This site gets more traffic than I ever thought it would when I set it up. It also attracts a lot of comments. This is great, I’m really pleased every time someone tells me how useful it’s been or shares a story or some information that is helpful to other Pilonidal sufferers.
A lot of comments come from people who are looking for advice about what to do with their particular situation. You’re welcome to post this sort of comment, however please bear in mind that there’s a strong chance I won’t be able to answer it. This is basically because I don’t have time, but also because I’m often not in a position to be answering the question. I am not a Pilonidal expert. I am simply someone who suffered from the disease. The internet is a great place to quickly find out about stuff and connect with people, however it’s often not a great place to get accurate personalised information, particularly where health matters are concerned. This has a lot to do with the fact that each medical case is slightly different, because of context, physiology, severity, previous history etc. the list is long. That’s why the best people to speak to to get advice for your situation are healthcare professionals. People who have qualifications, experience, skill and responsibility.
FAQs in comments, and my answers:
Q. You’ve discovered you have what you think is a Pilonidal Sinus what should you do?
A. See your doctor, and be wary of being sent away with antibiotics and no other plan for follow up.
Q. You’ve heard there are homeopathic or other non-surgical ways to cure Pilonidal sinus do they work?
A. Personally I am very skeptical about this. I’m generally speaking an advocate for surgery over medical treatment alone.
Q. Should *you* have surgery?
A. This is a difficult question to answer, each individual is different, as above it depends on lots of factors, it really has to be your decision but take time to consult professionals and be prepared that the healing process can be long and drawn out – what could that mean for your job etc.. You have to weigh it up against the better than average odds that you’ll be on the road to a Pilonidal free life.
Q. You’ve had multiple surgeries and are wondering whether you should go for another?
A. Again this really is a question only you can answer. Consult your surgeon, get the facts and a sense of the risks. More complicated flap surgeries leave you with funky scars, think hard about how you’ll feel about that when you’re better, be prepared and know what’s going to happen and how it will look.
Q. How long will it take your post-operative wound to heal?
A. I really can’t answer this, neither can anyone who hasn’t seen your wound, even then it’s very difficult to say. Your surgeon or the nurses involved in your wound care are really the best people to answer this question.
Q. Your post operative wound is taking a long time to heal – is this normal and what can you do about it?
A. Unfortunately this does seem to be quite common, and the reasons can be many and varied. There are plenty of good guides about wound care and healing on the net. Though it often feels like it will never heal it probably will eventually, unless something is really wrong. Use your judgement, you probably will feel when something isn’t right.
Also to note: if you post a comment it may not appear straight away, I have turned auto publishing off, that means I manually approve all the comments so that if you want to write to me but don’t want your comment made public you can – just ask me not to publish it.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who offers advice and help to others via this blog.