Pilonidal Sinus And Its Treatment In Ayurveda!

Pilonidal Sinus: This disease is characterized by a nodular swelling in lower back region near the tail bone. Sometimes pus or blood mixed watery discharge along with mild pain is noticed. This disease is usually seen in young individuals with hairy skin. Pilonidal sinus is caused by the deposit of tuft of hairs, debris. Pilonidal means nest of hair, and this sinus occurs in the cleft that is at the top of buttocks. The tube-like structure is shaped randomly and contains bunch of hairs. When infected, it causes pain, and one can see pus oozing, with a foul odor. Also called Jeep-Bottom, this disease can cause bleeding, and cyst in the skin covering the tailbone of the back. People who spend a lot of time sitting, and driving for long hours are also prone to have this problem. 

Symptoms: The symptoms include pain during sitting and standing, pus and blood oozing from the cleft, hair protruding from the lesion, swelling of the cyst, and external sinus opening that is visible at the base of the spine. If you are in your early 20’s or 30’s, you will know you are spending more than half a day, which can lead to this condition. 

Ksharsutra Therapy: In Ayurveda, Ksharsutra therapy is very effective and best as compared to the modern surgery used to treat pilonidal sinus. A medicated thread that is of alkaline nature is used. Under local anesthesia the track is identified properly, and Ksharsutra is placed in to the track. The medicine coated on the thread has selective debridement action (it does not harm healthy tissues but removes all dead and pathological tissues). This is how it ensures the healing of sinus tract by healthy granulation tissue. The medicine of thread is over in a week so it needs to be replaced with a new Ksharsutra. The healing rate is 0.5 cm to 1 cm per sitting. That is to say if a sinus tract is 4 cm long; it may take 4-6 visits at weekly intervals for complete healing. 

So it is always advisable to the patients suffering from Pilonidal sinus not to go for surgery which has high incidence of recurrence. They should opt for highly specific Graded Ksharsutra treatment with negligible chances of recurrence.