Pilonidal sinus

niallon

I'm a little sickened the more I think of what I was told at my last consultants appt and from what I've been reading here. After my initial operation I endured a year of packing which had a detremential effect on my personal life, studies, work etc. Due to the constant failure to heal and some personal clashes I changed consultant to the one I visited last. Having seen my pilonidal he says it is, if one were to scale it from one to ten, a two at best and that had he done the initial operation he would have cut and stitched, no packing necessary.

My advice to anyone awaiting an appointment or needing one in the future is do NOT be afraid to seek a second opinion. That scalpel jockey that sliced me the first time, now that I think of it, didn't give two s**ts about my personal life and the consequences I would suffer and just took the "easy" route. There seems to still be a certain vagueness as to the cause and treatment that leads to conflicting opinions in the surgical world and for this reason I'd strongly suggest looking at all your options.

Reginald P. DuM

niallon wrote: »

My advice to anyone awaiting an appointment or needing one in the future is do NOT be afraid to seek a second opinion.

Very true niallon, second opinions should be a prioroty for anyone who may have to undergo any surgical procedure. Sure it's a bit of extra hassle but I'd say you'd be surprised at the amount of times it benefits a patient. I believe had I went under the surgeon who did me second time round initially I'd have been in better shape too. It was back in no time after first op. Tis all in the past now but if someone else can gain from it well and good.

pookie82

niallon wrote: »

I'm a little sickened the more I think of what I was told at my last consultants appt and from what I've been reading here. After my initial operation I endured a year of packing which had a detremential effect on my personal life, studies, work etc. Due to the constant failure to heal and some personal clashes I changed consultant to the one I visited last. Having seen my pilonidal he says it is, if one were to scale it from one to ten, a two at best and that had he done the initial operation he would have cut and stitched, no packing necessary.

My advice to anyone awaiting an appointment or needing one in the future is do NOT be afraid to seek a second opinion. That scalpel jockey that sliced me the first time, now that I think of it, didn't give two s**ts about my personal life and the consequences I would suffer and just took the "easy" route. There seems to still be a certain vagueness as to the cause and treatment that leads to conflicting opinions in the surgical world and for this reason I'd strongly suggest looking at all your options.

Sorry to hear about your experience, and I totally agree about investigating all of your options and getting second opinions etc.

However, I had mine operated on four times, by the same surgeon, who is renowned in his field and the best I could have had. He didn't do hit and miss hash jobs by any means and tried everything he could, going from the more benign treatments to the more severe (I was left with an open wound for six months which, when it did finally close, opened up at the other end within 24 hours). The problem is that this condition can be treated in a myriad of ways, and there are so many options open to any given surgeon when approaching this.

I was told that I had way more chance of getting rid of it if I had it left open after surgery. My first two operations, during which it was stitched, left me with a very quick recurrance. The third operation, in which it was left open, took a lot more healing time, painful baths and dressings and incapacitations, and didn't work either.

My final operation consisted of me being stitched up layer by layer inside once it had been excised, and I'm glad to say that worked for me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's a hit and miss thing and getting the first attempt at healing it wrong doesn't necessarily mean it's the surgeon's fault. I knew people who had two or three ops with this - I knew of people who had it cleared after a tiny incision to drain it - this thread shows the multiplicity of ways it can be healed.

I'm often shocked though at the amount of GPs - considering how common it is - who don't seem to know much about advising on the next route or even diagnosing these problems. I had a GP tell me mine was a blister and try to squeeze it once She caused untold pain and absolutely no good whatsoever.

SilverSparkle

I had my surgery yersterday under GA. Was admitted at 8:30 and discharged at 19:30... Unfortunately it was too infected to stitch it up. He left it open and packed it. When it has healed I have to go back to him and he will do the same procedure again to get rid of the problem.......

Babypanda

In reply to the very first comment of the page..
I got my first Sinus when i was 15. i had it for 6months before i told my parents or any of my friends because i was scared and didnt no what it was, I waited for 3months for my operation and then on the 6th of May 2007 i had my operation, it took a month and a half until my pain eased off.. i was lucky that time, because my doctor told me with the size of my lump and the length that i left it to tell any one i could of blood poisoned myself and that if i didnt report it he would of given me a week left to live :eek: now for a 15 year old girl that would be the scariest thing going.

