I was 28 when I had the cyst. It was removed surgically with just a local. While that was painful, the follow up cleaning and packing was when I experienced the excruciating pain. Unfortunately, now at 55, I am developing another one. The medical information states that this happens to young men; and usually not to anyone over 40. I'm a 55 year old female. Why can't I get those odds when I'm playing the lottery?

I had a pilonidal cyst at the age of about 17-18. It took 4 sets of antibiotics (over 4 weeks), seeing 3 different GPs, me fainting from fever at work and being rushed to the doctors by my very worried boss before I was rushed to hospital with the guidance for immediate surgery to have it removed. 48hrs later I was still sat in my NHS bed with no sign of surgery. Luckily my mom had me covered on her private medical and I was in surgery the same day she alerted them. I had to be operated on twice. It was packed and a draining tube connected. I was in hospital for 4 weeks and then recovering at home for a further 6 weeks before I was able to go back to work. The area still remains sensitive now but the cyst has never returned thankfully. My fiancé is now going through similar at the age of 30. I will be using my private medical to get him surgery ASAP. I don't want him going through the same delay I did.

I had my polinidal cyst when I was 16. It was huge with 2 heads. My doctor drained and cleaned it as best he could, but it was weeping for six months. I then had surgery were it was cut out. I had 29 stitches internally and could not put pressure on that area for many years. I am now 59 years old and I have never had a recurrence.

My son had surgery for a pilondal cyst. took him to a dermatologist, told me he needs to see a surgeon. It was a small opened wound w/o foul secretions. He had the surgery, me being a nurse took care of him, I was told, this could come back for it is common in men, the hair follicle gets infected, could be a closed or open wound. 5 yrs later, (NOW) he came to me and he has a small hole, w/o infection. I check alll!!!! These things grow via blood supply! That's a fact. It should be removed, and all arteries, or blood supplying the site should be cauterized, to end the blood supply. My son is not happy, as I'm not as well, however, if this is to grow you will need surgery in the end. If you have "pus" coming from the site you need to be on antibiotics for this can lead to your blood and become systemic. I hope this helped you. Believe me, I'm not looking forward to having my son in surgery.

I thought that my cyst was just an abscess, having it opened and drained twice, until I finally went in for my yearly physical and was told it was a pilonidal cyst and that it would need to be surgically removed. I have not done this yet, however my about 2 inches from my rectum and every day I can squeeze about the size of a dime of pus out and then it is bearable. Almost like a giant pimple! I am really not looking forward to the surgery if it's as bad as it sounds and just keeps coming back! I need some encouraging comments!!

I had a pilonidal cysts removed when I was 20. The surgeon left the wound open and I was shocked as to the size of it, and the amount of tissue that was removed. It took approximately 6 weeks to heal. However I am pleased to say that 35 years later, I have never had a recurrence. The surgery and open wound recovery are brutal, but definitely worth it long term.

I get them every six to eight months on my lower back. They are big and very, very painful. I have had one removed and it is very painful. I have one now.

I had my first flare up at 18 years old while at my college orientation. I went to the ER where it was lanced and packed. About 15 years later the cyst became inflamed again and it had to lanced. Once a year for the next five years I had this recurring problem and it wasn't until two years ago that I was told that I needed to have surgery to have the cyst removed. So this past June I had the surgery. There was no real pain for the first four days. I felt fine until the pain medication that was left in the surgery site wore off. Even after that the pain was not bad. I went to tech doctor once a week for seven weeks and he used silver nitrate to keep the incision open, which resulted in a very painful burning sensation. Things seem to be going well until about a month ago when the area became inflamed with pus and blood causing great pain. Finally it burst on its own. One week later I was back for more surgery. I don't know if this is ever going to end.