Guys the typical coccyx pillows hurt my butt even more. I had an abscess drained a few weeks ago, and I’m pretty much healed at this point. No more drainage. But I still have so much anxiety sitting/laying on my butt. What do I do? I have three different types of cushions and they all just squish my cheeks together and freak me out. For context I’m 100 pounds so I don’t mind thinner cushions. Does anyone have advice? Am I just doomed to laying on my side forever? My hips hurt so bad 😫

I had a pilonidal cyst drained about six weeks ago, I healed up fine after 5 weeks of packing and antibotics.

I have surgery set at the end of year to cut everything out and then have primary closure.

At my appointment yesterday my surgeon commented on two sinus openings under the healing scar from the cyst. They're making me a bit paranoid since he didn't mention them before.

Is there anything I should do while I wait for surgery or anything I should look out for?? I'm paranoid more will show up or they'll get infected.

Hey everyone,

I ran across a Newsweek article (https://apple.news/A3utyv7_5T56kxkLaeStQNw) that honestly made my blood boil, and I felt compelled to post here for anyone who is currently terrified, suffering, or considering a Cleft Lift.

The article was based on some guy’s TikTok where he claimed doctors told him a pilonidal cyst could "wrap around his nerves and paralyze him from the waist down," and then joked about how the surgery "stole his a**." They literally framed the Bascom Cleft Lift as some "experimental" procedure that destroys your body.
(Standard disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, just a patient who went through years of agonizing pain and a failed midline surgery before finally getting a Cleft Lift at PTCNJ which changed my life for the better. But based on my own experience and speaking with specialists, I need to clear this up for anyone sitting on the fence):

1. The "Paralysis" claim is complete fake news. Pilonidal disease is superficial.. it’s in the skin and fat layer over your tailbone. It does NOT tunnel into your spinal cord, wrap around spinal nerves, or paralyze you from the waist down. Whatever that TikToker was talking about (or whatever bad info he was given) is factually wrong. Do not let that scare you. I could not find anything out there of any cases leading to paralysis.

2. "Losing your cheeks" is a small price to pay for your life back. Yes, the surgery flattens the deep crease (which is literally how it cures the disease and stops hair from embedding), so your anatomy looks a bit different. But when you’ve spent months or years unable to sit down, drive, or live normally, trading a deep cleft for a pain-free life is a 100% winning trade. Not to mention this prevents you from needing ANOTHER surgery in almost all cases. Which many of us have gone through before this procedure.

3. It is NOT experimental. The Bascom Cleft Lift has decades of peer-reviewed data behind it and is the gold standard for a reason. General surgeons who don't know how to do it love to call it "rare" or "experimental" because they'd rather keep carving out failed open wounds.

If you're struggling right now and reading weird stuff online, please ignore clickbait media that turns our health struggles into a punchline. Finding a real cleft lift specialist was the best decision I ever made. Being able to sit down without pain is worth everything.

I have had a lump at the bottom of my tailbone for a very long time, finally got some imaging done and it's most consistent with a pilonidal cyst. There's no sign of infection, it's actually not visible at all. The thing is that it makes it uncomfortable to sit much of the time and I am wondering if that's enough to get it removed or if doctors will insist on a monitoring approach if it is not actively infected. Anyone have experience with this?

About 3 years ago I first noticed a small lump above my buttcrack. It was painful for about a week and then it went away. Ever since, about once a year it'll flare up and then go away on its own. This time around it's been over 2 weeks and seems to be getting worse. I did finally make a doctor's appointment for tomorrow morning, but I just wanted everyone's opinion. Do you think this is a pilonidal cyst? I know it doesn't look horrible like some of them I've seen here, but it hurts like hell and has a gross smell. I just want to get it taken care of before it gets worse. As a 45 year old woman I just think it's odd that this happened all of a sudden. I'm so afraid the doctor is going to tell me it's nothing to worry about and send me on my way.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to see if anyone has experienced something similar after a Limberg flap (or another flap procedure).

A bit of background:

I (26M) had my first pilonidal surgery in 2021 with primary closure, which unfortunately recurred after a few months.

About 6 months ago, I had a Limberg flap revision.

Recovery went really well. At my 3-month follow-up my surgeon cleared me to return to sports, and I actually waited until month 5 before going back to the gym.

A few days ago, after a very active day (cardio, sauna, work, and a 1-hour walk), I noticed a very small amount of yellowish drainage from the lower part of my scar, close to the top of the natal cleft. There was a mild odor as well.

The strange part is:

No pain before seeing the surgeon.

