DH had them for a long, long time - he is incredibly prone to cysts. His was maybe halfway up his tailbone. (I am so grateful for the invention of Accutane; a year on that and he stopped having the huge acne cysts on his face, neck, chest, back... never to return.) It would swell up, then go away, then swell up again, and sometimes would break open and make a nasty mess just like his acne cysts did, but our insurance company at the time wouldn't cover removing most cysts (they considered it "cosmetic"). Oddly enough, after a few years and one really big nasty burst it shrank down to nothing and has never returned; if I really dig with a fingertip (oh, that sounds awful) I can feel a little bump of scar tissue about the size of a pea and he has a tiny scar that looks like a chickenpox scar. His doctor said that often they go away on their own like that. If it's not infected and not causing him pain, most doctors just leave it, but it's usually an office procedure to get rid of it unless it's gotten really large and/or abscesses often, in which case it's a brief outpatient surgery.

Sorry a cyst like this is not the same as facial cysts above. I highly recommend you go to a doctor as most of these "tunneL" into the body, some deep. It will need surgically removed, it is no big deal but can become infected if not taken care of. this can be done with twilight anesthesia. Good luck.

My BIL had one many years ago - not sure if it had become infected prior to removal but it had tunneled, just as peytonroad said. His was not an easy or uncomplicated procedure and his recovery was long and painful, requiring his then fiance to change dressings and clean it (and she didn't run for the hills!) at least daily for quite some time. He had to be on his stomach for several days and couldn't sit for a long time. You've taken him to the doctor? What was suggested?

He has an appointment with a surgeon next week.

I originally was under the impression that since the cyst is small, then it would be a simple procedure. However, since doing some research I realize that the small visible bump could be hiding a much larger cyst under the skin.

I didn't know these things tunnel into the "sinuses". Looking at the online pictures leaves me weak.

peytonroad, thus far DH has had well over a dozen cysts of various types removed or otherwise medically treated over his lifetime, not counting the acne cysts (which, according to the several dermatologists he saw over the years, are a pretty different animal from ordinary acne; but I had to learn how to lance and clean the ones that didn't go by themselves, which was less disgusting than my dad's gangrenous foot but more so than... well, never mind) and the ones treated at home. The Accutane was a "what the hell, why not". Some of his cysts have been in some pretty dang delicate locations - try a grape-sized cyst in what the young'uns call the, er um ahem, "taint"? He maintains that the worst part of that incident was having his dangly bits taped - yeowch - out of the way, or rather getting UNtaped! He's handling (pardon the pun) several ganglion cysts now. He fusses more about my mole removals though (I could happily go the rest of my life without hearing the words "dermal punch" ever again - slather on that sunscreen, boys and girls!)

However, I'm just passing on our experience.

mari, a pilonidal cyst is different than other cysts. These usually are filled with mostly hair, grease and fat.

Pilonidal cysts don't respond to Accutane (and it is a wonderful med) and rarely, if ever, go away on their own. They may disappear from surface view, but they're still under the skin. If a person is lucky, it will remain dorman and not abcess.

I've been told surgery is the only way to actually get rid of them because the deep "seed" or "core" must be removed.

I must not be a young'en, because I'm having a heck of a time trying to figure out what a "taint" is. I've never heard that term used to describe a body part.

I thought I was old enough to have heard of everything, but what *is* a taint.....please? ;o)

I had to google this term. Here is what I learned.

"Taint is a term used to refer to the perineum (the region of the human body between the testicles and the anus)."

I never SAID Accutane did anything for pilonidal cysts. They did help with the massive number of cysts he got on his upper body and face/head/neck, but never did a thing with other types of cysts he has had. His pilonidal cyst has been gone for a good three years now, and trust me, I check that little scar on a regular basis while I'm looking him over for developing cysts, weird-looking moles, and other skin irregularities... we trade, he does my monthly mole checks and breast exams. LOL HIS doctor says that it does happen that they do just sometimes recede on their own and never present any problems, so he prefers to leave them alone unless they're actually causing problems other than cosmetic. (Long story as to why DH's wasn't removed when it was being cyclically nasty, and I'm unfortunately extremely familiar with the contents of pilonidal cysts TYVM.)

mari, no need to get testy. I certainly didn't mean to offend you.

I understand that sometimes a P.cyst will recede on its own. That's why I said, "They may disappear from surface view, but they're still under the skin. If a person is lucky, it will remain dormant and not abcess." But that doesn't mean that it goes away. You just can't see it.

As far as my description of the contents of pilonidal cysts, it seems you interpreted that to mean you were ignorant of the facts. I didn't mean that at all, TYVM.

Sorry, no experience with the pilonidal cysts. However, as I am not very acronym saavy, could someone translate TYVM?

It stands for, "Thank You Very Much".

Mona, go to citydata in the health section there is a post on it and people that had healing problems. That post is the only experience I've had with it.

Good luck

roselvr, thank you. But I need more directions on how to get to the site you're referring to. I'm lost. Where is it?

Roselvr, got your email and went to the site.

Thanks again,
M

Monablair.

Glad to hear he has an appointment. It needs to be removed. It can grow and beome very uncomfortable. I think it's usually done as an outpatient.

I don't every remember seeing hair in pilondial cysts but it is a fatty cyst which has the tendency to be greasey.
Picture something like fat you see on meat. It's more dense.

Hi Mona, glad you got it; hope that it helps.
As with any surgery; having a great surgeon is probably the helpful.

With hubby's neck dissection; so far he does not have pain; it's been 6 months. Other people with the same surgery have had really bad pain. We used the department head of ear, nose, throat surgery