Pilonidal Cysts are a pain in the ass

Andy-Pandy

Appologies if this is in the wrong place.

Does anybody else suffer from this? Can you point me in the direction of a good specialist. I've been to my GP on a number of times but he's not doing anything much about it. I understand there is very little i can do but would appreciate talking to someone that specialises in the subject.

Thanks
Andrew

Jumpy

Best...Thread....Title.... Ever.

See another GP, they are not all knowing people. Another doctor may give you results.

LegacyUser

I have the same problem and have it nearly 3 yrs and can get no solution to the problem either, doc's keep telling me to come back every 6 months which isnt helping, have to get someone to dress it everynite and shave it every other week so can anyone else give any ideas how to solove this horrible problem

tbh

check the LTI or Bio/Med fora. LTI link is in my sig.

Ciaran B

Hmm, strange your GP didn’t refer you to a specialist I’d have thought it was standard practice. I had a PC a couple of years ago and my GP sent me to a specialist in St. James’ right away. I’d try another doctor if you’re not getting the treatment you want from your current doc.

When I eventually went into hospital I was in and out in a day, had the wound treated every day before work for the next 3 weeks and after that I was right as rain. Good luck.

Andy-Pandy

Thats interesting, ive mailed an old school mate of mine whos a doctor, see if he can help me. If i get any more info ill let ya's know. I am getting the impression that there is a massive differance from gp to gp in what advice they give.

LegacyUser

I went oto 3 different docs about it, currently under one and not getting anywhere....

cherrio

My brother had one 3 years ago, he got it removed. It does require a general anesthetic, but nothing too complicated.

His one was particularly big (year or two of doing nothing perhaps!?). As I remember, it is the changing of the bandages / dressings that he moaned about, had to be changed very day for a week or two (visiting out-patients), after that he was able to changed them himself. He was off work for a while, can't remember if it was 1 or 2 weeks.

Miss Fluff

My brothers are hairy bastards and suffer. Salt baths and tablets as far as I know.

And hairy men are yummy by the way!!:D(not brothers mind:eek:)

I believe it happens to men with hairy backsides?

Go back to your GP, I believe the pain is awful, Dad is a doctor and prescribed whatever is was and it worked for both the lads so there is definitely a cure

danindublin

Had one for about 2 years but it didn’t cause me much hassle until I fell on my backside at a xmas party (locked out of me tree) and ended up in agony a week later, went to see GP who told me it was a broken tail bone and told me to take nurofen plus. Got worse, then I got the flu (or so I thought) so I went to a different doc who told me I had septicaemia and that I'd be dead within a few days if I didn’t head to hosp right away. A nice 3 three days in hospital and after a month of outpatient visits and I was back on my feet!!!! Ouch!!!!!!

Andy-Pandy

I got mine from being a cycle courior, 8 hours a day for two years sitting on my arse on the bike. Im not paticualry hairy, but my arse certinanly aint silky smooth:D

pookie82

Have known countless people with this problem it's alot more common than you think. Because of the area it effects it doesn't get talked about alot!!! Have seen treatments such as antibiotics courses do some good for a while but in almost every case I've known of surgery is the only lasting answer. It can be pretty invasive and the recovery time can be long and frustrating, but obviously a better option than suffering much longer with such a painful condition.

Tell your GP you can no longer tolerate the discomfort and asked to be referred to a surgeon. If he's still hesitant, see someone else. The longer it's left untreated the more painful it gets and the bigger the operation in the end.

Good luck!!!

Elessar

I believe they are very very difficult to treat. I know two people in my own family alone who have had to have operations twice, once three times to keep removing it. I've heard other people having even more. Sometimes they just don't go away and nothing seems to work. Very frustrating and painful for those involved. It is VERY very common.

OP, I would go see another doctor or try to find a specialist consultant yourself with google.

junkster12345

they really are a pain in the ass, ive had it operated on twice, and it has come back again, so im gonna need to get it sorted a 3rd time, but its gonna have to wait until after the summer as i have a lot of stuff coming up this summer and i cant afford to be out of work, the sensation from them is awful, its like a really intense itch and the more you rub it, the more intense it becomes,

invincibleirish

i got one summer 2002, GP treated it with antibiotics but it didnt go away.

in November 2002 i changed GP and he referred me to specialist who operated on it, the downside was i was in my LC year of school but as i had a huge hole at the small of my back/top of my ass which needed the dressing changed everyday and which could not have any pressure put on it without lots of pain (even with super strong painkillers), so i was unable to sit in a schoolchair.

it took months for it to heal and i wrote off the year as i had missed months of school.

the wound got infected several times and when it did it hurt!,l lost about 2 stone between November 2002 and Summer 2003, as going for a **** was a lot more hassle then its supposed to be so i started eating a lot less despite the fact i was bedridden for about 4 months!.

