Pilonidal Cyst - Post-Surgery Recovery Experiences?

CommandaPanda

Has anyone else gone through this? I just got mine removed this past Tuesday and I am finding that this really sucks. I've really got my diet down hard as I want this to heal ASAP but I probably won't even be able to go into the gym for another few weeks.

This is most definitely the most humiliating medical procedure I've gone through, I don't particularly like having my buddies come over to change out the packing on my *kitten* every morning and night.

This is really only day 3 for me and I have a feeling that it's going to get way worse

I know that these aren't common but was wondering if anyone else out there in the MFP community could shed a ray of light here for me.

Thanks all!

smittybuilt19

Has anyone else gone through this? I just got mine removed this past Tuesday and I am finding that this really sucks. I've really got my diet down hard as I want this to heal ASAP but I probably won't even be able to go into the gym for another few weeks.

This is most definitely the most humiliating medical procedure I've gone through, I don't particularly like having my buddies come over to change out the packing on my *kitten* every morning and night.

This is really only day 3 for me and I have a feeling that it's going to get way worse

I know that these aren't common but was wondering if anyone else out there in the MFP community could shed a ray of light here for me.

Thanks all!

First off let me say, I am truly sorry to hear this, I hope you recover quickly and in full. My experience was terrible. I had the procedure 3 times in 3 years. The cyst kept coming back. I had the open wound type, where I would just pack it and it would heal from the inside out. My dad was a good man for helping me with this. It was definitely humiliating. The pain was terrible and it seemed to get infected all the time, even with regular cleaning and repacking. I don't know what was different about the third time but it finally worked. I had laser hair removal in the affected area and also there was some kind of topical application used the third time that they didn't use the two times prior. It was a living hell and I try not to remember it. It's been nearly 10 years since the procedure and I still will not do anything that aggravates the area, so my ab workouts are a bit bland lol. Anytime I get a pain back there I automatically start thinking the worst. I just make sure to keep it very clean and carry on. I hope your healing completes without a hitch!

CommandaPanda

Has anyone else gone through this? I just got mine removed this past Tuesday and I am finding that this really sucks. I've really got my diet down hard as I want this to heal ASAP but I probably won't even be able to go into the gym for another few weeks.

This is most definitely the most humiliating medical procedure I've gone through, I don't particularly like having my buddies come over to change out the packing on my *kitten* every morning and night.

This is really only day 3 for me and I have a feeling that it's going to get way worse

I know that these aren't common but was wondering if anyone else out there in the MFP community could shed a ray of light here for me.

Thanks all!

First off let me say, I am truly sorry to hear this, I hope you recover quickly and in full. My experience was terrible. I had the procedure 3 times in 3 years. The cyst kept coming back. I had the open wound type, where I would just pack it and it would heal from the inside out. My dad was a good man for helping me with this. It was definitely humiliating. The pain was terrible and it seemed to get infected all the time, even with regular cleaning and repacking. I don't know what was different about the third time but it finally worked. I had laser hair removal in the affected area and also there was some kind of topical application used the third time that they didn't use the two times prior. It was a living hell and I try not to remember it. It's been nearly 10 years since the procedure and I still will not do anything that aggravates the area, so my ab workouts are a bit bland lol. Anytime I get a pain back there I automatically start thinking the worst. I just make sure to keep it very clean and carry on. I hope your healing completes without a hitch!

Thanks for your input smitty, today makes it day 9 since my surgery and I really have to hand it to you... I cannot believe you did this 3 times in 3 years. Mine was left an open-wound for recovery and it is probably one of the more humiliating things I've put myself through and I'm a person recognized amongst my friends for having no shame. It's not so much that everyone gets to look at my butt everyday but rather having to rely on somebody to change out the dressings!

I have heard horror stories about people taking 8 months at a time to recover from this and I am hoping that I am not one of those people. I feel really uncomfortable in my own skin for having been out of the gym this long, I can't imagine saying goodbye for more than 4 weeks! Mine hasn't gotten infected yet but I'm also using a foam dressing in place of gauze to pack the wound that pulls out bad bacteria (crazy expensive).

