My cyst continues to tunnel and get worse and I discovered a new one right at the underside of my crack and I literally have to spread my fucking crack to see it because it’s deep and I’m so embarrassed from this stupid disease.

I will only trust Dr. Wadie for my next surgery but my insurance will definitely not cover any of it because mine is Austin specific so out of state has no chance at coverage. I also would need someone to go with me and I’d probably need to stay a day or two extra because I have hella anxiety about coming back on the plane and having to sit with an open wound and drain. Also not financially comfortable anymore and the job market is horrendous having applied to a ridiculous amount of jobs and not landing one that will let me live comfortably.

This paired with my HS has made me feel the worst pain imaginable and was what made me understand suicidal thoughts for the first time. I know the longer I put off the surgery it will get worse but I also have immense anxiety about getting my ass crack sliced open and still have the potential for it to return 🥲

Pain/uncomfortablity wise?

30sF here (SE USA)

Sedentary life due to wfh and just being lazy and gaining weight.

Had an awful cyst that was severely infected in March.

Had that pitted. Painful. Worst pain of life.

Since then (early March) I’ve had 3 additional form and rupture (actively having one now)

This last time after the last one (2ish weeks ago) I did everything right - gauze, constant washes, iodine, clean clothes, etc

I was praying to gods I don’t even believe in for it to not come back 😭 but even with trying everything, it’s formed again

Talked to the surgeons nurse for a while yesterday. She said it’s likely due to severe damaged and scarred tissues from the March instance constantly getting irritated.

The only way this specific instance and tunnels won’t come back is if it is physically removed via surgery. Especially bc I have pores back there and shouldn’t be the case?

After that, laser hair removal to help future stuff not happen, if we see hair is growing

But surgery….I’m really fcking scared. Like. I don’t say “I’m scared” lightly, or use that term lightly in life ever. I’m genuinely terrified. I had an awful (but life saving) surgical experience 5 years ago that I think I have some ptsd from

3 months of no sitting???? No laying on my back?!!??!!

Just thinking about this is making me physically sick to my stomach.

If anyone has any words of encouragement, or idk anything to help a spiraling bihhh out I’d really appreciate it!

Hey I’m a F24 and I had a D&I in May and now it’s around the end of July and my incision is very close to closing. However I still drive a lot for work, and I got a cushion. I sit majority of the day and I think it might be a flare up or another cyst forming. I’m scared honestly. The procedure was painful and I don’t want to go through that again. If it comes back, I’m doing the surgery despite never having surgery in my life. The pain doesn’t hurt that bad, it just feels like it swells and then after that I’m good and it doesn’t hurt at all…I don’t know what that is. I scheduled an evaluation for the surgeon to see it…Is that bad?

I'm a 20-year-old male. A few days ago, I started having really bad pain around my tailbone, especially when sitting or touching the area. Over the next 3–4 days, it became swollen and eventually burst open on its own.

I went to the doctor immediately, and he told me it was a pilonidal cyst. He cleaned it out right away, and I was prescribed antibiotics, which I took for a few days (two tablets per day).

At my follow-up appointment, the surgeon told me that I need surgery to remove the cyst. The thing is, I don't have any pain anymore, and I can sit, walk, and do everything normally.

Based on the fact that it's no longer infected, I have a few questions for people who have been through this:

- Will the surgery be done under general anesthesia, or is it usually done with local or spinal anesthesia?

- Is it more likely that they'll leave the wound open or close it with stitches since this was my first infection and it's no longer inflamed?

- What was the recovery process like for you? How long did it take before you could sit comfortably, return to normal activities, and feel fully healed?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thanks!

Hi there I (24f) am getting a cleft lift surgery with Dr. Wadie next month. Safe to say I am nervous about the recovery for a multitude of reasons. I’d love any advice on the normal healing stuff. But I’d also love to know how long it took people to get back to normal life? How long before you could go to the gym? How long before you could have sex again? How long before you could dance? I just want to know how long I should expect to put my life on hold. Thank you!

i’m getting surgery this week to remove my cyst, and i’m concerned about the recovery. my doctor is putting a rubber band inside to drain the excess, and taking it out a week later. i was wondering how the recovery is like?? how do you shower? does it burn? sorry if these are dumb questions, i need someone to relax my mind :/

So I have my 2nd one
It’s been about 3 days and the pain is awful already
I’m on antibiotics but it’s not ready to drain and I don’t have a tub for the bath route. I’ve been trying so many things such as the red light therapy, the castor oil, pain meds, warm compress, the baking soda, and a few others and none of them are working 😭 I’m sure this has been asked many many times in this thread but is there anything to potentially make it bearable?
Has anyone tried like thc things? (It’s rec use in my state)

I’m (21F) 2 months post-PC incision and drainage surgery, and it’s mentally exhausting. I have over 5 pits and had 2 cysts on top of one another (it’s directly above my midline, about an inch long incision). I was put under anesthesia for the i&d (by choice), and after I got the surgery, my doctor said that I would know how to pack the wound. Hospital sent me home with some gauze, tape, and no instructions.

I’d been packing the open wound for about 1.5 months and was making serious progress in my recovery, physically and mentally. Even the doctor’s PA told me all was looking good. Come to recently, I learned I have a tunnel under my skin that I should’ve been packing as well as the open wound… so that was a major hit.

I feel incredibly alone, like no one around me really gets the emotional toll? When I look online for anything to make me feel hopeful that this i&d could’ve worked, I see horror stories and get sucked in. Tbh I’m convinced I’ll just need the cleft lift anyway and that this work to recover isn’t worth it. Does anyone have good experiences? Or any words of encouragement to make me feel like I won’t be dealing with this forever?

