Back Pain

These tips include information about specific conditions that cause back pain as well as general symptoms associated with back pain. You'll also learn about different options for managing back pain with help from a clinician.

Pain in the tailbone area has many possible causes, including a skin condition called a pilonidal cyst. This cyst is a pocket in the skin that tends to develop near the tailbone. Most of the time, the cyst is a harmless bump that contains skin debris, and sometimes hair and other tissue. But if it becomes infected, symptoms include pain, inflammation, and drainage of fluid from the cyst.

An uninfected pilonidal cyst looks like a small pit in the skin. But symptoms of an irritated cyst include:

• Drainage of pus or blood from the cyst
• Nasty smell from draining pus
• Pain in the tailbone area
• Redness and swelling in the tailbone area

The exact cause of pilonidal cysts remains unknown, but most experts suspect that loose hairs that work their way under the skin are to blame. Most infected pilonidal cysts can be treated and removed by a clinician as an outpatient procedure.

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