Cyst on Tailbone

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Cyst on Tailbone
« on: June 10, 2009, 09:15:13 AM » by warndog

My 18 yr old son has a cyst on his tailbone. It is swollen and inflamed. The Dr. lanced it and was able to drain some of the pus and put him on antibiotics. Is there anything else we can do (poultice, etc.) to help with the drainage and healing? Thank you very much.

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Re: Cyst on Tailbone
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2009, 09:39:21 AM » by mommyM

I think what you are referring too may be a polyneidal cyst. Not sure on the spelling there.

I too am anxious to hear about this, my husband has had one for about 8 years, and from time to time it gets inflamed. The next time it gets inflamed we probably will get it cut out but do not want to do that unless necessary because it is a very painful surgery.

It is a fairly common problem, I know of several people who have gotten theirs cut out and did fine the rest of their lives!

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Re: Cyst on Tailbone
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2009, 03:57:54 PM » by orcuttranch

My husband just had one removed in November. I would strongly suggest that whoever has it has it removed as soon as possible. My husband had his for 2 years before he had it removed. It would only bother him maybe twice a year and he would have it lanced. The only reason he finally went in November to have it removed was because our deductible was already met for the year. We expected him to be out of commission for a few days and the back to normal.

After the surgery, the doctor told him that he had let it go too long and that it was almost attached to the bone. He said the healing would have been much worse if so because then he would have had to scrape the bone to get the cyst off. At least he didn't have that. But as it was, because he let it go so long, the doctor had to cut it out from the top. This left a gaping hole about 2 inches long and up to the knuckle of my first finger deep. He had to sit in a tub every morning and evening for 20 minutes and then I had to pack the hole with fresh gauze after his bath each morning and evening. We did this for 4 MONTHS before it was healed shut again. The doctor told him that if he would have had the surgery when he first had problems, more than likely they would have cut a little slit on the side, removed the cyst and sewed it back up - no baths, no stuffing, no nothing. He would have only been out of commission for approximately 2-3 days. My husband also couldn't sit down for very long periods of time for a month after the surgery.

So the history behind it (from my husband's doctor) - they used to call it sergeants' disease. The sergeants would ride in the jeeps and the soldiers would all walk. Because of the hard seats and all the bouncing over rough roads, the sergeants would develop these cysts. They are basically an ingrown hair gone wild. There does seem to be some hereditary aspect to them too, though. The doctor told my husband that he would have to keep that area shaved to avoid future cysts.

Our pastor had the same thing and came to pray with my husband before his surgery. He told my husband that he was only down and out for about 2 days. But he did have his removed as soon as it started bothering him the first time.

HTH

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Re: Cyst on Tailbone
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2009, 03:58:52 PM » by orcuttranch

Oh, and yes it is called a pilonidal cyst.

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