Now 3 years later i am awaiting another operation for my second one and hopefully it will be my last.

Babypanda

Easy on the eye.
[ They cant always do the op straight away because the sinus might be infected underneeth the skin and they have to wait till the infection is gone to operate

ash.c

Well, Im goin in for my 4th operation tomorrow, first one under new consultant so fingers crossed this is it for me.
Dreading the dressings after more than the operation itself, in and out in one day thank God.

Will let you all know how I get on.

SilverSparkle

SilverSparkle wrote: »

I had my surgery yersterday under GA. Was admitted at 8:30 and discharged at 19:30... Unfortunately it was too infected to stitch it up. He left it open and packed it. When it has healed I have to go back to him and he will do the same procedure again to get rid of the problem.......

So it has been 3 and a half weeks since my op.
The day after my op I was having a bath and trying to remove the wick which the surgeon told me remove in the bath the day after the op. It didn't go too well and it wouldn not come out. I reached my pain threshold and I ended up fainting in the bath. Luckily enough I knew I was going to faint and I managedd to make enough noise to alert my mother who made it up to the bathroom just before I fainted. She rang the hospital and the nurse she was talking to rang the surgeon who said it should just slip out. He said to just try again the next day.

So the next day it slipped out without a problem. I have been putting dry dressings on it every day as instructed.

It got infected so the doctor put me on antibiotics in my first week. I had my last appointment with him on Wednesday and he is really pleased with how it looks. He said to visit him again in two weeks...

ash.c wrote: »

Well, Im goin in for my 4th operation tomorrow, first one under new consultant so fingers crossed this is it for me.
Dreading the dressings after more than the operation itself, in and out in one day thank God.

Will let you all know how I get on.

Good luck!

Babypanda

Was at Hospital Last week to find out when i was having my operation, they told me that they weren't doing the operation that if i lost weight that the sinus would reverse it's self, when i got home i was thinking to myself, how can it reverse it's self if it's underneath the skin already because i can feel the lumps underneath the skin on where i had my last operation and if im still having a lot of pain with it as well.
So i went to a doctor in the health clinic because my normal doctor wasn't on duty, I told him what the hospital said and he couldn't understand just as much as i couldn't because he could feel and see where the lumps were underneath the skin and that the skin was very sort and a certain area, so he gave me tablets to try them for a week for pain and to take down the swelling.
I went home that day and took my first set of tablets, By that night i had another Sinus on the outside of my back that had come up through the skin and two days following it burst.
I went to my own local doctor after the week of the tablets and explained what the hospital said and that the other doctor gave me tablets for pain in till i could see him (my doctor)
My Doctor said he wanted to refer me to a different hospital, but i said i didn't want to be referred to a different hospital i just wanted to see the Doctor that operated on me the first time three years ago when i was Fifteen so he said he would write a letter to him so i could see him about my back, My own doctor agreed with me that the lump's in my back weren't going to dis sapper out of my back if i lost weight that they have grown in my back now and that they should be operated on or they will just keep coming up and Bursting.
The last time i had a lump i didn't want an operation and didn't tell family or friends for six months, Doctors told me that i was lucky that i could have gave myself blood poisoning, now when the bloody lumps, sinus what ever you want to call them are back and I'm trying to sort them out the doctors tell me they aren't doing the operation!!! :mad: Maybe i would have just been better saying nothing and sticking the pain out, I failed my college course because of all the time i missed out with my back trying to get it sorted and all the hospital appointments and for what an operation they aren't going to give me now :mad::mad::mad: SICK OF IT!!!!

screamer

Can anyone PM me some consultants and hospitals where someone could get treatment for this? GP has diagnosed, but is less than helpful with referrals, have VHI too, please help.

ash.c

well, i had my fourth operation yesterday, was admitted at 8.45 brought down to theatre at 10 but didnt go in till near 11, came back from recovery just after 1. I then had a problem passing urine and had to get a catheter which wasnt pleasant at all. got great relief from that and was let home. got home at 7.30 and found myself back in hospital at 9.30, was admitted again and got catheter in again, after 4 attepmts a midwife had to come to insert it. that was put in at 11 last night and left in till 6 this morning. passed urine myself this morning but still not the same as pre op. had first dresing changed this morning, didnt feel a thing, wound is 8cm long and 2 cm deep. fingers crossed im over the worst.

good luck to anyone waiting on procedures.

