Pilonidal cyst

A pilonidal cyst is a blanket term for any type of skin infectionnear the tailbone. These are normally quite painful, generally occur in men, and normally happen in early adulthood. Although usually found near the tailbone, this painful condition can be found in several places, including the navelor the armpit. Development of the condition in a place other than the tailbone is exceedingly rare, however. It usually happens in young people, up to their thirties in age. Conditions in which it commonly occurs include obesity, body hair around the area in question, and a sedentary lifestyle. While a traumatic event is not believed to cause a pilonidal cyst, such an event has been known to inflame existing cysts.

Diagnosis

Doctors are not sure what causes a pilonidal cyst. One theory is that a small and harmless cyst has always been present at birth, and that for some reason, it has become irritated and formed a painful abscess. Another explanation is that it is an ingrown hairthat has formed an abscess. It is common to find hair follicles inside the cyst—according to some statistics approximately fifty percent of the cysts drained are found to contain hair follicles, though this is not thought to be the sole cause of the condition.

It was discussed by Herbert Mayo in 1830. R.M. Hodges was the first to use the phrase "pilonidal cyst" to describe the condition in 1880. It is a combination of two Latin words, pilus, meaning hair and nidal, meaning nest.

The condition was widespread in United States Armyduring World War II. More than eighty thousand soldiers had the condition requiring hospitalization. It was termed "Jeepriders' disease," because a large portion of people who were being hospitalized for it rode in jeeps, and it was theorized that prolonged rides in the bumpy vehicles caused the condition.

Treatment

Treatment for a pilonidal cyst usually begins when the patient goes to the doctor because of pain. It is treated as an infection, and a doctor might prescribe antibioticsas well as the application of hot compresses. Often the cyst is lanced, and surgeryis a method that has met with some success for curing pilonidal cysts. Surgery on a cyst in the tailbone area involves cutting out the skin and flesh all the way down to the coccyxand allowing the body to regrow the ablated tissue. Varying methods are used to either pack the wound, or suture it partially and even completely, depending on the physician's opinion on how best to treat the patient. The condition can recur, even after surgery. Some people have a chronic problem with this, while most others never have the condition again after surgical treatment.

See also

• Dermoid sinusin dogs

External links

• Pilonidal.org
• Pilonidal Disease
• Pilonidal Cyst and Sinus
• World Wide Wounds- in-depth information on the treatment and symptoms of the condition, with photographs.
• Pilonidal Sinus Self Help Pagewith patient accounts of treatment.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilonidal+cyst Wikipedia article Pilonidal cyst.