Man Left Bedridden And Needing Nine Surgeries After An Ingrown Hair Led To A Serious Disease

A man was left unable to move for more than a year after developing a painful disease that many people don’t even know exists.

Since he was 19, Dylan Conway has undergone nine different surgeries to treat his condition. At one point, his health deteriorated so much that he was confined to his bed for 14 months.

Dylan, who was serving as an infantry officer in the Australian army, first started experiencing unbearable back pain before realizing something was seriously wrong.

He described feeling “immense pressure” on his lower spine, assuming that after his first surgery, he’d recover and get back to his military training.

However, things didn’t go as planned. Dylan was diagnosed with pilonidal sinus disease, a condition that ended up taking over his life.

What is pilonidal sinus disease?

Breaking down what the disease actually is, the 27-year-old from Queensland, Australia, told ABC Science: “With pilonidal sinus disease, hair will fall into your pants and your buttocks rubbing against itself will actually implant hair into your body.”

“If you zoom in on a microscope with the hair, it looks similar to a screw. And eventually the friction from walking will end up embedding that hair follicle into your skin.”

Pilonidal sinus disease is notorious for coming back, often requiring repeated medical intervention. According to the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 78 percent of people with this condition experience at least one recurrence. Meanwhile, 19.2 percent go through two relapses, and 2.6 percent suffer from three or more.

Unfortunately for Dylan, the disease wasn’t a one-time issue.Over the years, he’s had to undergo nine separate surgeries, with each recurrence requiring another operation.Describing his symptoms, Dylan shared: “A lot of people will go through this and feel all the symptoms. Tightness in their lower back, pain while sitting down and they won’t even realise or think to get it checked and it can end up leading to an infection occurring in the lower back.”

After his first operation, he woke up to find a “huge chunk of flesh” had been removed from his lower back.

Recalling how exhausting and emotionally draining the repeated surgeries were, Dylan admitted: “Each time I would go in to have another surgery not knowing what I’d wake up to and see.”

“I went from being this really confident young man who was very confident in his body image to all of a sudden you can’t sit down, you can’t walk, I couldn’t socialise with my friends. I couldn’t see my family, couldn’t live life to be completely honest with you.”

Speaking in 2022, he reflected on everything he had been through and how he’s now mentally prepared should he ever need another surgery.

“Most recently I have had the top of my butt completely cut off, and I have a large scar that runs from my lower back all the way down,” Dylan added.

“I’m uncaring about what it looks like, I’m just happy that I can get outside again and start walking and see my friends.”