The first step after recovery is getting laser hair removal. No questions, don't care the cost. I am getting rid of it all because I never want this to happen again. I thought after getting it lanced, it would just go away. I mean, that was incredibly painful but I never wanted to go through it again so I put off this surgery for as long as I could!

Crimson21

Im sorry you're having such a bad experience with yours. I got mine removed about 2 years ago now. I went into emerge because it got so bad that I couldn't walk anymore. They took me in right away, and when they did an ultrasound on the area, it was the size of a tennis ball. Let me tell you, when I woke up from surgery, it was instant relief. I had to travel on the bus every 2 days to go get the packing changed. It took around a month or 2 to heal completely. You just have to make sure to keep it clean all the time, and remember that this is only temporary. It'll heal and you hopefully won't have to worry about it again. My experience was a good one as I went to see a nurse who changed it, so all equipment was sterile and I didnt gave to worry about infection. The only thing I really really hated was how difficult it made it to take a shower, and how itchy it got because of the healing process. Good luck! I hope all goes well.

CommandaPanda

Im sorry you're having such a bad experience with yours. I got mine removed about 2 years ago now. I went into emerge because it got so bad that I couldn't walk anymore. They took me in right away, and when they did an ultrasound on the area, it was the size of a tennis ball. Let me tell you, when I woke up from surgery, it was instant relief. I had to travel on the bus every 2 days to go get the packing changed. It took around a month or 2 to heal completely. You just have to make sure to keep it clean all the time, and remember that this is only temporary. It'll heal and you hopefully won't have to worry about it again. My experience was a good one as I went to see a nurse who changed it, so all equipment was sterile and I didnt gave to worry about infection. The only thing I really really hated was how difficult it made it to take a shower, and how itchy it got because of the healing process. Good luck! I hope all goes well.

Wow! That is incredible! When mine first came in they didn't remove it, they just drained it and it was a pretty horrible experience. Every 2 days sounds like a while. When doing research online I've only run into horrific stories so that kind of put me off even though it's already too late at this point.
I'm going on vacation to the Chicago and the Bahamas at the beginning of March (it'll be a full 4-weeks since operation at this point) and I'm worried I'll still be incredibly crippled! I really don't care about the vacation, I'd be fine not going but we've already spent a bunch of money on it that we aren't getting back. Just hope it heals well before we head out.

I'm still shocked that you only had to change it out every 2 days. I've been doing mine everyday, and sometimes twice a day.

Crimson21

Wow! That is incredible! When mine first came in they didn't remove it, they just drained it and it was a pretty horrible experience. Every 2 days sounds like a while. When doing research online I've only run into horrific stories so that kind of put me off even though it's already too late at this point.
I'm going on vacation to the Chicago and the Bahamas at the beginning of March (it'll be a full 4-weeks since operation at this point) and I'm worried I'll still be incredibly crippled! I really don't care about the vacation, I'd be fine not going but we've already spent a bunch of money on it that we aren't getting back. Just hope it heals well before we head out.

I'm still shocked that you only had to change it out every 2 days. I've been doing mine everyday, and sometimes twice a day.

I asked my nurse why I only had to get it changed every 2 days, and she told me that it heals faster when you leave it for a day. She gave me the example of a bandaid on a cut. If you keep ripping off the bandaid, the cut won't heal very fast, but if you leave the bandaid on for a while, it has a better chance of healing cause you're not fussing with it. It makes sense, and it's true.

Im sure you'll be healed enough in time for your trip. Are you taking any pain meds? I never had to take any. But then I think my body handles pain better than most peoples. When I got my wisdom teeth taken out, I never took pain meds.

CommandaPanda

Wow! That is incredible! When mine first came in they didn't remove it, they just drained it and it was a pretty horrible experience...

I asked my nurse why I only had to get it changed every 2 days, and she told me that it heals faster when you leave it for a day. She gave me the example of a bandaid on a cut. If you keep ripping off the bandaid, the cut won't heal very fast, but if you leave the bandaid on for a while, it has a better chance of healing cause you're not fussing with it. It makes sense, and it's true.

Im sure you'll be healed enough in time for your trip. Are you taking any pain meds? I never had to take any. But then I think my body handles pain better than most peoples. When I got my wisdom teeth taken out, I never took pain meds.