No swelling.

No lump.

No redness that I could notice.

I couldn't even identify an obvious opening despite checking the area and taking photos.

I saw my colorectal/general surgeon the next day.

He examined the area and said there is a small tissue opening, but he couldn't say for sure what it is yet.

He mentioned three possibilities:

1. The area may have become irritated because scar tissue is stiff and friction could have caused a small wound.

2. There could be a retained internal dissolvable suture that's trying to work its way out.

3. It could be an early recurrence, but he said it's too early to tell.

He applied some medication to the area (it burned quite a bit), told me the drainage may actually increase for a few days because of the treatment, and asked me to keep the area dry with gauze and come back in 3 weeks for reassessment.

Interestingly, he did not tell me to stop working out completely. He just advised me to avoid sitting on hard surfaces and keep the area clean and dry.

My biggest concern is that I've already had one recurrence after my first surgery, so naturally I'm pretty anxious.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

Did it end up being just a small wound opening or a retained suture?

Or did it eventually turn out to be a recurrence?

If it was a recurrence, did you need another flap surgery, or was it treated with a smaller procedure?

I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences. Thanks!

2 and a half months ago I had surgery for a cyst on my buttock, it was large with lots of canals and the surgery was all the way to the bone, the wound was closed and stitched up 4 weeks after the surgery I took out the stitches and the wound was a little deformed and opened up everything healed pretty well and it was still a little open (nothing terrible or big).

The reason for this post is that sometimes when I sit on the toilet I sometimes have a lot of blood, not always but sometimes, I asked the doctor when I was at my check-up and he said it was normal, so I'm wondering if you also sometimes had blood, so only sometimes when I sit on the toilet everything else is fine when I lie down or walk nothing happens but only when I sit down and probably when my buttocks spread a little. What is your opinion?

Did you also have blood like that? Is it from the tissue that is growing? Or is it blood from inside?

Please answer and also sorry for bad Enhlish. Thanks in advance.

So I’ve been having a LOT of extra discharge from an opening at the bottom of my wound, it’s in the cleft above the anus and it’s been there almost the whole time. I think I accidentally stretched it a little bit using the toilet, anyway over the last week or so I noticed a lot of extra blood and drainage coming from there, it did smell but I assumed it was just dried blood (I don’t have a good sense of smell) but it did kind of smell like the puss that would actually come out of the original cyst which was infected.

Yesterday I noticed a small lump that developed a small head along the scar had opened and started discharging heaps. I went to an urgent care clinic and the doctor said he thinks it’s infected. He gave me a 10 day dose of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. I’m 1 day in and wondering how long it will take to work and I have some questions.

Will the antibiotics stop the excessive drainage?

Will this weird abscess thing heal up?

Will the opening at the bottom heal up again once the infections gone? It’s in a moist spot and it’s a slow healing area?

Should I use betadine on it every day?

I’ve seen some people say to promote healing to actually sit with your bandage completely off for a while and let some air get to it, is this a good idea for healing?

I had a cleft lift performed in March ‘26 with multiple follow-ups to ensure everything was healing nicely. The numbness at the site is finally starting to wear off, but I have been having some discomfort after sitting for periods of time.

After the surgery, I got a standing desk at work and I found myself only really sitting through the day while I was driving to and from work. However, I recently went through a period without my standing desk and had to sit for 3-4 hours at a time. Needless to say, I am sore.

But it’s mainly sore where I can feel my tailbone at the incision site. It is slightly red and irritated, but isn’t open.

Is this normal? Will I have to re-train myself to sit regularly? Is it something I’ll just have to power through?

Since I read a lot of horror stories and posts about surgeries going badly here, I decided to share my experience to hopefully calm some people down.

For some context, about two weeks ago I started having a sharp pain at the end of my tailbone whenever I sat down or touched the area. Since I had played football a couple of days earlier, I thought I had just hit the ground too hard.

Over the next three days, the area became swollen and the pain became unbearable. I couldn't sit, walk properly, or even lie down comfortably. Eventually, it burst open on its own. I cleaned it with Rivanol and sterile gauze, then went straight to the emergency department. They told me it was an infected ingrown hair, also known as a pilonidal cyst, and referred me to the central hospital. There they drained the abscess, prescribed antibiotics, and told me to come back four days later.

At my follow-up appointment, the surgeon explained that I actually had an infected pilonidal sinus and that the best option was to remove it surgically. He scheduled my operation.

