ACHING ANUS

ACHING ANUS
Dear Doctor,
Good day sir. I have a kind of ache in my anus. It was not there before.
I just saw it and if I go to excrete I sometimes feel pain. I don't
know what to do. I would be glad to hear from you soon.
Dennis Saggei, Warri, Delta


Dear Dennis,
If you feel this pain principally when you go to stool and you do
not bleed, then we can safely assume that perhaps your stools are
hard--in other words you get constipation and that it is this constipated,
hard stools that are the cause of the aching anus. You must understand that
hard stools are the leading cause of a dozen or so conditions that can
ache your anus; especially if associated with stooling. Other conditions are
a)Cuts in the skin or tissues(we call these fissure-in-ano) of the anus
--again; dry hard stools cause this, leading to b) infection and maybe
c) a boil or d)an abscess. This may end up as d) a "fistula-in-ano" when
the pus from the abscess causes a track in the tissues as it tries to find
it's way out. e) injury to the bum as well as e)Anal sex f)Pile or hemorrhoids
especially when they are clotted and g)infected; h)STD's and proctalgia fugax,a
self limiting condition common among teenagers as well as i)prolapse of the
rectum; common among women who have delivered many babies -- ALL can also cause
aching anus. It is only after you have seen a good doctor and he has listened
to your full description of the problem, cross examined and physically looked you
up can anyone say which of these causes you have. Before you see the doctor,
these half a dozen measures will help you tremendously a)Sit on warm water at
least twice a day --sitz bath it's called b) Drink lots of water--up to 10
glasses a day--2 each on waking and rising and at each meal; c)Eat a good portion
of one of these fruits/vegetables daily so as to get plenty of fibre into your
gut which will automatically soften your stool--pawpaw, pineapple, garden
eggs, water melon, cucumber, apples and golden melon-- d)Go to stool once nature
calls--do not delay until it is unbearable; e)Get lots of exercise; f)-- and I
call this "Dr Oluranti's Technical Knock Out"-- use some Vaseline or other
lubricant on your finger to lubricate your anal canal before you stool and
no matter how hard the stools, they will be easily and greasily slipped out
of your system with great relief

Dr. Caleb Bibbi Oluranti