I almost want to try that but I'm afraid of getting it infected. Every time we remove the dressing there's so much nasty bacteria all over it. But it really does make sense when you put it that way. They gave me Percocet. The pain isn't so unbearable that I think it's necessary but I don't think I'd be able to get to sleep without it. In other words, I could live without the pain meds but they do help quite a bit when I need the boost to do certain things. Like tomorrow I have a job interview that I've been pushing back for a few weeks now so I'm going to have to down some for that in order to be somewhat good. Normally I'm really good at interviews and pretty much anything professional but this pain in my *kitten* really throws me off my game. I can hardly drive a car so I don't know how I'm going to do with such an interview.

I might just reduce the frequency of changing out my dressing to every 36 hours or so instead. I'm really anxious for this to be over with, I'm not one to typically rely on anybody for anything! Honestly I'm on those pain meds right now so I'll probably pass out at my computer. I really like how they put me to sleep.

I still have to get my wisdom teeth taken out. I should've gotten those removed and then this cyst. Two birds? But that's another surgery I'm not particularly looking forward to. I've been eating good food to try and help along the healing process but I don't know how effective that's been so far.

Crimson21

I almost want to try that but I'm afraid of getting it infected. Every time we remove the dressing there's so much nasty bacteria all over it. But it really does make sense when you put it that way. They gave me Percocet. The pain isn't so unbearable that I think it's necessary but I don't think I'd be able to get to sleep without it. In other words, I could live without the pain meds but they do help quite a bit when I need the boost to do certain things. Like tomorrow I have a job interview that I've been pushing back for a few weeks now so I'm going to have to down some for that in order to be somewhat good. Normally I'm really good at interviews and pretty much anything professional but this pain in my *kitten* really throws me off my game. I can hardly drive a car so I don't know how I'm going to do with such an interview.

I might just reduce the frequency of changing out my dressing to every 36 hours or so instead. I'm really anxious for this to be over with, I'm not one to typically rely on anybody for anything! Honestly I'm on those pain meds right now so I'll probably pass out at my computer. I really like how they put me to sleep.

I still have to get my wisdom teeth taken out. I should've gotten those removed and then this cyst. Two birds? But that's another surgery I'm not particularly looking forward to. I've been eating good food to try and help along the healing process but I don't know how effective that's been so far.

Were you given any cleaning solutions for it? When I went to see the nurse, she would rinse it out with a saline solution to get all the crap out, then she had this brown antibacterial liquid that she would rub around the wound, then pack it, and cover it with more gauze. Eventually when I didnt have to go get it packed anymore, she gave me a bottle of each that I could use on my own.

Hopefully you'll be good for your interview tomorrow. If your pain meds make you fall asleep, just make sure you don't fall asleep during the interview, or before.....that would just suck. Lol

roadmapmaker

My sister had this done while she was in her 20's. Yes it was quite the experience, but good to say hers never returned! Wishing you the best to a fast and complete recovery!:flowerforyou:

CommandaPanda

I almost want to try that but I'm afraid of getting it infected. Every time we remove the dressing there's so much nasty bacteria all over it. But it really does make sense when you put it that way...

Were you given any cleaning solutions for it? When I went to see the nurse, she would rinse it out with a saline solution to get all the crap out, then she had this brown antibacterial liquid that she would rub around the wound, then pack it, and cover it with more gauze. Eventually when I didnt have to go get it packed anymore, she gave me a bottle of each that I could use on my own.

Hopefully you'll be good for your interview tomorrow. If your pain meds make you fall asleep, just make sure you don't fall asleep during the interview, or before.....that would just suck. Lol

They didn't really give me anything. It was more like they left me with this wound and told me what to do with a followed pat on the butt and a "good luck". My friend, the one changing out the dressings, bought saline solution as well as a seriously expensive packing foam that pulls out the bacteria when you remove it. I plan on taking my pain meds at 1:45 for my 2:00 interview. Because the first hour on these meds I feel like I'm wired with energy then the following 3 hours consists of me sleeping and not being able to do anything haha

CommandaPanda

My sister had this done while she was in her 20's. Yes it was quite the experience, but good to say hers never returned! Wishing you the best to a fast and complete recovery!:flowerforyou:

Thanks! Hopefully I don't die from this drastic lifestyle change. I've never gone from being incredibly active/gym every day to being immobile in bed =[

Crimson21

They didn't really give me anything. It was more like they left me with this wound and told me what to do with a followed pat on the butt and a "good luck". My friend, the one changing out the dressings, bought saline solution as well as a seriously expensive packing foam that pulls out the bacteria when you remove it. I plan on taking my pain meds at 1:45 for my 2:00 interview. Because the first hour on these meds I feel like I'm wired with energy then the following 3 hours consists of me sleeping and not being able to do anything haha

It was kind of irresponsible for them not to give you anything. Hopefully it heals soon.

_noob_

I didn't need surgery for mine, but I played in a basketball game the day after getting mine sliced, drained and packed.

SOO glad my mom was an RN during all this...

smittybuilt19

pilonidal.org. If you haven't already visited this site please do! I was able to find people in the same situation as I was. Being on pain pills and the pilonidal issue it's self had me very depressed and the people on that forum really helped me regain good spirits. Again, good luck on recovery!

smco123

Hi, I don't know if you still check this at all but I was wondering how your recovery progress ended up going? I have been putting the surgery off for a year now and after rescheduling seven time I am supposed to get it done next week or my surgeon told me I can find someone else.. I am just deathly afraid after hearing all the stories of the lengthy recovery time and not be able to do anything really for weeks and weeks that I really do not want to do it. However my cyst is so big now and is constantly bleeding and pressing against my sciatic nerve that I would like to just get rid of it but I don't want to be unable to work out/work for more than maybe three weeks? I do workouts called GRIT by Les Mills (if you want to look them up they are amazing), and they are extremly intense so I wondering how long it will be before I can do these again? Everywhere I look everyone has a different story, I am also doing the open incision and will have to have a home health nurse pack 2/3 times a day my surgeon said, I will also be staying in the hospital for a few nights per my surgeon which is odd because everyone else seems to do outpatient surgery so that worries me even more that my recovery time will be lenghty. I do live in Boston and have a great surgeon, and this is her protocol apparently. Anyway if you can tell me how long it has been and how long until you were able to do high intensity interval training again, also how long before you could go back to work? THANK YOU!

spudder8

I hope that you are doing okay, I had surgery compliments of the US Naval Hospital in San Deigo in 1958, the dam thing has never healed I went to have the surgery evaluated last year, they said oh it still draining lol I told them that I knew that my thought on this is its a real pain in the butt I have deceided that I would seek anothe Dr to check out this cyst because I this that it is causing other problems in my lower body, the more I read about the cyst the worse it gets, I have read articles where they claim that the cyst call cause all types of problems. The funny thing is that I have compiled a list of things that could go wrong and it seem that I have many of the problems that they describe. I sorry that I did not follow up with this years ago, but years ago we did not have the communication systems that we have now get better and keep us posted

tashdria

Hello all,

I actually made this account because I have experience with Pilonidal Cysts. I experienced my first flare up over a year ago, didnt know it was a cyst until I went into the ER for the constant unknown pain on my bottom. They explained to me what it was, numbed up the area and drained the cyst then packed it. The first doctor gave me a hard time about pain medication but gave me a antibiotic. It was a horrible experience. After that it returned 5 more times, same story. Long story short, I finally got the surgical procedure April 18th, 2013. Everything healed up and went well BUT til this very day I am still having the achy aggravating pain. I will never be able to sit down or lay on my back how I used to without the pain from being cut open 6 times. Is this normal or should I contact my surgeon?

CommandaPanda

Hello all,

I actually made this account because I have experience with Pilonidal Cysts. I experienced my first flare up over a year ago, didnt know it was a cyst until I went into the ER for the constant unknown pain on my bottom. They explained to me what it was, numbed up the area and drained the cyst then packed it. The first doctor gave me a hard time about pain medication but gave me a antibiotic. It was a horrible experience. After that it returned 5 more times, same story. Long story short, I finally got the surgical procedure April 18th, 2013. Everything healed up and went well BUT til this very day I am still having the achy aggravating pain. I will never be able to sit down or lay on my back how I used to without the pain from being cut open 6 times. Is this normal or should I contact my surgeon?

