Hey there, just found out about this condition. I (20M) have one sinus a bit above the apex of my tailbone and had it for at least a year but most likely longer. It's <1mm, never discharged anything besides a little blood, doesn't have any foul odour (not even something similar to belly button smell) and I don't notice any hairs straight where it's located. Last year I think I might've had a few flare ups where I couldn't sit longer than 10-15 minutes on a chair without my tailbone hurting, but I'm honestly still not quite sure if it's directly related or not because I'm 90% sedentary, have scoliosis and tend to sit all effed up more often than not directly on my tailbone. I can't recall for sure but I don't think the discharge or its amount was any different then either.

I'll be getting a CT scan and setting up a doctor's appointment as soon as I can, but I have an anxiety disorder so I would appreciate if someone could tell me how bad this all sounds rn. I've been in quite a frenzy for the past few hours reading up and seen some surgery pics and I'm not sure if I could handle it. I literally just had a medium sized abscess drained in a similarly unsanitary area a few months ago which is times less brutal but I've been so miserable even then, I don't know how you guys pull through this and the idea of possible surgery genuinely terrifies me.

I’m a man and have no idea how painful child birth is. But I just learned something from my doctor and I need to ask this group. What was more painful, the cyst or giving birth? I can’t imagine this is actually more painful.

I had a pilonidal cyst drained yesterday (probably the worst pain I’ve ever felt, but not the point). The doctor told me to pull an inch of the packing out every day until it’s gone, and to soak before hand so it’s easier. The thing is, I’m worried it’s going to hurt a lot. I don’t have a very high pain tolerance, and when I was trying to clean up the area a few hours ago, I brushed up against the packing and it hurt a lot. My doctor didn’t give me any heavy painkillers, just told me to take three Advil every six hours. I don’t think it’s going to do much to numb the area, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to pull the packing out. If I can’t manage to pull it out, should I call the doctor and wait, or should I go someplace to have it removed?

Edit: tried removing gauze after soaking in a warm bath, started crying and could barely get any out. It hurts like hell now, so my mom is gonna call the doctor tomorrow to see if they can just remove it with local anesthesia

I don’t know what to do anymore. I originally got a an abscess in December of 2022. Then in June 2023 I had emergency surgery to remove it. The pain came back about the first week of classes in uni. But because the cyst was so deep none of the er doctors believed me and the said they think I’m just looking for drugs. After going to the ER 10 times I finally got a consult with a surgeon and I got my surgery done in November 2022. She said she removed a sinus tract and that’s what was bothering me. I had a few months of relief and I had horrible pain yesterday. I went to the ER in my city because they tend to treat women better. They said it’s back.

In my province the waiting list to get the surgery is like 6 months. I can’t live like this. I can’t go to the ER every week for 6 months to get it drained. I can’t do anything I love. I’ve missed out on so much because of this stupid thing. I was in pain during prom, I walked across the stage to get my diploma with a vacc machine in me. I begged the ER doctor to admit me but he said he can’t, he would only admit me if I was septic. So my options are to wait for months in pain or just wait until I’m nearly dead to go to the hospital. I feel like I’m stuck. My life will never change, it will never get better. Does anyone know what I can do? I would go to the states and see if my health insurance covers something there. But the Canadian health care system is killing me.

Anyone ever had clear sticky fluid draining from the "hole"? I have a tiny hole below my cyst and today there is clear sticky fluid. the skin where the fluid is draining is red, I think irritated from the drainage and not infected but hard to tell. I keep wiping it off and more sticky fluid keeps draining

I finally have the option to get the laser surgery in my country so I thought to ask for advice. I've had PS for around 5 years, on and off. I take amazing care of it, the area is always clean, disinfected, when it flares up I always drain the abscess etc. AFAIK, my condition isn't that bad as I only have one abscess opening, and in the last year I've only had it get infected around 4-5 times, and that's because my PS completely controls the way I walk about. Even when I'm not in any pain at all, I only sit in specific ways that puts no pressure on it, I rarely sleep on my back, I have an antibiotic cream that I put on every time it gets infected (the cream makes it burst), I also lasered the area quite a few times with an at home laser hair removal machine (it prevented a few flare ups).

