Friday, 8 April 2016

Anal Itching (Itchy Bottom)

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.
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·    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:

If anything worsens or relieves your symptoms

  • 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. 

2 comments:

  1. Is this not what we call crocro in Nigeria?

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is the fabulous information about anal itching. This gives intolerance pain. I suggest one of the best place which can cure your all piles and anal problems.
    Anal Fissure Treatment

    ReplyDelete