SilverSparkle

ash.c wrote: »

well, i had my fourth operation yesterday, was admitted at 8.45 brought down to theatre at 10 but didnt go in till near 11, came back from recovery just after 1. I then had a problem passing urine and had to get a catheter which wasnt pleasant at all. got great relief from that and was let home. got home at 7.30 and found myself back in hospital at 9.30, was admitted again and got catheter in again, after 4 attepmts a midwife had to come to insert it. that was put in at 11 last night and left in till 6 this morning. passed urine myself this morning but still not the same as pre op. had first dresing changed this morning, didnt feel a thing, wound is 8cm long and 2 cm deep. fingers crossed im over the worst.

good luck to anyone waiting on procedures.

Good luck with your recovery!
Have you an open or closed wound?

ash.c

Thanks.

An open wound so will be going for dressings for next 4-6 weeks.

Also, the nurse on the day ward told me she used to work in A&E and every single day without fail people would come in with these, its jut people dont talk about them because of where they are etc.

SilverSparkle

ash.c wrote: »

Thanks.

An open wound so will be going for dressings for next 4-6 weeks.

Also, the nurse on the day ward told me she used to work in A&E and every single day without fail people would come in with these, its jut people dont talk about them because of where they are etc.

The same as me so... I dressed it myslef everyday woth just a dry dressing since March 18th. It has just closed over now...

Yeah they are quite common but people are embarrased by them. My friend in college told me today that her boyfriend got one only last week

LegacyUser

Just wondering has any females had this? not at the rear the other side currently have had 2 operations and now i'm sitting in work doubled over with the pain hoping it will go away it's so emabbasing as i'm 26 year old girl feel so embarrassed to talk to anyone about it

antomorro-sei

I was gonna post here for a long time, but wasn't sure, and was gonna go Unreg to post but meh, I'll just post as who I am anyway!

I hate this poxy Pilonidal Sinus. Had my first OP in Feb 09, and it was just awful. The wound got infected twice, and I couldn't walk properly for like 3 weeks. Missed so much school, and in 6th year aswell :eek:

Anyway, one year on, and its back. Had my appointment with the consultant last week, and he'll be doing a different type of Op on it this time (it's a different consultant aswell). Hack of all of it tbh.

Anyone else find it very difficult doing certain exercises with this disease/illness/whatever-its-called?

Also, after this, if I get laser hair removal, will the hair never come back down there?

hellokitty10

Im a 30 yyr old female and just had the op 2 days ago..was in and out in 1 day..nurse coming up to the house everyday to change dressing, she said its the worst she has seen ..booo..its just under 2 inches deep so by reading all your posts i can expect to be getting this thing dressed for a long long time unfortunately..have to say the dressings arent as bad as i expected, nurse said its cause the nerves are gone? and thats why its not as painful but when it starts to close it will get more painful..im bored, depressed feel sick and in pain and cant wait for this bloody thing to go away and praying that its the end of it..:mad:

Reginald P. DuM

Hellokitty, sorry to hear of your woes, we all know what your going through. There's not a whole lot you can do really to help yourself if this thing strikes other than to remain positive and hope for the best. It hits some worse than others but if your nurse tells you its bad then alas, it must be. Seems to me the medics are guessing at best, their strike rate at eliminating the problem first go is poor if we go by the evidence on this thread. Best of luck, and don't forget the salt baths when the wound heals.

Goldenquick

I'm going to try the salt in the shot glass today on my daughter, he'rs is flaring up every few weeks now & is very painful. I hate to see her nearly always on antibiotics.

Reginald P. DuM

Goldenquick wrote: »

I'm going to try the salt in the shot glass today on my daughter, he'rs is flaring up every few weeks now & is very painful. I hate to see her nearly always on antibiotics.