The open wound surgery is an absolute no for me, but I'm afraid that it's too late for the laser surgery. I also would like to know your experiences with laser surgery if you have any.

Any other advice welcome!

Had my cleft lift 21 march and it feels good, I think it is almost fully healed, some discomfort when taking faster walks and while sitting gets much easier i still have a problem I started to lower my desk and tried to sit longer like 2x 2hours(total 4hours today) with some short pauses in between but my cheeks got warm and I felt some discomfort is it normal that it’s getting warm? How long will it take to it no longer gets warm?

When it comes to healing from an open wound that took 4 months to close ( pilonidal surgery) .. is it best to apply cream to strengthen this tissue or leave it heal naturally ?

22M, had a rough pilonidal cyst about 4 years ago and had it excised. Did the month of recovery, packing, etc. but I haven’t had pain since then.

This past week I was traveling in Europe and after my flight home I started to feel a flare up coming. Within a day I have a full fledged cyst back (red, puffy, white head, etc). I called my doctor and he advised I come in for an Incision & Drainage. He didn’t provide much detail about the process or recovery, but I have a unique scenario.

I recently moved to New York and I’m scheduled to go back tomorrow (as I’m currently in my hometown of LA). Will I be able to fly the next day? Will I even be able to recover if I’m not in the same city as my doctor? Is the pain in the following days really that unbearable? I have a friends wedding this weekend in New York and I would hate to miss it. I’m just in so much pain and need to get rid of this cyst ASAP.

How did y’all work up the courage to do the dressing change because I had it done in office once and it hurt for a few second but even that was enough for my brain to go NOPE!

UPDATE! So turns out my brain was right not to do it with out any numbing or anything . It wasn’t anxiety or not being in the right space either . I went into urgent care to see if they could do it and it was way too painful and I ended up passing out for a sec. So now I’m going into the office so they can do it with lidocaine. Just so you know I have a semi low pain tolerance because I am a teen.

Update pt2. So I went into the clinic and I couldn’t get it done then either because I was absolutely terrified of the pain and no one would give me anything so now I have to go the the er in five hours because after four hours I can take pain medicine and what not. This situation is getting worse because it’s probably gonna get reinfected but at the same time no one is listening to me when I say I can’t do it. The doctors pulled the whole “you’re a teen now and sometimes we have to do things that we don’t want to do.” Mind you when they told me this I was hyperventilating crying and shaking. I know the pain won’t be so bad but if I know something hurts I mentally cannot do it no matter what. I asked if they could literally give me anything even a placebo or anxiety shit but they said no. I know it’s gonna be worse in the er but I needed something and they couldn’t give me anything.

Update pt3(if anyone is even reading this). The doctor my nurse asked about what to do lied and so did my main nurse too. Turns out my main doctor was never called and asked what to do in my situation and when they said they couldn’t give me anything for the pain or to calm me down was also a lie too. I talked to my main doctor bc he called me to apologize for his nurse and said that they definitely could’ve given me lidocaine or Valium. So now I’m headed to the er to get it repacked.

I have a cleft lift surgery coming up soon for a pilonidal cyst and I have sooo many questions about the pain.

first of all, I've never had anything pain-inducing happen to me, like I've never even broken a bone. I think that's why I've been panicking about what the pain is gonna be like. I know that its gonna be uncomfy to sit or move but like is the pain gonna be so bad to the point where I cant think about anything else? Also, is it like a constant ache or is it like a burning shooting pain everytime you move? Please describe everything about the pain in details :) for reference, I have a cyst and a few pits that reach all the way near my anus so it will be a long incision.

Also, do you think I would be able to go to college and sit in an hour car ride and another hour in a lecture 1 month after the surgery?

Also, does it matter which surgeon I go to? Ive seen many names of popular surgeons for this surgery but I can't afford them because my insurance is only in-state. I'm seeing a proctology surgeon and she has great reviews and works at a great hospital, but she doesn't have reviews specific to this surgery.

