A pilonidal cyst is quite common among people today. With a pilonidal cyst excision surgery, you can however, get rid of the tremendous pain and discomfort that it otherwise would bring to your body. Before you dive into knowing the process of its recovery, you should at first be aware of what a pilonidal cyst actually is, and how it impacts one’s health. Also, you must know the potential causes of such a cyst.
What is a pilonidal cyst?
A pilonidal cyst is typically caused due to the presence of a sac that is filled with skin debris and hair altogether. It usually occurs near to your tailbone. It is mostly common among people who are more inclined towards doing desk jobs. An excision of pilonidal cyst surgery is thus common.
How much time does it need to recover from a pilonidal cyst?
The usual recovery time of a pilonidal cyst is between 15 to 20 days. In most scenarios, you can expect yourself to get back to work and continue doing your day to day chores immediately after you have undergone a surgery. However, a lot of it also depends on whether or not you have had stitches, and how tough your surgery was! In rare cases, it may extend up to a couple of months too!
Primary procedure to treat a pilonidal cyst:
An excision surgery pilonidal cyst is quite recommended by physicians and you should make sure that you are treating your wounded area correctly in order to ensure that your healing process remains faster, and you don’t see any unwanted problems coming along your way. Here are the two primary procedures as follows:
- Drainage and incision: A doctor will generally make a cut in order to drain the cyst in this case.
- Surgical cyst removal: Here, a patient will undergo cystectomy wherein the doctor will remove the pus out of the cyst, and also remove the surrounding tissues near to that region.
Note: your doctor is more likely to recommend you for going with an incision or drainage in around 60 % of the cases. This is particularly because a person undergoing a cyst surgery will have to ensure that he takes enough rest post the surgery is done. They should prevent all sorts of infection to occur, and must restrict oneself from doing waxing, shaving or other sorts of hair removal procedures.
What are the potential risks of a cyst surgery?
Incision and surgery often come with potential risks wherein you have a higher chance of getting redness, fever, chills, oozing pus, tenderness, bruising and poor healing. Also, the chance of pilonidal cysts to reoccur in that very same place is very high.
How long do you normally require to recover after a pilonidal cyst excision surgery?
In general scenarios, the person having a pilonidal cyst tends may take up to 1 month or at times, up to 3 months to recover completely. A lot of it also depends on your doctor and whether he or she has kept your wound area open or closed with stitches after the pilonidal cyst excision surgery recovery is initiated. However, most of the people can resume their regular living activities within just a month. Also, you are recommended to take a follow up appointment from your doctor post 6 weeks after undergoing the surgery. Based on the criticality of your complication, your doctor will suggest if you are required to remove the sutures, or if it will just be by changing the materials with which your wound was packed.
Is it required to take medicines for managing the pain after your pilonidal cyst surgery is done?
Well, you will obviously feel pain and tenderness in your wounded area, and that can be very well managed with the help of painkillers. Your doctor will certainly prescribe other medications if required based on your complexity. However, it is essential for you to take adequate rest, and make sure that you are not performing any sort of strenuous activities during that time span. You must even avoid sitting on a hard surface for a prolonged span of time. Your physician may also provide you with some other kinds of antibiotics if required and you should complete the full course of it without any interruptions.
Bottom line:
No matter even if you have recovered from the pilonidal cyst, there is a fair chance that you may get it back all over again at any point of time. Therefore, the only thing that you must do is to keep that area clean and tidy all the time. Follow all the instructions that your doctor gives to you meticulously. Also, excess hair growth often creates trouble for your cyst. Therefore, the best idea is to keep your body parts shaved all the time, and make it a habit to clear them from time to time at an interval of 2 to 3 weeks. Make sure that you are attending your scheduled appointment as well to avoid any uncanny situation to come up. For expert guidance, connect with Pilonidal Expert.