Hey, I just saw your post and thought I'd reach out to you. When I first opened this thread I was still in recovery. It was horrible, as you know. I wasn't in the gym for over a month. Even today it doesn't feel 100% healed, but it hasn't come back yet. After 3 months, you should be all set. I'd call your doctor and ask for his advice on the situation. I'm now able to sit and lay in any position without any discomfort but after prolonged periods it starts to bother me.
From all that I've read, I haven't heard of an aching pain after 3 months into healing.

---

AS FOR EVERYONE ELSE: send me a direct message next time, it's been 6 months since I last visited this page lol

CommandaPanda

Hi, I don't know if you still check this at all but I was wondering how your recovery progress ended up going? I have been putting the surgery off for a year now and after rescheduling seven time I am supposed to get it done next week or my surgeon told me I can find someone else.. I am just deathly afraid after hearing all the stories of the lengthy recovery time and not be able to do anything really for weeks and weeks that I really do not want to do it. However my cyst is so big now and is constantly bleeding and pressing against my sciatic nerve that I would like to just get rid of it but I don't want to be unable to work out/work for more than maybe three weeks? I do workouts called GRIT by Les Mills (if you want to look them up they are amazing), and they are extremly intense so I wondering how long it will be before I can do these again? Everywhere I look everyone has a different story, I am also doing the open incision and will have to have a home health nurse pack 2/3 times a day my surgeon said, I will also be staying in the hospital for a few nights per my surgeon which is odd because everyone else seems to do outpatient surgery so that worries me even more that my recovery time will be lenghty. I do live in Boston and have a great surgeon, and this is her protocol apparently. Anyway if you can tell me how long it has been and how long until you were able to do high intensity interval training again, also how long before you could go back to work? THANK YOU!

It's probably a little late now but I'll reply anyways.
I also went with the open wound healing process. The issue with me was that getting it drained the first time was so unbearable that I put it off for an incredibly long time. I would've just left it but the fact that it randomly drained was kind of embarrassing, not to mention that it looked really terrible with my clothes off (I had to be very conscious as to how I angled myself around ladies in the bedroom).
That was probably my biggest push for change though, and I ended up getting the surgery done.

I was, literally, out of the gym for about 5 or 6 weeks and even when I got back I was VERY careful. I didn't go until the wound was closed though, I really didn't want to risk anything like sweat getting in there and screwing me over. That was one of the hardest parts for me because I really had to put fitness on hold, I couldn't do anything but eat a lot of food. I just wanted it to heal.

I did the outpatient process too and after the surgery I was incredibly drugged up and I couldn't feel a thing (however, it killed a couple days later). For the first few days, I had a close friend of mine pack my wound a few times: morning, noon, before bed. After the 4th day it was just morning and night. About 3-4 weeks later I was able to pack it once a day. Eventually, when I built up the courage to do it myself, I was changing it myself. My friend is a serious bro and he's awkwardly put me in a situation where I'm forever indebted to him. In retrospect, I would've preferred to stay in the hospital for a few days because it's not easy to change that stuff out or even convince people in your life to do it. Some people get sick by the sight, smell, and/or blood. It would've been nice to have a nurse look closely after me

I interviewed for a job the very next week and landed it (never telling them about my situation). My job is very sedentary so I had to be really careful walking around and sitting.

Anyways, I tend to ramble so let me summarize and answer your questions:
Recovery process: the recovery sucked, never again. But I haven't had it come back and it looks like there's nothing there (as if there was never a cyst or scar)
Before you can go back to exercise, I'd say closer to 3-4 weeks
I went to work 1 week later (sedentary, not a lot of heavy work involved)
6 weeks to total recovery
HIIT - I didn't go back until I was fully recovered and didn't have problems going up and down stairs.

