This is the third day it’s been really bad, and for a couple days before that it was just a bit sore. This started out of nowhere, no trauma. Now it hurts really bad. I’m taking Aleve and that helps some but not enough. I’m about to buy a coccyx cushion, which has a notch cut out for the coccyx.
Anyway, I’ve been looking stuff up about it and called a nurse hotline but that was no help, she just said to go to the doctor, which duh I already know I should do that. But I don’t want to. It seems that a cyst is the most likely thing, except are they supposed to be movable? Because mine isn’t. Plus people are talking about the cysts draining fluid, and mine doesn’t have any broken skin or anything. It’s just a hard lump under the skin.
So yeah, I don’t want to go to the doctor. I will if I have to, but in the meantime might this thing just go away on its own? Anyone have something like this before?
If I go to the doctor they might want to lance it and that sounds terrifying Someone tell me they had this happen and it went away on its own and everything was great. TIA.
Yeah, a pilonidal cyst seems likely. My family (TMI) has a congenital defect that creates deep dimples along the tailbone, and if we spend too much time lounging around with weight on our tailbones, they get quite inflamed. They don’t drain until they’re good and ready to drain, which is why you might want to see a doctor about it.
In the meantime, don’t loll on the sofa or lean back in your chair. Keeping weight off it helps.
You can live with it for a long time and it’s just there, but when it gets inflamed you’ll spend a lot of time hobbling around thinking “wish I’d gotten this taken care of sooner…”
I don’t recall having any draining or anything with mine. Just a persistent lump that hurt when I sat in certain positions and hurt more when it was inflamed.
Having it removed did suck - maybe it sucked more because I had it done like a week before band camp - but I haven’t had to worry about it in 20 years now. Just don’t have it removed a week before band camp.
I’ve suffered through a few pilonidal cyst inflamations. It ain’t fun. It hasn’t happened for at least 10 years now, nothing was as bad as the first time, but it’s survivable. I’ve heard a serious infection can occur sometimes, so see a doctor if doesn’t drain after a couple of days. Hirsuteness is sometimes blamed, seemed like a good explanation in my case, but one doctor told me that doesn’t really matter.
Well, I’d rather get knocked out and have surgery than have them lance it when I’m awake and screaming. But it still doesn’t sound like fun. And while I don’t have to go to band camp anytime terribly soon, I’m not really allowed to take any time off work ever either
TriPolar, did yours go away on its own or did you get treatment?
Inflamed cysts will “go away” on their own (although they can become infected and require antibiotics), but the thing is that they never really go away, until you get them surgically removed. They just lie there, waiting, until the next time they become inflamed.
From what I’m reading it seems like doctors are all over the place about how to treat them though. Some people get antibiotics, some lanced, and some go right to surgery as a first resort. Do you have general anesthesia for the surgery?
In the derm office I work it, they will lance, pack, and give antibiotics for infected ones. Once the infection is over, if you want it removed, they will do the surgery in the office, with a local anesthetic. Possibly a general surgeon would do it in an out-patient setting with a general, if you wish- not sure about that.
The part where they pack it with gauze sounds disgusting! My stepdad recently had this done for a cyst on his leg and he thought it was really painful, and he’s much braver than me. I can’t deal with this
So it might not be infected though? Just inflamed? And if it’s inflamed it might go away on its own (but might reoccur)? Am I getting this right?
Numbing it isn’t enough for me, I would be so scared. Maybe they could do IV sedation at least. I had that when I got my wisdom teeth out and it knocked me out completely.
Pretty much, yes. I’ve never had one, but it seems to me like you’d know if it was infected vs. just inflamed. Infection includes heat, swelling, and increasing pain. What’s the problem with having it numbed and lanced- you don’t like needles, or scalpels? Just curious. It sounds worse than it really is. The smell if it’s infected is really the worse part of it. I’ll take 100 scalpels over that smell, any day.
I went to the ER last night and all they did was give me a prescription for antibiotics and Vicodin, and I wasn’t able to fill it because the only 24 hour pharmacy didn’t take my insurance anymore (I found out after driving all the way there in agony) and I’m supposed to go see my doctor tomorrow or something but I can’t even move. I tried to get them to do something else about it and they wouldn’t. I’m taking more Aleve than you’re supposed to but I don’t know what else to do. I wouldn’t even be scared for them to yank this thing out anymore, I just want it gone.
You will feel almost immediately better after they lance it. That’s what I remember from mine. I’ve never had mine recur and so have not had the need to have surgery to remove the cyst.
I promise you, you will feel better. You can do this!!
ETA: Also, call your doctor’s office and beg to be seen today.
You absolutely CAN do this. Lots of people have, and worse, and you’re just like them. Seriously. Now is the time to start telling yourself the plain truth: “I wish I didn’t have to deal with this, but I’m sure I can.”
Alas, worse things are in store for you in this life and you will handle/deal with them just like everyone else does. Believe that when the time comes you can get through whatever life dishes out to you. It’s what we do as human beings. You will be scared and wish you didn’t have to go through difficult times, but you will survive. This is the kind of self-talk to play in your head, starting now and running permanently.
Whenever my late husband had to go through another surgery, we would focus on the time AFTER the surgery, not the time right before it. Just jump over the event mentally and imagine yourself back home and knowing the procedure is behind you, as it were.
Keep in mind that I had the same thing (pilonidal cyst), but mine had formed complex tunnels underneath the skin with infected fluids roaming about. They have to perform a “flap” surgery which involved removing the cyst and any skin affected by the tunnels and then grafting a piece of my butt tissue over the open wound, forming a new (and uninfected) layer.
Keep in mind that mine was a pretty severe case. If it IS similar, though, it needs to be taken care of ASAP. My surgeon told me that had I not acted, the tunnels would have likely spread to my rectum and surrounding areas and I might have required a colostomy bag for the rest of my life.
Again, I don’t mean to panic you, but please have a qualified doctor/surgeon examine closely. I had the “main” cyst around where you have your lump, but I also had other minor holes that were actually inside my crack and (on the way to) my rectum and I had no idea they were even there.
My version was apparently caused by an infected hair that had burrowed into the skin.
tl;dr - see a doctor. It can be serious. I am proof of that. If you aren’t draining a pus-like fluid, you’re probably okay, but still…
Vicodin will reduce the pain, so get it filled. It’s pretty cheap, especially if you ask for the generic. I doubt antibiotics will help much, or quickly.
I lance these things right in the office, and it does give quick relief. Most ER docs will do that for you too, especially if you’ve got good insurance. Were they super busy or something?
Someone tell me they had this happen and it went away on its own and everything was great. TIA.
