if it had been suggested to me) as I'm not a big believer in that kind of thing, but i'm delighted to hear it's helping you.

It's strange the way the wound can slow down in the middle and then towards the end kind of rush to close over, sometimes so quickly that it undoes all of the hard work of keeping it open to heal slowly.

thanks for sharing.

pearser

Hi I'm due to have an operation for a pilonidal sinus although it doesn't seen to be as bad as some of the cases mentioned here. Can anyone tell me what exercise could be done during the healing process, ie running, swimming...or will I be completely inactive for a number of weeks? I really don't know what to expect....

kwinabeeste

pearser wrote: »

Hi I'm due to have an operation for a pilonidal sinus although it doesn't seen to be as bad as some of the cases mentioned here. Can anyone tell me what exercise could be done during the healing process, ie running, swimming...or will I be completely inactive for a number of weeks? I really don't know what to expect....

had my op in Mount Carmel 2 weeks ago. OK for 1st few days... just lyin on my side and a few painkillers. Then after 4 days unbearable pain due to infection, got antibiotics and 2 painkillers. Starting to heal now. Still have to go to Public Health Nurse everyday to dress it.I have no Pain now and can sit down for short periods but have to stand and walk around every now and again.

It has to heal from inside out, so the depth of the wound depends on the healing time. I haven't ran or done any exercise as the nurse said wait until its fully healed - prob in 4-6 weeks. Think swimming is a no go until its completely healed!

Best of luck!!!

metoyou

wow kwinabeeste

Thats some fast healing!!! 7 months on from my op and i STILL cant sit down for long periods of time (:mad:) , or run, or exercise or swim!!!!

Spose some ppl have faster healing than others! Best of luck with the healing

Hivemind187

I had pilonidal surgery about 4 years ago for sinus that had ruptured together and were extremely painful. The doctors removed about 4 inches by half to 1 inch deep by about an inch across from the top of my buttock cleft.

It took two years to heal to the point where the wound or scars werent re-opening regularly.

Pilonidal surgery is painful, it is gross, it is (no pun intended) a pain in the arse with regard to your social life and they do recur. But its better to get them sorted out because there is a risk of infection.

Personally I'm keeping a close eye on it and making sure the area is kept hair free (veet or a razor lol ... of all the things I thought I would wind up having to do ...) because I dont want to go through it again and this is one of the few things you can do to reduce the chances.

LegacyUser

Ive been suffering on and off from this for about 2 years. The first time i didnt know what it was, thought i had done something to my back, went to GP, ended up in A+E, operation that evening, stayed in for 3 days, home and then had to attend the outpatients dressing clinic every morning for 8 weeks .

It has flaired up on occasion, last Jan when i was in bed for 2 weeks, with broken ribs (now that was fun - NOT - couldnt lie on my back with the sinus or one of my sides with the ribs so was stuck lying one way, my hip was so sore afterwards) it burst again in June. Sept and now sunday, but i knew it was coming as the bump started to get big again,

Ive been back to see the surgeon, he doesnt want to operate again as he said there is not a 100% guarantee that it will be sucessful and i could not handle another 8 weeks of dressing clinics,

Ive just been treating it with anti-biotics and my mum has been dressing it for me! (im 24, quite embarrassing) id be lost without her. The area keeps getting sore on occasion and is really starting to get me down, its just so uncomfortable and embarrassing. I gave it every possible chance to heal properly the first time and it didnt work!

Only found this board this evening! Nice(in a wierd way) to know there are other people who understand what they are like to have! Im sick of my boyfriends mother telling her friends that i have an ingrown hair in my ass and im a wierdo because its usually just hairy men that get it! (Just for the record the surgeon thinks mine was caused by an old injury and breakdown of scar tissue)
Apologies for the rant! *hugs* for everyone out there recovering !

