Medical Questions » Skin Questions » Question No. 884
| Question: | My daughter suffers terribly from pilonidal sinuses in the groin. She has had several removed, but they keep returning. Will waxing help the problem? How can she prevent these terrible sores? Could they be caused by her hairy husband? Thank you for your assistance with this matter. |
| Answer: | A pilonidal sinus is the infection of a hair follicle, which then becomes a small abscess. Some people are unlucky enough to be prone to this problem, but they are normally hairy men rather than women.
All women have hair on their bodies, and if those fine hairs are supplied with oil glands that secrete a thick, viscous oil, the hair follicle may become clogged with oil, and develop an infection. Once an infection is present, it rapidly develops into an abscess that must be drained surgically, and treated with antibiotics.
In your daughter' s case, prevention is essential. There is unlikely to be any permanent cure available, but medication to prevent the problem should be used long term.
I am sure her husband cannot be blamed for the problem.
Waxing will possibly aggravate the situation by damaging the hair follicles.
I would suggest that you make a long appointment with your GP to discuss two possibilities. Long-term antibiotics, similar to those used by people with severe acne, may prevent any infection developing in the hair follicles. The use of a mild steroid/antibiotic combination lotion (eg. Neo Medrol—prescription required) may thin out the oil in the skin, and again prevent infection.
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