The notion of a pilonidal cyst is incorrect. It’s not a pilonidal cyst, it’s a pilonidal infection. If there’s a tract that drains intermittently or always it’s correctly termed a pilonidal sinus. Put more simply and inclusively, all pilonidal problems can be lumped together as pilonidal disease.
The symptoms may include pain, drainage, smell, swelling, and in its most severe form fever, redness of the affected area, and inability to sit.
Pilonidal Disease: An Explainer
If you are reading this website, you are probably looking for a better way to treat your pilonidal disease. Please our patient explainer.
Pilonidal problems are caused by factors associated with a deep valley or cleft between one’s buttock cheeks in an area termed the natal cleft. Sitting or trauma ruptures hair follicles in the middle of this cleft and they become plugged with a protein called keratin and eventually rupture in the under-skin space (called the subcutaneous space). Hair often becomes entrapped in the abscess over time and a draining sinus tract can eventually form (often above and to one side of the cleft).
The diagnosis is usually quite straightforward, but the doctor must understand the fundamentals of pilonidal disease in order to recognize it. Many don’t, and misdiagnoses are common.
Treatment consists of simple drainage for acute or first-time pilonidal abscesses. Once the condition has been present for many months or years and is not improving, surgery is usually required.
When choosing and operation and a surgeon, please do your research. The Cleft Lift Procedure is the only operation that I feel is appropriate for patients requiring pilonidal surgery. Please do your research. Choosing the correct operation and finding the right surgeon can be life changing in a positive way.
Meet Your Surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Sternberg
After many years performing major abdominal operations including open and laparoscopic resections for colon cancer, rectal cancer, Crohn’s disease, and Ulcerative colitis, I have chosen to concentrate my efforts in a few highly specialized areas of surgery where I feel I can make the greatest positive impact on patients.
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Patient Testimonials: The Blog
Read success stories from surgery patients
- Thanks from a Cured High School StudentAfter our daughter endured three failed surgeries by other providers to treat her pilonidal disease and missed nearly a year of high school, we turned to Dr. Sternberg. Our daughter was so worried that a Cleft Lift would radically changeContinue reading “Pilonidal Cyst: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Surgery”
- The Cleft Lift procedure is as good as it getsI have a lot of gratitude for Dr. Sternberg and his team! I learned about pilonidal disease and surgeries online and found them dismal and not encouraging at all. It was gloomy to see that most surgeons would recommend aContinue reading “Pilonidal Cyst: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Surgery”
- Liz’s Story: ‘No one should have to go through this’We received a letter this month from a patient of The Sternberg Clinic who has successfully recovered from Pilonidal Disease after undergoing the Cleft Lift procedure at The Sternberg Clinic for Pilonidal Surgery. Read her story: What started off asContinue reading “Pilonidal Cyst: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Surgery”
Contact our San Francisco Office
To learn more about treating your Pilonidal Disease with surgery and the Cleft Lift procedure, contact our office staff for information or to schedule an appointment.
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American College of Surgeons, and Pilonidal Support Alliance