If it works for her as well as it did for me then she may forget about tablets from now on. Different strokes for different folks though. Hope it does.

dimejinky9

Hey
I went to my doc about 5 years ago with this lump at the top of my bum crack and he said it was just fluid to ignore it. Cut to december last and I couldnt sit walk or do anything really. 30 hours in A&E( standing, i kid you not) operation to get all the infection out, and about 2 months later another to get the cyst out. it's all ealed up now and hopefully it will remain clear, but i was warned never ever use veet or nair or any of those hair removal creams, becuase whatever way they affect the follicles and sking surrounding them, they can cause far more trouble in terms of repeating cysts than they do solve.

laser hair removal is a good option and pricey too but worth it if you think about it. I'm currently saving for to get it done. I was hugely embarrassed by this but then the nurse in the clinic told me that about 70% of the people they see everyday have the same thing and it's all ages shapes and sizes. it was comforting to know i guess.

Goldenquick

sad wrote: »

Just wondering has any females had this? not at the rear the other side currently have had 2 operations and now i'm sitting in work doubled over with the pain hoping it will go away it's so emabbasing as i'm 26 year old girl feel so embarrassed to talk to anyone about it

I have heard of it being there yes, from doing research on the internet about it 3 years ago when my daughter first got it, sorry I have no links just now, don't be embarrassed though, it's a common problem to so many, it's better to get help than to keep suffering.

antomorro-sei wrote: »

I was gonna post here for a long time, but wasn't sure, and was gonna go Unreg to post but meh, I'll just post as who I am anyway!

I hate this poxy Pilonidal Sinus. Had my first OP in Feb 09, and it was just awful. The wound got infected twice, and I couldn't walk properly for like 3 weeks. Missed so much school, and in 6th year aswell :eek:

Anyway, one year on, and its back. Had my appointment with the consultant last week, and he'll be doing a different type of Op on it this time (it's a different consultant aswell). Hack of all of it tbh.

Anyone else find it very difficult doing certain exercises with this disease/illness/whatever-its-called?

Also, after this, if I get laser hair removal, will the hair never come back down there?

Doing research I was told that:

For people that have PCOS we can treat them but it will only be
maintaining the area the treatment will not be permanent. .

There are different types of laser machines used, so do research on them first and see which salons use which.

You will find some on the site below, I don't know if there are more, there could be indeed. I hope this helps.

http://www.laserhairremovalreview.com/

hellokitty10 wrote: »

Im a 30 yyr old female and just had the op 2 days ago..was in and out in 1 day..nurse coming up to the house everyday to change dressing, she said its the worst she has seen ..booo..its just under 2 inches deep so by reading all your posts i can expect to be getting this thing dressed for a long long time unfortunately..have to say the dressings arent as bad as i expected, nurse said its cause the nerves are gone? and thats why its not as painful but when it starts to close it will get more painful..im bored, depressed feel sick and in pain and cant wait for this bloody thing to go away and praying that its the end of it..:mad:

Keep your spirits up hellokitty, I hope your recovery goes well.

Babypanda

My story's a bit of a long 1. I got my 1st lump when i was 15. I had it for 6months b4 i told any 1 about it because i was scared. It came to the point where it got really painful and i had to tell my parents. I went to doc's nd was sent to hospital. I had many trips up and down to the hospital, The doctors told me i was lucky because i could have gave my self blood poisoning if it burst on the inside. a week before the operation they told me i might have to learn how to walk again because i mite find it hard because it was so deep, i had my operation on the 6th or 7th of May 2007, After i came out of my operation and was still groggy the nurse told my parents that i had the operation and that i would have to have it packed and unpacked everyday but of course the nurse didn't no what she was talking about because i actually had the operation where they stitched my back up..
Now 3years later i have been suffering all year with back pains and got a lump back, i went back to the hospital and they told me they weren't doing the operation that if i lost weight it would reverse it so i went to my doctor and told him what they said and he couldn't understand it either so 2 months later which is now i have had 4lumps come on my back since the hospital said they weren't doing the op and still trying to get it. My forth lump has been the most painful by far, and I've been in so much pain with this one and i didn't think it could get this bad!! :mad::(