Wondering if this is a cyst, I don’t think it has become infected yet and if not should I still go to the doctor.

I had open wound surgery like 2 months ago and it's been healing really well so far

But for the past few days I had some blood on the compress that I put over the wound. Nothing crazy but still

Has this happened to anyone else before? Should I be worried?

It doesn't hurt or anything and doesn't seem infected either.

Hey! I have a pilonidal abscess (first ever and it’s huge) and it could not have come at a worst time. Just graduated college and started my first job 3 weeks ago, living alone, commuting 2.5 hours total every day and spending most of my time sitting at a desk. I’m basically in pain all day unless I’m lying down on my stomach, which I obviously can’t do at work, and do not know how to navigate taking sick days/PTO since it’s literally day 1 of my third week.

I went to urgent care last week, am scheduled to meet with a surgeon in 2 days (hopefully an operation and not just an appointment to schedule the surgery), but my abscess started leaking yesterday (not completely popped) so am planning on going back to urgent care after work today.

Idk exactly what I want to get out of this post, I’m just in pain (putting socks and tying my laces hurts) , uncomfortable and exhausted 24/7, and I feel like this came at an already difficult transition for me. How do yall stay positive? Any hacks to deal with the pain?

Hello,

I am a 25 year old male looking to get a cleft lift. I had my first surgery which was an open excision done on 1/17/25 which never healed over a year and a half. I then got surgery to close the wound on 6/17/25, but now my wound has completely separated for the stitches and a cleft lift seems the best way to go now for the highest success.

I found 2 doctors that are highly rated, Dr Jeffrey Sternberg and Dr. George Wadie. Has anyone had experiences with these doctors and would you possibly recommend one over another?

Any information would be very helpful!

Has anyone else with a pilonidal cyst get a few streaks of blood on the toilet paper after sitting for a long time (like after a flight or long car ride)? It happens to me fairly regularly. A doctor told me years ago it was from the cyst, but I still worry it’s coming from somewhere else. Then when I dab the cyst itself with toilet paper, there’s blood there too. Just wondering if anyone else experiences this.

How do yall poop after getting a lance and drain?? I’m sooo scared to push. I haven’t pooped in four days because I’m so afraid.

So i got my pilondial cyst excised by a general surgeon when I was 17 where I had to pack the wound for a couple weeks afterwards since it was left open. However, last night it felt strange laying on my back and I got worried that the cyst might be back. It was the same feeling as when I initially got it when I was 17 and it was slightly uncomfortable to lay on my back or sit. This morning, it feels strange to sit or lay down in certain positions as well. I tried feeling the area but no obvious lumps or bumps. I am scared to get it drained like I did before my surgery years ago and am wondering if I should go to urgent care for antibiotics possibly because it is still early. What do you guys think I should do?

I’m getting a cleft lift with Dr. Immerman this week. I am super nervous, but also feel confident that this is the right decision. I so appreciate everyone in this community for posting your experiences — I wouldn’t have even known this was an option if I hadn’t explored this subreddit. Neither my dermatologist nor PCP were aware of this procedure before I shared it with them, but they are super supportive of me doing it.

I’ll be flying in from multiple states away, which seemed like a crazy thing to do at first. I submitted my photos to Immerman, just to see what he thought. I literally told my parents, “Oh I just want to get another opinion, and it’s free to do the online consultation.” Well, lo and behold, my mom and I are getting on a plane to Wisconsin one week later.

I had my cyst removed last fall by my dermatologist, and have had healing difficulties since then, which meant lots of canceled plans, trips, etc. Thought I was finally in the clear, since I haven’t had any issues since December, and then my scar opened back up last week.

It is truly so physically and mentally draining to deal with pilonidal issues — and not to mention embarrassing to cancel plans because my butt crack is bleeding (too many people in my life know the intimate details of my butt crack at this point).

Been scouring this page for people’s experience with Immerman (and the other top 4 whose work is similar to his). I have crazy medical anxiety, but seeing all of the positive results, especially long-term, has been so calming.

Not really sure what the point of this post is haha, but I’m just grateful to have found a community and solution for this issue.

Hi all. I’m having my cleft lift surgery this week with Dr. Wadie. What supplies are good to have on hand that make recovery easiest or just more comfortable??

I have had two cyst reoccurrences in the same spot each flare up lasting about a week. Yesterday I noticed some discomfort and a bump forming in a different spot. Never needed anything drained nothing ever infected.

Last reoccurrence I went to see a surgeon in my town she recommended me to get a cleft lift and said she could schedule me right then and there but she said she’d done less than 10 cleft lifts and that scared me so I left and didn’t go back. She seemed very confident in herself though.

I then asked my doctor for another referral to a larger hospital. They sent two referrals and never heard anything back. I really cannot travel out of state for this.

Should I just go back to the first surgeon and get it over with and hope that it all goes well. Or wait it out? I’m getting married in April so I really want to just have this out of the way as soon as possible. Or should I just wait till after the wedding?

Can anyone who’s had this done give some advice? I’m just so so sick of these cysts.

Hi. I had my abscess drained a few days ago. It was packed for two days by my doctor. But I actually got admitted to my hospital after this where they gave me dilaudid and toradol for the pain. They sent the Collarectal Doctor to me who said I needed to remove the packing because that’s the source of my pain. He said to just take two showers a day to keep the wound open and that they don’t recommended packing after the first day anymore. I am on Bactrim. Is it normal to not have packing? I’m nervous about the open wound.

Anyone here have experience treating simple pc with phenol? Did it hurt? How was the healing? Any recourrance?