LegacyUser

Hi all, i had my abcess about 7 years ago, which was treated with antibiotics and went away but left me with a few sinus'. So, 18 months ago i decided to get it operated on (excision/no stitches) i was left with a wound about 6cms in length and about 2.5cms deep. I carried on with trying to get it to heal for 16 months when i was accepted to have a Lumbar adipofascial turnover flap - mouthful, lol. This is basically when the original wound is re-excised, a 'flap' of skin from just above the crease of the bottom is taken then turned through 90 degrees, fills the wound and finally it is all sutured. Although i am told that it has a success rate much higher than ordinary excisions, i ended up with a heamotoma underneath the flap and had to have more surgery to remove it. The surgeon then sutured the excision she made and left a drain. Due to me 'fastening my laces one morning and tearing my sutures (DOH!) i am now waiting for the wound to heal on it's own. Ie dressing changes - basically i am in the same position as i was 18 months ago!! I was recently told by a surgeon that becuase my wound heals and breaks down that it could be a long road to full recovery, but he could not tell me why?? This disease really is most furiating!

calex71

have this on and off over the last 6 or 7 years 28 now, originally went to doctor then to hospital on his referal, wouldnt operate , glad they didnt as it ranges from a minor annoyance to a real pain the in *** so bad it hurts to sit :mad: but from what ive read here i can cope with that for a few days once in a while compared to what ive read here.

LegacyUser

Ive had an op done for this about 6 years ago. The couldnt find the in growing hair. So i still have trouble with it. If i sit for too long it really hurts, doesnt help when i work in an office. I find that keeping my weight under control really helps. Its in my family history:(

Mixomatosis

Hi,

I've been suffering this maladie for nearly 11 years now. It is painless for the most part, but once in a while it swells and the pain is quite unbearable. Strangely enough then, the swelling goes down and it will be painless for another few months... very strange one this.

Thing is, I'm very loathe to go to a GP about this, as I have very bad memories of initially contracting the disease and the whole process involved in the operation, hospital stay, but moreso the healing period outside of the hospital. At that time I was visiting a GP (post op) who would clean up the wound with a caustic pen to burn the flesh that was growing out of proportion.

I wonder if this is unusual? Has anyone else been treated like this for the same affliction? As a result of this I feel I will never develop the courage to have this problem addressed once and for all.

I feel better about the situation after reading some of the other posts earlier in the thread, and can see that I am quite lucky as the pain I initially suffered is only at best 2 months of the year with some swelling and pain.

Neverwhere

I had it once. An abcess on my lower back. I was 15 at the time and embarassed, so I left it for a couple weeks and never said anything. the pain was excruciating, I could barely walk or sit, I was just in constant pain.

A family member noticed and finally took me to the doctor. I got rushed into hospital for surgery as my abcess was close to bursting. I was only waiting to be admitted for 20 minutes, but in that time the abcess burst and I almost died of blood poisoning.

It's a simple surgery, so it shoudlnt be a problem.

i had severe bleeding afterwards though, and was sick for a while.

healing happens from the inside out. the wound is packed full and cleaned out every day for the first few weeks, and every other day after that.

It can recur, but i've been fortunate and it has not happened yet.

All I can say, is if you start to abcess get to the the doctor as soon as you can. I never knew I could die over something that seemed so small!

LegacyUser

hey,just got told i should have an operation to remove the tract etc. and that i would either be stitched or left open.i was already worried as i have a very active job(blocklayer)and really could not afford to take time off as i'm lucky to still have work in this field.

now i read this and wonder if i would not be better off just trying to live with it?i'm also very active outside of work and the thought of no exercise for weeks(months?)afterwards seems worse than the pain!

just wondering what your opinions on this choice are?(bit of history:infected about 3-4 years,cleared up with anti-biotics twice but came back worse both times.surgeon says it's a bad case and would be big area excised).

Neverwhere

have the surgery. like i said in my post, i almost died from mine. its not worth the risk

metoyou

Definitly get the surgery, its not worth taking the risk.

You could only end up in a and e with it otherwise, and if its coming back worse each time, you may aswel have the surgery. At least if it comes back, which is likely, it mightn't be as hard to deal with then.

pearljamfan

ive got this affliction too, its nasty. i was 6 weeks pregnant in 2006 i was advised to have the operation under general anesthetic but i refused and had local instead.and went home straight after! crazy!!.. i just remember the pain of having the wound packed, and they told me it wud re occur, which it has, its getting sore again, tho not like before so ive been putting off going back to the docs as i kinda resent having to pay them 60quid to tell me about it! my mum had the same thing in her boob and was given belladonna cream to use-its poisonous, i use it and it really works, but u cant get it over here, also looked on some american sites and it seems alot of people can manage living with it and use an iodine cream which draws out the badstuff. i find that it always flares up with my hormones or if im stressed.