Pilonidal don't know what to think....

[spottymerlin]

Hi
Wondering if anyone has any experience of pilonidal sinus/cyst...
I first had a sore tailbone about 8 months ago and it went away on its own after salts baths.
I as pregnant in April/May and developed a 'pilonidal sinus' which had become sore and infected and required 2 weeks antibiotics to clear it up.
I lost the baby.
The GP advised that the pilonidal sinus be surgically removed, and after some reading I know they can come back during pregnancy. So I thought it best to wait before trying again until I had had the surgery to remove the pilonidal sinus.

I finally saw the consultant last night who said he could not see evidence of a sinus, and believed my skin had torn due to stretching during pregnancy.
He said therefore he would not operate because there was no sinus. He also said PS only occurs in hairy men and that my wound wasn't infected and he doubted the antibiotics has any effect in its healing!

I don't trust this man at all. For one, PS occurs in females all the time, plus it was most certainly infected because the pain became less only after starting the antibiotics and thirdly, it runs in my family - my Dad and his Dad both had it, and I inherited their hair colour, nose and feet so I think I have their genes!

So now I feel damned if do and damned if don't - I don't want to become pregnant and have this horrid wound and be on antibiotics and in pain for most of the pregnancy, and I feel certain this will return if I become pregnant again.
But I don't want to have an operation unnecessarily and I'm not sure if removing half a pound of my own bum crack would actually solve the problem anyway.

I have requested a 2nd opinion but I have to wait 3 weeks to see the GP to request this. As time ticks on all I want to is become pregnant again.

Forgot to add - so if anyone knows - do Pilonidal sinuses heal up and close over or do they remain open? Is the consultant right?

I've had one (not when preg) that has recurred three times. Also saw a consultant who said only hairy men get them!! He said if it happened again to go to A&E?!! If I were you I wouldn't let it put me off trying to get preg, you might be linking it and your loss in your mind but I'm sure they were not related.

Fwiw they dont last for ages so you wouldnt have it for your whole pregnancy. Mine last 10 days, once it cleared up on it's own and twice it burst. Blood and pus galore! But a relief.

hmm, oh well, it's just I don't fight infection very well and don't thought if I can sort this out now before becoming pregnant it would be better.

Even if they did decide to operate its non essential surgery so you would be waiting months. What you could do is get as healthy as possible', lots of fruit and veg, vitamins etc so you are in a good place to fight the reinfection if it did occur. Hygiene is apparent.y a factor as well.

i eat plenty of fruit and veg and keep myself very clean thank very much! it has little to do with hygeine its genetic! get your facts right prior to insulting people wispglitter

Can have quite a lot to do with hygiene to be honest. Don't think the above poster was trying to insult you.

Anyway yes they can heal up and disappear sometimes for months or years.

if you google scholar pilonidal cysts you will find they are genetic.
It is caused by an ingrowing hair making a sinus.
I have always showered once per day. During the time I developed this I kept the area covered in TCP, it was very clean! FFS how do you think other cysts develop such as in the tonsil or neck?!
It really is insulting, I came here for support and instead I'm met with people who neither know what they are talking about or are in anyway supportive.
Why are you even on this thread if not to simply troll.
Get a life.

I've been through hell lately, i lost my baby and developed this abscess. They are very common in pregnancy - are you trying to say pregnant women are unclean? I think you'll find that the skin changes during pregnancy and can lead to an increase in the prevelance of these cysts.
i have had enough of these forums, i'd get more support talking to a lampost.

OP there's no need to get so upset. These people were trying to help, not insult.

Sorry you lost your baby. I had a MC and it was shit.

Get another opinion and hopefully they'll be more useful.

It has nothing to do with hygiene - it has to do with genetics - some of us have a hair that grows inwards from the tailbone - it's like a throwback from when we had tails! - truth.

Anyway - I had one when I was 19 - and I'm very unhairy, and obsessed with hygiene. So there! :) I also know of another girl who had one at the same time as I did, and she also was a diddy little pretty, unhairy thing.

The nurse who treated me said that people who sit down a lot for their jobs are prone to them (so maybe that's why they're assocaited with truck drivers!)

I had mine operated on, I think if you leave them untreated, they recur every time you are run down etc. If the tract is actually open (is it?) You need to have it treated - the two options are surgery to remove the whole tract, or having a kind of gauze 'wick' changed at a hospital every week until it closes.

I'm so glad i didn't have to do the latter so I would absolutely ask to see a specialist, have the surgery etc before you think about getting pregnant. It's a relatively easy thing to have done and then it's dealt with. You don't want extra stresses about stuff going on with your body when you're pregnant.

P.s. - touching wood - mine has never come back, I think because the tract that was created by the hair is gone.

Errrrm. I've said I've also had one so am insulting myself too!!

Sinus means passage or channel so there can be a tiny hole there too, poor hygiene can contribute to it getting infected or debris gathering there. It's totally different from having one in your neck.

It's not now generally considered to be genetic.

Losing your baby is unrelated, but it is understandable that you associate them in your mind.

No idea why you are being so insulting and abusive.

I am a nurse by the way and have also been troubled with a sinus over the years, it comes and goes, so know for a fact that bad hygiene can absolutely impact on the healing process and increase the risk of infection.
It is an area prone to getting sweaty etc, an area which is pretty much your bum crack is more prone to infection.

No one is insulting you, was sharing her own experience.

I find caldesene powder very helpful, it's a medicated powder.

I have worked with two people who had it. One a hairy man and one a young lady. Both of them ended up having operations to deal with it. I was told that one contributory factor was using talc after a shower.