share: My 17 year old daughter had a Pilonidal Cyst operated on 3 months ago
By
Anonymous
October 30, 2010 - 2:14pm
Rate This
the wound was left open and it is being cleaned and packed and dressed every day. It's taking so long and she's fed up and wishes it would heal. Does anyone have a similar experience? Is there anything we can do to promote healing?
Rate This
All user-generated information on this site is the opinion of its author only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. Members and guests are responsible for their own posts and the potential consequences of those posts detailed in our Terms of Service.
Add a Comment14 Comments
Hi Anonymous
I'm sorry your daughter is going through this. It really is frustrating. This is called healing by third intention or from the inside out, and it can take a long time, but it helps to prevent re-abscessing of the wound due to closing it up over an infection.
Sometimes the method of packing or the materials used in packing can be changed to help with healing. Have you discussed this with your surgeon or have you spoken with a wound care specialist? The wound care specialist is typically a nurse. Sometimes you start with wet to dry dressings soaked in saline or something similar but if it takes forever for the wound to granulate or fill in, they may use something other than saline or add materials to the regimen.
I would discuss this with the surgeon and if you get nowhere, ask for a referral to a wound care specialist. Maybe then you can change things up a bit and see if it will kick start the healing. However, this type of wound, especially if it is very deep, can take quite some time to heal.
Good luck to you and your daughter and if we can help further, please let us know.
October 30, 2010 - 3:02pmThis Comment
Hi Cary, Thanks for your thoughts. I will ask about changing the packing. At the moment we are using sobisan. Its quite good but might be irritating her skin. It has progressed and is no where near as big as some of the images on the internet. Quite scarey eh? its about the size of a kidney bean, and its just this last bit that's taking a long time. Many thanks. Sarah.
November 1, 2010 - 2:31pmAnonymous,
November 1, 2010 - 2:54pmI am a 22 year old girl and had the same process done as your daughter only I was put to sleep and the abscess was drained due to the severity of the infection. My original wound was about four inches long and two and a half inches deep. We made sure to pack it and change dressing daily, the wound was never left unclean. However, it still took from October 31st 2009 when I had the surgery until May 2010 for the wound to heal and it still has an opening that never healed correctly. The general surgeon who did this procedure was excellent but he said that was all part of the process. I completely sympathize with your daughter and hope that she does not have to experience the pain and headache I did for so long. I would recommend seeing a Wound Care Specialist. I know I wish I would have.
Anon - Thanks so much for sharing your story and helping out this mom and her daughter. How are you doing now? Any other advice you would give to others who have this procedure in the future? We can all learn from you.
November 1, 2010 - 5:28pmThanks, Pat
Thank you for taking the time to write about your experience, it is reassuring to know that it happens to girls too. I hope you are fully recovered & that you have no more problems in the future. Many Thanks.
November 2, 2010 - 1:57pmPat,
November 2, 2010 - 4:18pmSince I only had the cyst drained and not actually removed it is till there with risk of abscessing again. Just this past month I began having pain in the area again and returned to my doctor. Here to find out another cyst and sinus had formed and was beginning to become infected but had not abscessed yet. Luckily we caught it in time and were able to treat it with high frequent doses of antibiotics. My doctor thinks I need to have both cysts removed but I have still not made a decision. Looking into being referred to a colorectal specialists for this problem.
Thanks for the info, I take from what you've said that the cysts bear watching and staying on top of them, I hope you are able to see a specialist and get the care that you need. Take care, and keep in touch. Pat
November 2, 2010 - 5:11pmSorry to hear about your daughter. I am currently dealing with the same problem. I had a pilonidal cyst on my rear end and they had to create a small incision to drain the pus. I have had to go to the hospitals specialty clinic everyday to have them clean it and repack it. One of the nurses told me one way to help heal it was to eat a lot of protein, so I did. It's almost closed and now I'm scheduled to have the Z-plasty surgery to remove all the tissue around the cyst so it will hopefully not come back again. That's also another idea because I knew I could never go through this again. Hope your daughter gets better soon and tell her that it does get better. Just keep your hopes high. :)
December 5, 2010 - 6:26pmi will undergo this type of surgery next week.if there anyone can advice me about it i will appreciate that.
January 12, 2011 - 4:41amAnon - I would advise you to learn as much as you can about the surgery, the recovery process and what you need to do to follow up. Your doctor's office should be providing you with information, and you can also learn more here: http://www.empowher.com/pilonidal-cyst/content/pilonidal-cysts
and from this support group: http://www.pilonidal.org/
Let us know how your surgery goes, and all the best to you.
January 12, 2011 - 4:22pmPat