Adionnar

I had this very same issue. I had mines lanced and after that I was fine for a few months but eventually it came back. So what I did was (its kinda silly yet obvious) I washed it with facial cleanser and I did this until it vanished completely and it hasn't been back since.

zoejf

I am not sure if reading this has helped or not! I am a week's course of antibiotics to see if it will clear the infection, if it's not completely healed at the end of the course I have to go back to the doctor and they will refer me for surgery. My dad had a really bad experience witht this years ago, and 3 surgeries, so I am very nervous about surgery! It sounds like a lot of people have a hard time in recovery...at least I am prepared for it if I do have to have surgery. In the meantime I shall hope the antibiotics work!

waggssimpson

Hi, the problems with these sites are, only the horrible stories get posted. I do know of two people that sailed right through it. I also have to have the surgery, and I have to say, reading these stories, kind of freaks me out, haha.
Mine has been lanced three times now, the first time I was nine months pregnant in 90 degree weather, can you say horrible! The worst part, I had to go to a teaching hospital and two male interns watched, I think they almost passed out! So the fellow who is worried about being embarrassed by friends seeing your butt, please! Haha, try looking like a beached whale and having young guys seeing your butt, lol. The second time my doctor did it in his office, a **** load of needles to "freeze the area" ya right and horrible pain plus the worst truck driver language you have ever heard. The third time, the same Dr. said, go to the hospital they will knock you out. He also said "it would be barbaric to do this in the office". He had forgotten HE did it to me in his office...whoops:(
When I went to the hospital, they knocked me out, it was over, no pain, easy and I must say, one hell of a trip, lol. (I can see why people get addicted to drugs!). Well, it seems to be rearing its ugly head, so, I guess I have to bite the bullet. The problem is, I am a bus driver, not the best job to have this condition. Any thought on how long I will be out of the saddle? On another note, when it does start coming back, I throw polysporin (antibiotic cream) on it and sometimes it knocks it down. Oh and sidebar, this conditions also happens to women WITHOUT hairy butts, hahaha. have a great and painless day:)

Mike93901

I've had the worst experience with this, first showed up when I was a junior in high school and I want to say it was triggered by falling on it very hard against a curb while playing basketball. I literally couldn't deal with the pain and it was a year later it starts to drain, I had it opened and drained in 2006 in outpatient surgery. Hurt and was bothersome but seemed to take a while to heal. My next experience came in 2008 while in San Diego, it opened up and started draining blood in large amounts, went to the er and had more surgery done on it. After this It seamed to be over with until 2009, I was on a dirt bike and fell off going pretty fast and due to all the surgeries I have no feeling in that area so after falling I got back on my bike and took a few more laps not knowing anything was wrong, after getting off and pushing my bike to it's resting spot I realized I had a ton of blood on my gloves from gripping the seat. I had opened up the wound, so I got it stitched up. This was during football season when I was in college so I medical red shirted and I pushed my self to quickly back into the gym and training and lied to my coach about being cleared to practice. It always felt weird and numb but it's stayed closed and I figured it was just how it was going to feel. Now fast forward to two days ago, I'm sick as a dog in bed for 3 days and I get up to use restroom and see blood on my sheets, I knew right away what it was and sure enough big hole, it's been 8-9 years and it's back again. Seems to be no end for me! Now doc says it's draining tomorrow I have check up.

mmckenz2

I am still in recovery, but I'm here to say that not all experiences are horror stories. My cyst first showed up April 2013, but I did not know what it was. I went to a dermatologist and they prescribed me antibiotics and it went away almost immediately although I could still feel a tiny spot if I rubbed the area. The doctor never said it was a Pilonidal cyst so I just hoped it wasn't. It reappeared March 2014 out or nowhere. it wasn't very painful and for 2 weeks I treated it with neosporin and it seems to be going away.

Then on a Thursday it became more painful and I called the doctor I had seen before the schedule an appointment. Things got very bad that night as it became very swollen and I developed a fever. I saw the doctor that Friday and was given antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory, but no pain meds. I didn't sleep at all Friday night due to the pain and the antibiotics did not help at all. I called the emergency number for pain medication on Saturday and on Monday got a referral to see the surgeon on Tuesday. Monday night the cyst ruptured and for a moment thought I was going to have to go to the ER, but my stepfather told me they wouldn't be able to do anything but pack it and to just keep my appointment the next day if the bleeding had stopped/greatly reduced. As soon as the surgeon saw me on Tuesday he said I needed to get in the operating room that day and things were very very bad. There was a lot of infection and my white blood cell count indicated I was a day or two away from having a blood infection.