So to agree, it is a pain in the ass!.

Toots

Hey OP, love the thread title!! I got one after I broke my tailbone a few years ago, I was in australia at the time and they tried to treat it with some heavy antibiotics but it didn't work. When I got home my GP referred me to a consultant in Vincent's Private and I was seen in about 3 months. Luckily I had VHI, cos there would have been a long wait if I was to go public (cos in the grand scheme of things it's pretty minor surgery so it's not high on the priority list). Was off work for 2 weeks and had to do the dressings and all that. Unluckily for me, it's not only guys who get these (they're hereditary too seemingly ) Only thing is, they can come back, mine didn't heal properly and it still swells up from time to time. How long have you had yours OP? If I were you, I'd insist your GP refers you to a consultant, and if he won't do that, see another GP and get a second opinion! It's not worth suffering!!

Andy-Pandy

Toots85 wrote: »

Hey OP, love the thread title!! I got one after I broke my tailbone a few years ago, I was in australia at the time and they tried to treat it with some heavy antibiotics but it didn't work. When I got home my GP referred me to a consultant in Vincent's Private and I was seen in about 3 months. Luckily I had VHI, cos there would have been a long wait if I was to go public (cos in the grand scheme of things it's pretty minor surgery so it's not high on the priority list). Was off work for 2 weeks and had to do the dressings and all that. Unluckily for me, it's not only guys who get these (they're hereditary too seemingly ) Only thing is, they can come back, mine didn't heal properly and it still swells up from time to time. How long have you had yours OP? If I were you, I'd insist your GP refers you to a consultant, and if he won't do that, see another GP and get a second opinion! It's not worth suffering!!

Thanks for that toots85, I have VHI so i think im just going to have to insist that i get to see someone about it. It seems to be a pretty shallow cyst, i can drain it myself (although it is vile) so i might be lucky. I just want to nail it on the head ASAP. What worrys me is the operation, from all i can gather its a nasty one.

Disco Stu

Pain in the ass is right... get your GP to refer you for surgery, anti biotics didn't work for me either, but got it removed...!

Nasty little op though, have to cut out from where the lump is to where the ingrowing hair is and they aren't always right beside each other, have heard of people having a lump up near the shoulders but ingrowing hair down at backside and they have to remove the tract between aswell!!

Don't think it's just hairy lads... not particularly hairy myself and know of a few ladies who have had one too... just bad luck and too much sitting down!!

Andy-Pandy

I pulled the hair out myself about 2 years ago. It was about two foot long, i kid you not. I was amazed, kept it to show my mates, i wish i still had it but lost it.

ambman

OUCH:eek:

Just had an OP on one the other day and it was'nt as bad as i expected. They removed the whole thing and stiched it up.

Like you been to the doctor a few times and got tablets but to no avail.
Anyway cut a long story short went to A&E with it they gave me a letter to see a specialist and he said come in next week for the OP
http://www.pilonidal.org/


I feel your pain:D

LegacyUser

I have had the op on my PC 3 times and no change, it just get so far and then nothing, had it for 4.5 yrs so its just a right pain in the arse and have to get my mam to dress it everyday, luckily I dont live on my own as I wud be F..k! Was in the Mater Private last month and I am now awaiting an appointed to get plastic surg on it so my question is has anyone had plastic surg to heal this Pilonidal cyst. I am only 26 and the auld love life is NO EXISTANT......

LegacyUser

I have the same problem as you OP. The first one I got was exactly 1 year ago. A Huge blister / boil on my arse. It was sore as hell. Went to the doctor and he had to cut it and drain it. Pain is not the word.

The doc told me the only way to get rid of this is to have Surgery so it can be removed. I have not had that Surgery as of yet.

I get it once a month mate, and at this stage, I just pop it myself, its hurts, but I have been so used to it now, that its like popping a zit.

Don't be a wuss like me and go and get it removed. I am just weird as I would rather pop it myself than have it removed. One day I suppose.

Hang in there mate, it is a pain in the arse literally but get it sorted.

dexterfletcher

Just my E0.02 but I suffer from one intermittently (about once or twice a year) and its really painful when the swelling around the hair gets bad. What I do is use a steriod cream and that gets rid of the swelling in a day or two. Maybe I'm lucky and its not as bad as some others on the topic but I really don't want the surgery and there's no guarantee it won't come back. I can get the name of the cream I use (missus is a GP) if anyone needs it.

arch_stanton

I first had one about 13-14 years ago (hairy git, everywhere but on top of the head where it should be ). My GP referred me to a surgeon and I spent about 4 days in hospital. The operation involved putting in a little tube to drain out the yellow nasty stuff. On the last day they took out the tube and sent me home.

