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Original poster

abscess which won't go away and looks like it's spreading

154 replies

willow1995 · 05/08/2021 13:46

hello everyone.

I'm looking for some advice and also if any of you have been in the same situation as me.
I have an abscess near my tailbone for around 2 years. it came up after I gave birth. it was 5cm deep and 8cm wide. I had an operation to have it out and things were fine until 3 months later it started coming back. since then every few weeks it fills up quite large and then disperses apart from this time. it's been dispersing gunk for about a week and a half and now it's turning a slight purple around the edges, also there seems to be purple looking veins coming away from it and growing larger every day. I am on antibiotics which I have been on for over a week and a half. but now I also have a lump on my spine as well which could also be a abscess.

I keep going to my GP but they just keep telling me to rest and that's it.

I don't have a temperature but my back is painful and I feel dizzy. no headache but my head feels achy and my neck feels achy too.
I'm getting concerned but unsure what to do. I do have an operation in the next 3 months to get rid of the abscess again but they haven't given me a date yet.

I'm concerned about the purplish veins coming away from the abscess.

if anyone has been in the same situation as me then can you tell me what happened to you and what you did?
also any advice would be great. thanks.

OP posts:
Candleabra · 06/08/2021 18:53

This sounds awful and so painful. Did the doctor give you a timescale to come back - ie if the infection hasn't improved within X days then it needs to be looked at again?

pickingdaisies · 06/08/2021 18:58

I'm really glad a surgeon has turned up to advise! It makes sense thinking about it - I mean, when I got an abscess under my tooth, it got cleaned out then antibiotics afterwards.
Is there anyone who can help you, demand the right treatment or advocate for you?

twig1234 · 06/08/2021 20:39

This needs to be drained. No more antibiotics or topical cream antibiotics will work. It's discharging but the sac and contents needs to be fully removed. Bless you I hope it gets sorted very rapidly for you

Guiltypleasures001 · 06/08/2021 23:12

I had a golf ball size one on my coccyx didn't know what it was
Went to A&E and was told I was lucky if had burst it would have been sepsis
Straight in for surgery, deep wound and packed to keep open to heal
From the bottom up

Sorry op you need to go back or a different hospital

Guiltypleasures001 · 06/08/2021 23:13

Just to add mine was apparently an in growing hair

DonLewis · 07/08/2021 00:19

Op, do you have someone, another adult with you?

Do you work weekends?

Do you think you need to go back?

olympicsrock · 07/08/2021 07:37

OP hope you have gone back to get the abscess incised and drained . This sounds miserable. I don’t know why you have had such crap treatment but this will not get better until it is properly cleaned out and packed to heal from the bottom of the cavity upwards. They will not be interested in definitive surgery until the infection has resolved so you have to get the infection sorted.

Original poster
willow1995 · 07/08/2021 08:54

so update. Still feel like poo. head feels abit better so that's a positive. unfortunately I seem to have a smallish lump half way up my spine which is now giving me abit of pain. probably another abscess (I seem to prone to them on the back ever since I had given birth). the purple veins are still there but haven't grown anymore longer at the moment. there is redness around the abscess near tailbone now as well. I think I'm going to have to go back and ask for better treatment. I hate being ill and I hate asking for help. (I like to do everything myself).

with working- I work 15 hours a week. I like working as I'm quite productive. I'm a carer and love caring for others. my partner is with me at the moment and is also checking the abscess to see if it's changing anymore.
there is still gunk coming out but not as much as before and its green. sorry too much info there.
the pain is still the same but I've been in pain for nearly 2 years with this so I'm quite use to it now.

OP posts:
AbsolutelyPatsy · 07/08/2021 08:57

green is infectious
do you have dressings?
does someone look at it regularly?

LIZS · 07/08/2021 08:58

I would go back asap. If there is another site developing on the spine it could become more serious and difficult to clear.

AbsolutelyPatsy · 07/08/2021 08:59

yes it could be tracking?

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 07/08/2021 09:02

We all have asking for help and no one likes being ill but sometimes we are and so we need to seek help.

Go back to the hospital today.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 07/08/2021 09:03

**hate not have

userxx · 07/08/2021 09:11

This is no way to live, living with pain is soul destroying.

DonLewis · 07/08/2021 09:12

The hospital were clear. If you don't get any better or get any worse, you go back. A new lump? That's getting worse. You have to go back.

Pleased to hear there's someone with you..

It also sounds like you're doing too much. It sounds like you do need some time to rest. Your body needs to heal. But that comes after the treatment you need.

3luckystars · 07/08/2021 09:20

You have to go back to the hospital, the situation has changed. Go back and don’t delay. Good luck.

SecretDoor · 07/08/2021 09:53

This sounds like a perianal or anorectal abscess.

www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/patient-information/gi/perianal-abscess-and-recovery.pdf

You need to have blood tests and see a surgeon who can have a look and decide if it needs incision and drainage and then packing so it doesn't recur

I would either try to see an OOH GP who can refer you directly to the surgical on call team. Alternatively attend A&E at a mainstream hospital ( not a minor injuries unit) who can ask the surgical team to see you.

bubblesr · 07/08/2021 10:01

Actually a minor injuries with nurse practitioners (and likely shorter waiting times) can refer directly to surgical teams. As you’ve had numerous antibiotics with no improvement they’d be reluctant to just send you away as it’s outside their protocols and would want you to be seen sooner.

Marcipex · 07/08/2021 20:35

Please go back. Another lump appearing doesn’t sound good.

Greenmarmalade · 07/08/2021 23:30

Your treatment is really shockingly bad.

Please do go back.

Marcipex · 08/08/2021 11:49

@willow1995 How are you today?

LizJamIsFab · 08/08/2021 12:03

What you need is surgical review, the GP cannot open up that type of abscess in practice. They can only give antibiotics if needed to try and clear it. If it’s not settling/worsening then A&E only option. Minor injuries won’t do surgery of this type.

If you are on list for surgery I hope your turn comes round soon, the waiting lists are terrible.

Original poster
willow1995 · 08/08/2021 15:32

the redness of the abscess has stayed. purple veins hasn't gotten any longer but my back does hurt quite a bit. I'm going to ring my doctor tomorrow for once last chance of trying to sort it. if the doctor doesn't help and fobs me off again then I will go back to a and e. I'm just fed up of getting fobbed off and being sent round in circles. abscess is still discharging slowly and its now smelling. I've been having salt baths to soothe it and I'm also trying to keep it dry.

OP posts:
Original poster
willow1995 · 08/08/2021 15:34

I had a pre op review over 3 weeks ago now and still haven't heard anything about a date being set for surgery. I know it has to happen within 3 months of pre op because if it doesn't then I have to have a pre op done again

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 08/08/2021 15:38

Can you change dr? You don’t need to give a reason you can walk into another surgery and request to become a patient.