Every person would want to experience being a couch potato at least during the weekends, especially after five days of stress and tiredness. But as much as you want to sit all day and not get up in your soft and warm cushion, this would not be very possible if you have pilonidal cysts. Yes—you heard it right, pilonidal cysts are a bummer most especially if you want to spend 24 hours in front of your home theater watching your favorite flicks.
What Are Pilonidal Cysts?
Pilonidal cysts are basically pus-containing inflammations which develop in the sacral or coccygeal areas—that is, in the area about a few centimeters above the cleft of the buttocks. Pilonidal cysts are literally a pain in the butt. If you have a pilonidal cyst, you would get up on your seat or couch frequently or turn your butt to the other side to prevent your cysts from being compressed or further traumatized.
Pilonidal cysts are not congenital—they are acquired conditions and most often than not result from too much and prolonged pressure to the sacral area. Our skin is composed of hair follicles and with trauma or pressure, these hair follicles may puncture into the skin and cause inflammation. If you want to get more information, read my other article about what are pilonidal cysts.
How Can Pilonidal Cysts Be Treated?
There are a number of ways you can treat a pilonidal cyst. If you have only a simple, not inflamed, dimple or sinus tract you do not need any immediate treatment.
If it’s not the case you must take a consultation. Upon consultation, the physician may prescribe some antibiotics to treat the inflammation and further bacterial infection. Pain relievers may also be prescribed but this is a symptomatic treatment. The most common form of treatment to accurately get rid of these cysts is through a surgical procedure called incision and drainage.
Incision and Drainage for Pilonidal Cysts
An inflamed pilonidal cyst is basically an abscess, therefore requires incision and drainage in order to improve. The procedure is fairly simple, but you must go through it. First of all, an anesthetic agent will be given to the area of affection. Afterwards, the surgeon, with the use of a scalpel will incise the skin in order to expose the cyst and remove the pus, hair, and other skin debris inside the cystic formation. Once everything has been drained, the surgeon will either close the incision or just leave it unstitched and just covered with gauze. This procedure can be done even in the outpatient department or in the clinic of the surgeon and no specific preparation is needed before it is performed.
Here is a video with the surgical procedure of removing of a pilonidal cyst.
Post-Surgical Care For Pilonidal Cysts
After the surgery, the patient may leave the clinic as soon as possible. No further admission to the hospital is needed since the procedure is in fact an outpatient procedure. The patient will have to take pain medications, anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics to prevent discomforts during recovery.
Wound care is also an important aspect during the post-surgical phase. Thus, it is important that the patient, as well as his or her caregiver is given correct instructions on how to perform wound care effectively in order prevent recurrence, infection and further complications. Try to keep the wound area clean and your sacrococcygeal area hair-free to increase your chances of preventing recurrence.
Sitz baths are recommended after the packing has been removed. Also, don’t worry about skin marks because the wound will heal and close on its own in almost all cases.
Recovery Period for Pilonidal Cysts Surgery
Full recovery may take from several days to weeks depending on the form of surgery performed. For cases where the wound is closed after drainage, recovery would take a lot faster while for cases wherein the wound is left open and allowing the insides to heal first would take several weeks.
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My daughter has a PC that was about the size of an orange – grew very quickly from the size of a quarter to the size of an orange. She has had it lanced and drained yesterday, but today she can still feel bumps in the area. Her appointment with the surgeon today resulted in her just waiting 3 weeks before any decision is made. Seems a little lackadaisical to me. Unfortunately, she is on Medicaid – but is entitled to medical care just as anyone else for necessary treatments. Should she push to have this huge thing surgically removed?
I just had mine removed, packing gauss the first time was 12in and when i had it changed it was 6in. Let me say this, make sure if they pack it they throw some lidocaine on the gauss makes it bearable. The pain with out it omg could be a new form of torture.
I had two pilonidal cyst removal surgeries about 10 years ago. One cyst that got taken out was the size of a doorknob. Just found out yesterday that I’m going to need a surgery. Also, this cyst makes the other two look tiny.
Hi guys. I have a polindal cyst. This is horrible. I’ve had it for three years now. They wanna do surgery. The two open holes at the top of my butt crack are getting larger and clearish blood comes out. I looked on you tube these doctors cut out like 5 in of flesh off of you. I hope I heal well.ryan
i will recommend all those who want to have a surgery for pilonidal to get Bascom surgery because recurrence is very less in it.
