Anal itching can be
annoying, irritating, troublesome.It is very unpleasant. The itch in or around
your anus maybe accompanied with a strong urge to scratch even while you are sleeping.
You may find anal itching really embarrassing and uncomfortable.
Anal itching can occur
at any time in life.it is four times more common in men than women.it is
usually made worse by warmth. The skin around the
anus easily becomes irritated and inflamed. This is because it is difficult to
keep the area around the anus clean and dry; the skin is crinkly and traps tiny
faecal particles. It is also sweaty and airless, and it may be moist from an
anal or vaginal discharge. When it becomes irritated, scratching is a natural
reaction, but this damages the skin further Ointments and creams can cause
further problems by keeping the area damp.
Although it may be very intense, anal itching
seldom means anything serious.with proper self care measures and treatment,most
people get complete relief from anal itching but if it persists,see your doctor
for proper diagnosis and treatment because it could be a symptom or a more
serious ailment such as Bowen disease-a pre cancerous condition which needs
radio therapy to treat.
“ I have suffered from this
'condition' for nearly 8 years now and after reading this and others
experiences had no idea there were so many sufferers out there. Thanks to
everyone for their input on this subject as its not something openly talked
about. I currently use cortisone cream from the doctors which helps but there
has been some other things written here which I may try. I have also found that
food allergies are often the culprit but are difficult to diagnose.”
Causes of anal itching
- Personal care habits: Washing too little or not washing enough. Poor hygiene can be responsible for anal itching. Excessive cleaning, especially if you use harsh soaps, moist wipes or toilet paper with perfumes, alcohol, preservative and dyes.
- Leakage of faeces: The skin around the anus can trap tiny faecal particles which can lead to itching around the anus, because prolonged contact with substances in the faeces causes irritation of the skin. About half of all people with anal itching tend to have loose faeces
- Hermorrhoids (piles) can have itching as one of their symptoms, partly because of the slimey discharge they produce.
- Sensitivities and allergies to other chemicals: Such as bubble baths and perfumed soaps, may be responsible.
- Ointments and creams are notorious causes of anal itching. If you have itching, it is a natural reaction to buy an anaesthetic gel for the anal area. Most of these are labelled ‘for haemorrhoids’ and contain lignocaine, tetracaine, cinchocaine, pramocaine or benzocaine with other ingredients. At first they help, but then the itching may return because you have become sensitive to one of the ingredients in the cream or ointment and they are keeping the area moist. Do not use them for more than 1 week.
- Skin conditions: Such as psoriasis or eczema, or a condition called lichen sclerosis, can affect the skin around the anus and cause itching.Fungal infections: Similar to thrush or athlete’s foot, are another common cause. Fungi love warm, damp and damaged skin, so if you have an itchy anus for any reason and then damage the skin by scratching, fungi can take hold and make it worse.Sexually transmitted and other infections may involve the anus and cause itching.,yeast infection which usually affect women, can also cause persistent itching in the anal area.
- Genital warts (vulva or penis), caused by papillomavirus, thrive in warm, moist conditions such as the skin near the anus and can be very itchy.
- Genital herpes (caused by herpes virus) can also infect the anus, and causes itching just before the sores appear and also during the healing stage.
- Threadworms (pinworms) are tiny worms, about 13 mm long, which live in the lower part of the bowel. They are very common – an estimated 40 million cases in the USA alone. The female worms creep out of the anus at night – how they know it is night, and why they come out only at night, is a mystery. They lay thousands of eggs on the skin of the anus, causing intense itching at night. When you scratch, the eggs lodge under your fingernails, and it is easy to transfer them to your mouth and reinfect your gut by swallowing the eggs. If several people in the family have anal itching, threadworms might be the cause.
- Certain foods can irritate the anus during defecation. Beer and curry are obvious examples. Some people find that citrus fruits, grapes, tomatoes, coffee or tea can cause problems.
- Tight trousers or underwear, especially synthetic and elasticated fabrics, retain heat and sweat, which worsens itching.
- Anxiety tends to make the brain hyper-alert to body feelings that we may otherwise be able to ignore. If you are going through an anxious period, a symptom such as itching can become magnified.