hellokitty10

oh god babypanda how aful for them to say that to you..its obviously a recurring problem u poor thing..well i have to say today i feel more myself, its a week tomorrow since the op and if i feel the same 2moro ill be quiet impressed with the way its going,.. goldenquick has ur daughter not had the operation, ? well if not and if shes scared tell her dont be, NOTHING will be as bad as the flareups, even this past week, doesnt compare to the bad flare ups..i left mine too long and have a 13 month old and thats why ive found the last week so hard but if she has u then thats half the battle..a good carer:Da very good female friend of mine had the op too and has had no probs since, fingers crossed im the same

x x x

Babypanda

Yeah i think it is going to keep recurring until i get the operation. I have to say though by far this lump has been the worst. I was at doctors today and am on more tablets for a week then i have to go see doctor again. It's good that your feeling more yourself now. i know my self after my operation every little progress i made it made me feel a lot better. I hope you feel better day by day and your recovery go's quick
And about goldenquick hehe i am her daughter lol i was scared at the start about having another operation but i want one now to get rid of this once and for all and yes the flare ups are just the worst! And your right having my mum is the best thing she's look after me from day one since a of this started and she really doesn't understand how much it means to me. I really hope u have a good run and keep getting better day by day. x x x

hellokitty10

ohhh ur mum hehehe didnt expect u to say that!!

Well ur a pro then at this stage:mad:, i dont understand their reasoning for saying if you loose weight it will reverse, to me that just sounds like nonsence..how can it reverse itself, loosing weight wont make it disapear...would you not consider going to different hospital then?
did u try what reginald P DuM suggested with the shot glass& salt??, im taking note of that advise cause more than likely this will come back to haunt me..(praying it wnt tho)

look after urself, good luck

Babypanda

Hehe yeah she's my mum.

I no i couldn't understand it either and neither could my doctor. but my doctor wrote to the Doctor that done my operation the first time so we are waiting to hear back from him and hopefully get this sorted..
The glass of water and salt helped abit, it helped my lump to burst on the outside and revealed me of a little pain so that was good. They say that when you get the packing operation done that it is most likely you wont get it back again.
I will look after myself and you to

hellokitty10

ok, thats good to hear..i didnt know that about the packing op..

Let us know how u get on..

Goldenquick

Yep I'm her Mum lol & we only found out recently that we were both posting on this forum lol.

It's great to have this forum to post to like minded people and hear their stories. When telling anyone about a pilonidal sinus, they find it hard to grasp what it is and the suffering & life interruption which ensues because of it. If you explain it is an ingrown hair people kind of shrug it off as if saying, 'well it can't be that painful'. If only they knew.

Kitty, it's great to hear you are doing so well and continue to do so, it must be so hard with a toddler as they need so much attention. If we could help you we would, if there is anything you need let us know and anything within our power we will do.

dimejinky9, I hope the laser goes well for you and that this problem does not recur. My cousin had one and it didn't recur either so best of luck with it. My nephew also had one and it didn't come back so hopefully your's will not come back either.

sad, I do hope you have seen someone, don't suffer pain needlessly please.

Reginald did you use the salt treatment each day or a number of times a day, it certainly did the trick in that it burst one cyst the other day, thanks for that tip.

I'm also going to ask about the hoover dressings if panda does have another operation, they sound as if they are very good. If the hospital does not use them, I'll source them myself.

Reginald P. DuM

Reginald did you use the salt treatment each day or a number of times a day, it certainly did the trick in that it burst one cyst the other day, thanks for that tip.

What I do is anytime I feel a twinge I go for the salt. Usually once is enough to treat it, held in position for about a minute. I can actually feel the salt attacking it. Following day I am nearly clear of it again for another few months. Obviously it works better for me than for others but I swear by it. As I have stated here before I now can control it rather than vice versa. I only wish I had discovered it earlier, it'd have saved me the rigmarole of docs, hospitals and pain. Better late than never I guess. Best of luck with it.