AN ex-army officer, 19, was left bedridden for a year over a debilitating skin condition caused by a single ingrown hair.
Dylan Conway, from Queensland, Australia, had a whopping nine surgeries and spent 14 months unable to live a normal life due to reoccurring pilonidal sinus disease.
Dylan Conway, from Queensland, Australia, had a whopping nine surgeries[/caption]
The charity founder’s life began to crumble when he woke up one day with lower back pain as he served as an infantry officer in the Australian army.
Speaking of his horror ordeal to ABC Science in 2022, Dylan said: “From day one, I strove to be the fittest guy there.
“So, things like running and working out were a huge component of my life.
“I remember waking up one morning and just feeling immense pressure on my lower spine. That’s when I had my first surgery.
“I still had the mindset that I’d finish the surgery and then get straight back into training. However, it’s not how it played out at all.”
The condition emerged from an ingrown hair “puncturing” the skin, which left Dylan unable to sit down or see his friends and family due to the excruciating pain.
Pilonidal sinus is a small hole at the top of the back passage which can become inflamed and infected, according to the NHS.
The condition often goes unnoticed until people start experiencing pain and discomfort when sitting, or a small, swollen pus-filled red lump emerges.
It is often caused by friction around the buttocks which causes hair in the area to be pushed inwards, making them “ingrown”.
The issue is more commonly seen in men as they tend to be hairier.
Dylan explained: “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.”
He also explained that his pilonidal sinus disease is horrifically “reoccurring” – which tragically put an end to his army career.
Dylan added: “A lot of people will go through this and feel all the symptoms.
“You know 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.”
Doctors remove the pilonidal sinus during surgery, and in some cases can also take out the infected tissue around it.
Plastic surgery is also an option if the area being operated on is particularly large, according to the NHS.
Dylan compared getting the condition to “getting hit by a car”.
He had a “huge chunk of flesh” taken off of his body, but the surgery sadly didn’t work, leading to another operation afterwards.
The ex-army officer added: “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.”
In the midst of Dylan’s health chaos, he began reading about those who had also endured and overcome hardships and was soon flying through books in between his hospital visits.
He then felt inspired to launch his own charity in 2020 called BrothersNBooks, which had led to a series of community libraries to open in hospitals and veteran centres.
Despite Dylan still living with the skin disease and being left with scars, he has a new perspective on life through his charity.
He said: “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.
“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.
Dylan added: “I hope that speaking about this publicly, when someone’s going through this in the future, when they Google the disease, it actually comes up with something where they can see someone else that’s been through it.
“Just to let people know that they’re not alone.”
What is pilonidal sinus disease?
PILONIDAL sinus disease is a chronic skin condition that occurs in the crease of the buttocks near the coccyx, or tailbone.
It is recognised by the formation of a small tunnel or cavity under the skin, often caused by ingrown hairs or friction.
This condition can lead to pain, swelling, and infection, resulting in the discharge of pus or blood.
Pilonidal sinus disease is more common in young adults and can be made worse by prolonged sitting or poor hygiene.
Treatment typically involves cleaning the area, antibiotics for infection, and in some cases, surgical removal of the sinus.