Surgery went very well and only lasted about 20 minutes. The infection wasn't as spread as the doctor initially feared and my final incision was about the size of a golf ball. They kept me in the hospital until Thursday so they could keep me on powerful antibiotics and pain meds for the dressing changes.

The packing must be changed every 12 hours. Pulling out the medicated gauze manually debrides the wound. Also, the longer you wait, the more painful it will be because it will start to stick. I am very lucky that my mom is able to come over and do this for me. (If using the wet to dry packing, wetter is not better. Fully ring out the gauze before applying)

I went back to work a week later, but I have to sit on a pillow (not a donut. I was specifically told not to use those). I only took my pain meds for dressing changes and even stopped that after a couple days. 3 weeks after surgery I had to sit for an 8 hour exam. I was able to do this with a pillow and Ibuprofen because I can't concentrate with main meds..

I am healing very well (and eating lots of protein). I think when I go back to the doctor next week (4 1/2 weeks after surgery) my wound will almost be filled back in.

I have a trip planned to backpack to Machu Picchu in Peru and I have high hopes that I will still be able to do it. It will be 7 1/2 weeks after surgery. At first I thought there was no way, but I also didn't think I'd be able to take my test.

This is not a pleasant experience, but keep hope because things will get better every day.

JamesDP95

I'm sorry to hear that. I am only 18 will be 19 in 2 months and I have been trying to heal from my first surgery back in Oct. 2012. i am about to have my 4th surgery soon.

mironyc

Hey guys, thanks for offering your support.

So I had my surgery April 11th, about a week ago after having this cyst for about 8 months (since September 2013). I had no idea it would be this big of a hassle, especially since the incision is 2-3 inches long, .5 inches wide, and about .5 inches deep.

It seems as if many of the previous commentators and I have the same active lifestyle problem, as the recovery process doesn't permit much gym-time.

Do you guys have any advice as to after how long one can start playing sports, swimming, etc?

Thanks in advance,
Miro

srakesh95

Hello guys, i;m from India. i found out that i had this cyst thing yesterday and i will have surgery in first week of june. i want to know if i should go for stitches or open wound... My Mom and dad will be very helpful i know. My college starts in august.. would i be recovered completely till then.. please let me know

anim90

HI i am going through this as we speak, week 2, how did your wound heal? did you have it stitched?

anim90

i have an open wound right now, chances of the cyst recurring is 10%. so I advise you to try that method, however bare in mind that the first couple days are extremely painful and the wound needs a lot of time to heal

vikneshvaran121

Hi guys, my name is viki, I am writing this from hospital after my surgery. This cyst appeared last year may 2013 this my second surgery.
When the cyst came I thought it will small tumor it will be rid off easily so I went local doctor he cut the cyst and drain the pus and give me some antibiotic and pain killer.
After couple of month later it appears again in this time its swelling like lemon size with fever, dizzy and faint. I consider this major problem went surgeon he told me this pilonidal sinus need to remove the debris inside I accepted it is a stitch type operation he removed cyst and stitched the region in two types inner layer of the skin and outer layer. He told me it will not appear again and I am happy went home after bed rest in hospital what the f k. After 15 days of the surgey it appears again. I almost lost me.
Aftet some later right now I did my second surgery couple of days earlier. From the cyst I'm almost going to lose my job and precious time so I need your suggestion to how to prevent reccurence. Please help me out.

smittybuilt19

vikneshvaran1 - Hello, it truly makes me cringe to hear about your experience. I had the cyst come back twice for a total of 3 operations. Nearly lost my job over it, was even ridiculed about it by class mates (high school at the time) and given a hard time by my supervisor.

I have not had any other issues in the last 11 years, other than some sensitivity in the surgery area every once in a while. I have been very meticulous in cleaning the area. I am very observant of the area and also limit physical activities that place direct pressure on it ie. situps, crunches, etc.

I also had laser hair removal in the affected area once healed.


Clean, clean, clean. That is the best advice I can give and has worked for me so far. I truly feel for you, I would not wish it on my worst enemy. Bad part is, most people have no idea what it is or what you are going through.