Not looking for advice AT ALL. I already have medical advice.
Firstly a warning, have you suffered from an abcess on any part of your body caused by an ingrowing hair or infection? If so, did you leave it be or seek medical attention?
Personally, I have suffered from small ones for years. Ones which when they got the size of a pea, went red raw, or just generally became painful I would go to the doctors for a course of antibiotics to clear them up.
I thought this one was the same! Late on thursday, my buttock crease was feeling a bit sore, felt like a little abcess was forming. Didn't think much of it. By saturday it was starting to be painful. Went to a walk-in centre on sunday and they prescribed anti-biotics. It was becoming v difficult to walk or drive. Sitting was painful as well! Drugs hadn't done a thing by tuesday, and was in incredible pain after waking up. Went to hospital Tuesday as advised by doctor.
Needless to say, I just got out! Was knocked out, and had it drained. I am currently quite happy on some nice painkillers!
This is the painful bit: I thought that the abcess was bad (Which ended up 1/2-3/4 the size of a ping pong ball in 3 days), this is nothing compared to having the first dressing changed today. They had packed it with Aquacel. This is the single most painful thing I have EVER had happen to me. Both removal and reinsertion. I really was stifling the screams! I had to keep telling the nurse to stop. Worse again, this might need doing for a few days! Nurse is coming round tomorrow to do it again.
Has anyone had these, that required packing, and how long did it actually go on packing it for?
I am serious when I say - at the first signs of an abcess, get to the docs. I certainly will be from now on!
And no, no pics. I think I will ask the nurse tomorrow to take a pic though!
Hey, I have had exactly the same problem it is called a PILONIDAL SINUS, basically it is caused by having a hair or nest of hairs grow under the skin which cause infection and extreme pain if not treated.
I still get minor ones now, When i first started to get the pain deep under the skin i would ignore it thinking nothing of it, then after a year or so it started to get worse painfull lumps upto an inch under the skin right in my butt crack (couldn't sit down or walk) i was constantly on my side, eventually the infected area would get bigger and bigger and i would be able to squeeze it real hard and get it to pop so to speak which enabled the puss to come out (like squeezing a massive zit), And i can tell you it smells rotten (not nice) It even used to pop and leak if i was at work or out sometimes and it felt like id **** myself with the puss leaking out..
Anyhow after many trips to the doctor i got refferd to a specialist at the hospital who took a look and told me what it was straight away (at this point it was about the size of a tennis ball and the pain was imense

. they didn't even bother booking me in for surgery the just wheeled me in and operated, the next thing i know im waking up with a giant open wound in the worst place possible packed with a special silver based packing, anyhow they sent me home, telling me a nurse would call round the next day...
SO I get home im on the sofa and next thing i feel a strange sensation so i get up and drop my trousers to find im absolutely covered in blood and guess what the wound is gushing like a waterfall, so i get a lift back to hospital (only 2 hours after getting home) I go to A&E and they take me straight in put me in a bad and tell me to wait, so i wait and wait probably a couple of hours later a doctor comes in and has a look then put's me on a ward. So im now on a ward waiting for my dressings to be changed and to be seen by a surgeon, The whole night passes by, no dressing change and no surgeon the just put some of them cotton pants on my to soak up the blood im lying on my front the whole time to help stop the blood leaking out, (didn't really help) anyway the morning comes around it's now 8am and WWhhhhoooo a group of surgeons walk in take one look at me call the staff nurse who got a right old telling off and im being rushed into surgery once again. I wake up a couple of hours later to find that the 1st surgeon had cleared the nest of hairs causing the infection but while in there he has cut 3 blood vessels and not fixed them. Now im back on a ward to be left there for another 6 hours with no checkups just asked if iv'e been given food or not i say no and nurse walks away never to be seen, at this point im in real need of a wee, so i press the call button and nothing i waited nearly 20 minutes, so in the end a very kind female patient got out of her bed and came over to help me i was so relieved

.
Im then discharged and sent home, the nurse visited every day to change the packing (dressing) but i also had to have my girlfriend change it, this went on for around 3 months ish until it was fully healed, but i continued to have problems and still do to this day.....I do have some pictures ill try and dig them out....