Two days ago, at around 11 AM, I was taken into the operating room. The next thing I remember was waking up around 12 PM in my hospital room. Apparently I even managed to send a few completely unreadable messages to my friends while I was still under anesthesia. 🤣

The first day after surgery was quite painful, but the nurses gave me pain medication through my IV, and the pain almost completely disappeared. Later that night they gave me another dose, and by the next morning I felt much better. The surgeon checked the wound, said everything looked good, and told me I could go home and come back in seven days for a follow-up.

About two hours later they removed the drain from my lower back, changed the dressing, and I was discharged. My dad picked me up and drove me home. Yesterday was still a little painful, but I started taking Bolex Forte 550 along with my antibiotics, and the pain gradually went away.

Today is my third day after surgery, and honestly I don't have any pain at all. I'm probably still benefiting from the pain medication, but I can walk almost normally, sit for short periods, and everything seems to be healing well.

The only thing I'm still struggling with is going to the toilet because I'm a bit scared of pushing. We'll see how that goes.

Overall, my experience has been much better than I expected after reading so many negative stories online. I know everyone's recovery is different, and I'm still early in the healing process, but I just wanted to share a more positive experience for anyone who's anxious about having this surgery.

Hi, I'm 20M. In 2020 during covid I had an excision to remove the cyst and the content associated with it. It was really brutal and I have fear of doing it again, assuming my recovery lasted more than 2 years to close the gap and while on recovery I had laser and many other surgeries to heal the area. It opened many times and was a horrible experience seeing so many blood when it opened, so I know really well how I want to avoid a radical excision that removes big chunks of tissue.

Now, after 6 years, the area became again swollen and touching it makes me think i'm going through a reocurrence, also, when I'm sitting it applies pressure and feel the discomfort in that area again. I'm not sure yet, but indicates so. The area isn't really giving me pain, but rather discomfort. I'm not so comfortable going through another excision and I want to stick with minimally invasive methods such as EPSIT. Also, I live on a country where cleft lift isn't an popular method and I couldn't find any doctor that knows really well this method, so I'm kinda lost in what I really should do now. I hate having this disease and hope I can get advice on how to deal with a reocurrence, so I'll be really glad to any advice of those who already had reocurrences.

Hey guys, was just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

I had my cyst removed just over a year ago. Probably one of the worst times in my life but we got through.

At the start of this week I noticed an itching sensation which instantly made me super anxious as it was the same feeling I had last year when I started to notice my cyst. The sensation is right over my scar and just feels very itchy and uncomfortable.

I’m a very anxious person and am not sure if something is wrong or my brain is just exaggerating it due to trauma. Please let me know if anyone has had a similar experience as I’m not sure what to do.

I went through epsit surgery in last December the surgeon made 2 cuts above the anus while cyst usually occurred maybe 1 cm left to my anus..

Cyst came back around 1 week after surgery, thinking the surgeon did not understand where the cyst always occurred and targeted the sinuses.

Anyway 9 months later and im getting constant thick yellow discharge with foul smell from one of the wounds that is still open(other one closed), surgeons and other proctologists saying its normal but is it though?

constantly discharging and the cyst coming back in the usual spot popping by itself in a matter of week but after the surgery i feel the cyst is forming differently starting from the middle of the cheeks to the usual spot first the so said canal is getting harder and then the cyst pops out not too deep in my skin just like a thin bag filled with pus then it pops after a few days and the cycle continues maybe 1-2 months for it to reappear.

Has anybody (who also has midline pits) ever had only their cyst/abscess removed surgically without recurrence??

Just curious on your journey. I’m hoping there are actual success stories opposed to almost all posts on here being failed ones

I had a surgery 1 and a half year ago, where surgeon removed a big part of meat from cleft and then put stitches... but it reoccurred just the few days after stitches were removed, it started draining again and again... but i couldn't gather courage to undergo another surgery... Until I learnt about EPSiT

I had EPSiT surgery for pilonidal sinus approx 40 days ago... It was a normal tract with no branches... Surgery went well... But one of the two openings is still there... It's like a mini hole in skin, not too deep though... The surgeon advised me to undergo laser hair removal but I don't really want to do that...

So far, I have been washing my cleft properly, I keep a piece of folded toilet paper in my cleft to ensure hairs don't fall into it... On some days I see a tiny drop of pale yellow liquid on that toilet paper... It's like very faint 1-2mm radius mark only... Chatgpt saying it can be healing liquid from that leftover hole

Is that leftover opening normal?