3 years later it came back and this time the operation was a little different and like the others said above I had to get it dressed every morning for a month.

I guess everyone has their own experience but it wasn´t painful for me at all. Since the last op (touch wood) I´ve had no problems. Maybe not all cases are candidates for surgery but I would definitely get a second opinion if you feel your doctor isn´t helping.

If you've heard of Rush Limbaugh (american conservative radio blowhard) he used his cyst to get of the draft for vietnam

http://www.snopes.com/military/limbaugh.asp

Toots

The op isn't as bad as it sounds, sure you're unconscious for it!! Afterwards they packed it with this stuff called sorbison ribbon (sp?) and that kinda retains the shape of the hole *quiet you in the back*. The really really important thing is to keep it clean, and as it heals it'll get itchy, which is a good thing, but for goodness sake don't scratch it!! (Trust me, do it once and you'll never do it again!) I took a bath with tea tree oil every day, tea tree oil is a great anitseptic, then I'd get the shower head and really wash the wound out well. Dressings every day for a couple of weeks, and make sure the wound has completely healed from the inside out rather that just healed over at the top.

Another thing I've heard which would be of benefit for guys is to get a really good bath brush (they do great ones in the body shop) and give your whole lower back a really good scrub in the shower every day, that way if there's any little hairs starting to turn, this will pull them back out, meaning less chance of it coming back.

One other thing re the VHI, they won't cover the dressings at the hospital, neither does Bupa (not sure about VIVAS), when I had them done at Vincents Private they were about E25 a go, but you can claim some of that back against your tax at the end of the year.

NotMe

Yeah it's a pretty common thing. I had one a few years ago.. I had a small lump for years without knowing what it was. It got really sore every few months or so for a few days and then was ok again so I just ignored it. Eventually it got really bad.. grew maybe 3 times the size and it hurt to walk, sit, lie on my back and I was living on painkillers.

I went to the doctor and they took a look at it and told me to go straight to the hospital. At the hospital they gave me antibiotics to take for a week and then I went in and had it surgically removed. I was out of work for 2 weeks. The first week I had to go into the hospital every morning to have the dressing changed, after that I could do it myself. It's been fine since, just got a large scar there.

comongethappy

My husband had a pilonidal sinus, I wasn't sure if it was the same, but I think it could be... see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilonidal_cyst

The doctors aways prescribed antibotics first, but they did nothing.

He had sugery on it twice. The first time had a much longer recovery time (2 weeks before he could bear to sit and be in work, and a larger bit of skin missing)and the sinus came back within a year and a half. The second time he went to the Mater Private with the national purchase treatment fund as he was waiting over 3 months (6 months at that point). The care there was excellent. They were much quicker than his previous operation, less of a hole, less pain afterwards. It's been 2+ years now and no sign of it back yet (knock on wood). The doctors have told him there is a good chance of it reocurring though at some stage in his life.

They do recommend you come up to the hospital daily or to your local gp to get the dressings changed. However, my husband wasn't comfortable with this so on the first change the nurse showed me how to clean and pack the wound. The wound is either a)flushed out with a saline solution or b) you sit in a bath of salt water. Both times we were given Kaltostat to pack the wound with... it kind of reminds me of fibre glass when pulled apart. You put it dry into the wound, and when you take it out the next day it seems to absorb most of the infection. Over the packed wound you put a badage covering as pus /blood tend to leak out a bit and you don't want any dirt or baterica to enter the open wound. My husband had to wear briefs as opposed to boxers for the first surgery as it would leak thru the bandage, so I would attach a sanitary towel to the upper part of his briefs to absorb the discharge. The second surgery didn't have that much discharge at all - I think he wore briefs the first two days and then the bandage was adequate.

I hope this information may be of some help to you Good luck!

WhiteWashMan

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

Appologies if this is in the wrong place.

Does anybody else suffer from this? Can you point me in the direction of a good specialist. I've been to my GP on a number of times but he's not doing anything much about it. I understand there is very little i can do but would appreciate talking to someone that specialises in the subject.

Thanks
Andrew

its very common. I had it about 15 years ago, went straight into surgery into st vincents and has never been a problem since.

i wasnt unconcious for it, it was a local aneasthetic, small slice, remove ingrown hair, and band aid over.
oh, but they do shave your arse for you

perticularly common in soldiers and anyone who rides in a vehicle that goes over harsh ground apparently.