I’m a 19 year old female and had my cyst surgically removed the first week of January. Recovery was not nearly as painful as the first time when I got the cyst lanced. I feel so much better, the only thing that bothers me is when I sit down for too long it begins to hurt. Otherwise, I suggest to get the surgery done. Lancing is just a pain in the butt…literally.
Hello everyone!
Has anyone used a wound vac after having the pcyst surgery and being left with an open wound? My better half goes in Monday for this procedure, and I can find much about the wound vac addition to the healing process.
Thanks!
I had the sinus surgically removed on december 20th. For me the surgery was not very painful, but the recovery phase was very annoying. for the first 15 days I had to change my dressing twice a day, which included inserting and removing gauzes that were inside the wound. Then for another 25 days i had to change once a day. It was really uncomfortable, because I could not do sports, i was pretty much confined because car ride were very uncomfortable and the fear of opening the wound, bleeding and delaying the recovery time was too great. It took about 45 days for the wound to heal and for me to stop having to change dressings. After about 2 months, I had the confidence to go snowboarding for the first time this season, Not exactly my smartest choice of sports. long story short, I fell on my bum and reoppened about 2 cm deep of the wound, so I guess that would take about 20 days of inserted gauze and another 10 days of outer dressing. However, In parallel to that, I was getting laser treatment for the hair. If you want my opinion, dont do the surgery unless you think its absolutely necessary. Go for the laser treatment first, it will decrease the chances of the cyst getting inflamed and therefore not require to go through the ordeal of the surgery.
My name is austin, i am 16, and i just had the full excision surgery about two weeks ago. My PC was only about the size of a grape at its largest, but i managed to get the swelling down over the course of about 2 months. When i had it diagnosed in november of 2012 my doctor told me to buy a sitz bath an use it twice a day with extremely hot water to draw anything out. In addition to that, i was told to by hibiclense soap and washed the sinus 3 times a day. The combination of these two things works excellent, but for full results the surgery is needed.
I had a surgery similar to the open wound surgery that russ had, except i had internal stitches and the outside was glued. Even though they sealed up the cut, the inferior end happened to split back open due to pressure. I went back to the doctor an they removed the steri strips that were placed on it after the surgery and a looot of blood began coming out. Apparently what happened was a hemotoma formed from the surgery and it liquified in the first week of recovery and needed to drain out. Ever since then i have had to pack gauze in my butt crack and tape it up to keep pressure on it, but the leaking is dieing down. If anyone has any question feel free to e-mail me or respond on this thread.
My email is mxmaniac52096@aim.com
Hi am Rony and am 38 years old i did the pinodel cyst surgery for the 2ed time of my life the 1st time was befor 8 years and the 2ed was in Sep 4 OF 2012 until now am still bleeding and i hane some bubel stitches and an open holl too it is not heeling till today my dr, thinks he have to reopen it and do the surgery for the 3nd time i cannt go through agein why am not heeling what can i try to see if it will be heel ? can u halp me plz and thank u
Hi Guys! I’m 19 years old, well 20 in 2 weeks! Ive been experiencing Pc. since April of last year. It all started with a severe back pain, me being me diagnosed the problem as a slipped disc but boy was I wrong! I had the continuos severe pain all over Easter weekend of last year and walked 4miles with the pain too, ( I will never no how). Eventually, I went to the doctor, I was unable to walk as the pain had became that bad. I was sent straight to A&E where I had the pc surgically drained under anastetic, it tooka bout 4 to 6 weeks after to heal. I was wishful thinking when I thought it would never come back! Come August I was crippled with the pain again, my doctor lanced it the pain was terrible again. So I decided to go for the surgery met with a surgeon and I got a date 12th November 2012, I had open wound surgery but had a vacc pump inserted into the wound, but I had it removed after 3 days as I could not cope with it. I am still getting my wound packed every 3 days and its March now
I know its a long healing process and gets me down so much as I had to quit college because of it! but hey if it takes it away forever whats a year..eh? But I’m just wondering is anyone in my position that can enlighten me to when this will eventually close and my life can go back to normal.. or any vitamins I can take to help speed up the healing would be much appreciated 
atm i’m taking zinc and vitamin C but nothing is happening 
thanks in advance xx