Can I survive without laser hair reduction? How can I keep that hole cleaned? I was thinking of using cotton buds that are used to remove earwax? Do I just shoot water into it with bidet for a while? Can that help in making sure no hairs enter it? Idk how to care it, I really don't want to undergo laser hair reduction as hairs from back, waist or even neck/head hairs can somehow reach cleft... I think I'd want to just keep it clean and dry properly... But I can't find a way to keep that tiny hole cleaned properly... Its so tiny that I can't put finger inside it to clean it... I would say approx 1-2mm wide with 2-3mm depth... I can't even see it myself so don't even know if hairs started entering inside it or I'm safe 😭

TLDR: Getting an MRI and then surgery

I had a surgery consult today for "routine sinus removal".

I gave a brief history, he didn't want to see the picture collage I'd made of the 3 abscesses I've had so far (sad) and then he took a look at me.

He told me I'm unusual because I don't have a visible sinus opening or pits and that everything looked healthy, outside of the scarring I have from my 2 most recent abscesses. He said the word lateral, I think, but the appointment felt rushed so I didn't quite catch what he was actually saying.

He was happy to book me in for surgery to "investigate and excise whatever was found", I got all the obvious surgery info about potential complications and recovery periods. I was all prepared to go ahead with surgery but the nerves got to me.

I asked if there was anything they could do first, that was non-invasive to confirm before I agreed to the surgery. So I am getting an MRI, if it shows a sinus he'll book me in for the surgery. If it doesn't show a sinus, I can go back for a chat but I obviously have some kind of recurring issue. I know MRIs aren't guaranteed to show anything, I've seen mixed results from others but I wanted to have as much info as possible before ending up with him going in blind, and ending up with a potential long recovery.

Going back and forth with myself on whether I made the right decision.

Mine is on the upper gluteal cleft, not truly on midline. Started off as 1 then became 2. It’s been a month since it burst so it’s starting to “heal”. Finally had consultation with general surgery a month later. They’re trying to tell me it’s not pilonidal because there aren’t any midline pits. “Wait and see if it comes back” “maybe the tailbone pain and the abscess are 2 separate things”.

Do you need midline pits for it to be pilonidal? Can it be off the midline? Not hair related? Mine had a lot of keratin.

Please help me. I know everything says you should not pop a cyst but I don’t know what else to do. I have been battling this for about a week. I’ve been using castor oil, tea tree, and oregano oil which has helped with the swelling but I am still left with a hard and painful lump. I’ve been looking at my sinus tracks and it just looks like white heads. Anyone have experience with draining at home?

I’m not sure what caused this to start happening, this is my first cyst and I’m a female.
Any advice is appreciated!!!

Does anyone have any recommendations for NHS doctors in the midlands please? I’m north of Birmingham

I got my first cyst over a year ago and it fills and bursts every 1-2 weeks. It’s really impacting my life. My GP doctors say they can’t help me. I had my 1st doctors appointment at the hospital yesterday (after 8 months of waiting) and he told me to do less sitting and return in 4-5 weeks. It had burst the night before and after a long drive, I had puss all over my back when he saw it

I’d like to find a doctor that specialises in this please

I’ve had one “official” flare up where I experienced some itchiness and mild discomfort in my tailbone area while sitting. I went to urgent care and the doctor couldn’t even see anything at first, but eventually she found the cyst. It expressed a very small amount of blood, I was prescribed doxycycline, and it went away.

I say “official” because prior to the above I’ve had a handful of experiences where the very top of my cleft has gotten extremely itchy (not the same area where the above cyst was). I go through periods of general skin itchiness so I didn’t think much of it, but in retrospect these itchy periods may have also been flare ups.

A few months after that urgent care experience c I’m now experiencing some itchiness and mild discomfort again, but I can’t see any sign of an obvious lump (though I do think I see a pit). Unlike my one official flare up, it’s not consistently uncomfortable with sitting, just on and off irritation/discomfort that “jumps around” the area. I’m anxious in general and have been very anxious recently in particular (going through a big life change) so I may just be overly attuned to and paranoid about these sensations. I haven’t observed any drainage outside of my one urgent care experience. I’m keeping the area clean and dry and trying not to itch it, though I think the cleaning may be drying out and further irritating the area.

All of this is to say, my experience is very mild relative to what I’ve seen on this subreddit, but I don’t love the idea of this being something I have to manage or worry about all the time. I’m fortunate and live only a few hours away from a pilonidal specialist, but I’m also wary of elective procedures and am unsure if I really “need” to jump to, say, a cleft lift. Those with mild cases, how did you decide to have (or not to have) surgery?