(for context i am f22 and live in australia) today i saw my colorectal surgeon for the first time after having my second incision and drainage surgery for a recurrent pilonidal cyst. i first had surgery in 2020 after being admitted through emergency and in march this year had a recurrence and surgery again. i was referred by my operating doctor to a colorectal surgeon in my area. he checked my healing wound today and wasn’t happy with how it’s healing as well as having 7 more midline pits. he has recommended i have karydakis flap surgery with him through my local public hospital where i am now on a wait list.

my concern though is that he said it won’t be very noticeable after surgery other than a scar that he advised would be around 12cm vertically down my butt cheek, but in doing my own research and seeing photos here it seems that it substantially changes the appearance of the butt cheeks and butt crack. i can’t tell if the photos i’m seeing are worst case scenarios or look terrible because they are fresh post-surgery but i don’t want to lose half of my ass crack to this surgery. can anyone shed some light on how it actually looks when healed (photos if possible would be great) because now i’m freaking out and reconsidering surgery. i know i need it but i don’t want to majorly change the structure and appearance of my ass 😭

I had the cleft lift done about 1 year and 8 months ago. Everything has been fine until today, after sitting at my desk all day, I feel a bump on the opposite side of where I had the cyst before. It feels extremely similar and I am worried that I have a recurrence, but on the other side. Anyone ever deal with something like this?

My cyst burst today (hooray) how long will it typically drain for? I’m on a course of antibiotics already.

I just went to the BR and was wiping and noticed some bleeding. It was coming from the very top of my butt crack, right in the lining. It wasn’t a ton of blood, just like a pricked my finger.

I feel no bumps or other lesions around it. It didn’t hurt leading up to it. I’ve had some issues in the past with some painful “splitting” (if that’s the right word) in that area where it kinda stings, but I don’t think it’s ever bled before. I’ve also never had any cyst or bumps there, either.

Could this be Pilonidal disease? Or is there any other possibilities? It feels like I almost just wiped too hard and it tore a little, but I’m not sure.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what I should do for next steps to get my pilonidal cyst surgery wound healed. Should I find someone to preform the cleft lift and if so, who should I go to?

For a little information, I am a 27 year old male and I live in Northwest Ohio. I had a closed wound surgery on October 20th 2023 (just over 6 months ago) and I still have an open hole roughly the size of the end of a Q-tip. In my opinion, the reason why my wound hasn't closed and healed fully is because it is in the midline of my buttock.

How can I get my wound to finally heal or should I look into another procedure?

I have been considering if i should have a cleft lift procedure done but I am unsure of where to go that isn't extremely far away.

I have pilonidal sinus for almost 3 months. There are two holes leaking pus but not painful. I will get surgery by the end of the month but I am curious whether a pilonidal sinus can reach to anus. If yes then what are the symptoms and how is it treated? Because one of the opening of my sinus is very close to anus.

Yesterday at 4am my pilonidal cyst popped and I went to the hospital and they squeezed it to get the pus out of it but they didn't cut it and they put a couple of gauzes on top of it and gave me a prescription for an oral antibiotic, a topical antibiotic, an NSAID and some painkillers. The doctor in the ER told me to go to a general surgeon to get it fixed up but I have exams coming up and I can't afford to fail this semester, can I stay on the antibiotics for 2 weeks till the semester ends before getting the surgery or will I be risking serious complications by relying on the antibiotics for that long with a hole that is actively discharging pus ?

This morning I got the karydakis flap procedure. I have to have a wound vac on it for a week. I have noticed it starting to slowly hurt more and more, and I’m scared. The surgeon said it probably won’t hurt as much as my last extraction healing process did (horrible). But is it odd to not get sent home with any heavy pain meds? I am instructed to take 800 mg of ibuprofen and 1000 mg of acetaminophen every 8 hours. Has this been the case with anyone else? What if the pain becomes unbearable? Would I be able to convince them to give me a better pain med? I’m so nervous…

Just got discharged from the ER and they indeed said it was a pilonidal Cyst. Does anyone have any idea if they try draining the cyst first or do they go straight to surgery? It’s my first pilonidal cyst.

It's 2024. My life has been a living hell since this surgery. I cannot even begin to explain how bad this has been for my mental health. Only 19 and this isnt inspiring much hope for the future. Pretty much ruined my love of motorcycles. Just hoping someone else has some solutions other than grin and bear it or give up on life. Any little thing helps.