Your Son Has A Pilonidal Cyst.......... Say What??

2 weeks ago my older son was complaining about his butt hurting, and he had a bump or something. I told him it was probably a pimple and it would get better on it's own. I misspoke before I had all the facts.

About a week into this whole " my butts hurts" thingy my son got up one morning and came to see me holding the undies he had worn overnight. They were full of blood and pus. Yuck. Well I haven't looked at my son's butt in about 12 years, since he was 6 or so. I told him I gotta look at your butt see what's going on.

At the very top of the crevice of the buttocks, the butt crack as it were, there was an area bleeding, with pus, swollen and very red. Infected no doubt. I cleaned the area with a warm cloth and then poured hydrogen peroxide on it as he writhed in pain. Then after a bit of fizzing, ok it was a ton of fizzing going on there, I put some anti bacterial cream on it and told him I would do this all again in  few hours. Needless to say he was not happy.

Later in the evening when I had again performed this bit of medical intervention I finally got my first good look at the goings on, in relation to my son's butt. The very first thing I said was " Oh my God, what the hell is that". To my unbelieving eyes I saw two very small holes in my son's skin. No flesh of any kind. Just holes into what I assumed was the interior of my kids body. Are you kidding me?? The next thing that flashed into my stunned brain was " flesh eating virus" as there was no skin just holes. I applied the anti bacterial cream to his behind region and told him he was going to the Doctors in the morning. This mess was not right.

We get to the doctors and she takes one look at his behind and says " He has a Pilonidal Cyst and is going to need surgery".   SAY WHAT? She goes on to tell me that during the time my son was in my tummy and his spine was forming we humans have what they call a " human tail", that once the spine when completely formed this tail falls off and absorbs. Some doctors think when the tail does not fall off and absorb sometime between the ages of 15 and 24 a Pilonidal Cyst forms inside the body. Some doctors think it's an ingrown hair and the body builds a cyst around it. My son is a very hairy guy. But if they are not sure, I certainly know I'm not sure what caused this cyst to form on my son's butt.

Apparently when this cyst forms and becomes infected it will make what is called a Pilonidal Sinus track, which is essentially a tunnel from the cyst inside the body to the surface of the skin so that the blood and pus can be released. My son has been on antibiotics for a bit over a week, taking 1750 mgs a day. He is a big 18 years old guy. He has an appointment with the surgeon shortly after the antibiotic is finished as the surgeon wants the infection gone, which I am happy to report seems to be, before he sees him. So now we wait to see what the surgeon has to say. I am worried.