- Pleasure. It is worth asking yourself whether you are deriving a perverse, almost erotic, pain/pleasure from scratching the itchy area, which is keeping the irritation going.
Both these viruses are easily transferred to the
anal skin on the fingers, and can therefore occur around the anus in anyone.
The anus may be the only site of infection; the fact that you do not have
genital warts or herpes elsewhere does not rule them out. Various bacteria
(such as some staphylococci or streptococci) can cause anal itching; the skin
will be red and inflamed, and needs antibiotic treatment.
Self care measures you can take
· ·
Wash the anal area after you have had your bowels open, but not
more than three times in a day, using just water or an unperfumed soap. Some
doctors recommend using aqueous cream (available from pharmacies) as a
cleanser.
· Apply the
cream, massage it gently over the area and then rinse off. If you are somewhere
where you cannot wash, clean the area with wet tissues (but not with pre-moistened
wipes containing perfume, alcohol or other irritants). If you use shower gel to
wash your body, make sure you rinse it off very thoroughly so that none remains
between the buttocks. It is best to wash in a squatting position using a shower
head, so that any faecal material between the buttocks is washed away.
·
Dab gently with a soft towel to dry – do not rub. If drying is
difficult.
· Do not
put any disinfectant on the skin or in the bath water – this can irritate he
skin. Do not use bubble bath – the perfume can irritate. Instead, put a handful
of kitchen salt in your bath.
·
Keep a cotton-wool ball, dusted with powder, against the anus,
inside your
underpants or knickers. Use baby powder (not perfumed talcum
powder) to dust it. Change it each time you wash.
· Wear
loose cotton underwear. Avoid tights and elastic ‘shape wear’ underwear, because
they encourage sweating and moistness in the anal area. Avoid anything that
keeps the buttocks close together.
·
Do not use biological (enzyme) washing powders for your underwear,
or
perfumed fabric softeners. Instead, use a detergent labeled ‘for
sensitive skin’.
Do not scratch. If you scratch, you damage the skin more and then
you itch more. If you feel you really must scratch, try pinching the skin near
the anus between your thumb and forefinger through your clothing; this is less
damaging than actual scratching. People often scratch at night and do not
realize they are doing so. If you think you might be scratching at night, talk
to your doctor about taking an antihistamine, keep your fingernails short, wear
cotton gloves at night for a while and ask your doctor to check for
threadworms.
· Do not
use any greasy creams (such as Vaseline) on the area. Greasy creams keep the
skin soggy and make the problem worse. Zinc oxide cream (from pharmacies) can
be soothing if the skin has been damaged by scratching.
· Be very
cautious about anaesthetic creams or ointments. Sometimes they can help by
relieving the itch/scratch cycle, but use them only for a short period (about a
week).
· Some
people have reported that the inside of a banana skin can relieve itchy skin,
including anal itching.
·
Feel around the anus for lumps. This may not be easy, because the
skin around the anus is normally puckered. A lump might be a wart, a pile or a
skin tag alongside an anal fissure.
·
Avoid foods that cause excessive flatulence (wind).You
should also wash your hands and scrub your nails before eating and after each
visit to the toilet, and wash the anal area in the morning to get rid of the
eggs deposited during the night.
.
· Visiting your Doctor
If your symptoms do
not get better after taking the above measures, then it is best to visit your doctor.Your doctor can check to
see whether you have any conditions such as piles (haemorrhoids), fissure,
warts, psoriasis, eczema, fungal infections or other infections that need
treatment.
Your doctor may want to know:
- What type of soap or other products you use
- Are other members of your family experiencing the same symptoms?
- How severe your symptoms are? Are they continuous or do they come and go?
Your honest answer to these
questions will help your doctor determine the line of treatment to follow
Discuss with your
doctor whether you might have threadworms (pinworms). They look like small
threads of slow-moving white cotton. These can be eliminated with mebendazole
or piperazine. The treatment has to be repeated after 14 days, because the eggs
can persist for this length of time. The other members of your household
will also need to be treated.
Is this not what we call crocro in Nigeria?
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