A Pain in My Ass
If you haven’t noticed, my post frequency here has been slightly below my average the past couple months. Mainly this is because for the last couple months, it has been quite painful to sit in front of my computer and write. No, I’m not getting headaches from the monitor. Nor am I easing into the world of carpal tunnel syndrome. The source of my pain has been in a rather different region. Namely, my butt.
Back in late October, I started getting some serious painage down in the valley and I had no idea what was going on. I felt swelling, tenderness, and much much pain. From there I decided to see a doctor. I just went to a normal family practice place. The kind with about 50 doctors–all of whom could really care less about you and your problems. After explaining my symptoms to the doctor and a quick exam, he determined I had a hemorrhoid. So he prescribed me some very expensive cream and sent me on my merry way.
About a month later, in early December, I still was feeling the symptoms I originally felt. Only this time, they were accentuated to the extreme. One night, I just could not handle the pain any more. I literally hoped Cheri would kill me because I was in so much pain. But instead, she did the sensible thing and brought me to the emergency room.
At the emergency room, the doctor continued to give me the same song and dance about hemorrhoids that my original doctor gave me. Eat more fiber, don’t strain on the toilet, exercise. Blah blah blah. Who needs that crap? Anyway, after lecturing me, she actually decided to take a look and was pleasantly surprised. She proceeded to give me the good news that I, in fact, did not have a hemorrhoid. Instead, I had a perianal abscess. How lucky I was!
A perianal abscess is similar to a boil, yet the pus originates from an infected gland in the anus that drains into the fatty tissue in the butt. Thus it swells, hurts like hell, and sometimes leaks really smelly pus. And the only way to make it better is to open it up and let it drain.
Since my abscess was very bad, they put me on morphine and opened up my abscess in the ER. Even though I had morphine, I was in an excruciating about of pain. It was so bad that during the entire procedure I screamed at the top of my lungs. It was the worst pain I’d felt in my life.
Luckily the procedure was done in only about 5 or 10 minutes. Afterwords I was sent home and told to go visit a colon and rectal surgeon. Then I made an appointment with Dr. Doughtery here in Fairfax to get looked at. At the appointment she looked to see if the ER did an OK job draining the abscess, and then sat Cheri and I down to explain what a perianal abscess is and what would happen from here. She explained that in about 50% of cases, abscesses come back because a fistula has formed. A fistula is a canal that has formed from the original infected gland and is feeding bacteria to the abscess.
After the appointment, things got better fairly quickly. I would walk normally and almost sit without too much pain. But soon, things got worse again. I was just thinking it was part of the healing process, but I was wrong. I was forming more abscesses. Once again, I couldn’t take the pain anymore, so I went to Dr. Doughtery’s office to get looked at. It was found that I had formed two more abscesses. Yay!
That day they were drained, and it helped a lot. The draining at the surgeon’s office did not hurt as much as it did in the ER because I think they actually knew what they were doing. But then the doctor feared I might have Crohn’s disease. This is because multiple abscesses for someone as young as I am is a sign of the disease. So I was ordered to get an upper GI and small intestine examination done.
The next day I went to the radiologist and had the exam done. It was kind of a neat procedure. They made me drink a lot of Barium (which was disgusting). The Barium creates a contrast so that they can examine my intestines with x-rays and fluoroscopy.
A couple days ago I got the results back and found that it looks like I have Crohn’s Disease. It really isn’t as bad as it sounds. Its just an inflammatory bowel condition that may get flare-ups due to stress or dietary habits. But I won’t exactly find out what I need to do about it until I go see my gastroenterologist in a couple weeks. All I will have to do though is take some medication to help keep the disease at bay so I don’t experience any symptoms.
Luckily though, I’ve been getting better and am now able to sit at the computer again. Hopefully, I will continue to post more frequently here again.
UPDATE (6/13/2008): Thanks to everyone who’ve commented. Please feel free to use the comments to continue discussion and support for those who suffer from perianal abscesses!
Thanks for your blog on perianal abscess. I’ve had it twice in two years. Just had surgery to remove it this past week. The effects of the anesthesia was worse than the surgery itself. Not much pain down there. A friend of mine had the same thing. Guess it happens more often than we think. Glad to hear I’m not the only one with a pain in the ass.
Not a problem at all. I’m glad to get the stories out there. There are so many scary websites out there about perianal abscesses and Crohn’s disease and I think it is important to show that it isn’t all as scary as it may seem. Good luck with your pains!
My husband had that a little over a year ago and was the biggest baby ever.
He’s getting it again and is mad at me because he was hoping I could get him something from his doctor over the phone, but it sounds like he’s going to have to go back in…
Now that you have meds. for your Crohn’s disease, will you not get the butt thing anymore~or will you just lower your chances..? I’m wondering if he has Crohn’s as well… I don’t know, but it sure IS a pain in the butt!!!
If your husband is getting it again and again, then he should definitely get checked out for the abscesses and for Crohn’s. The medicine I’m on for Crohn’s is supposed to help heal my abscesses, and so far it is working, just slowly. Once the Crohn’s goes into remission, most people don’t get any more abscesses.
Hi.
Could you tell me if you felt really ill with the perianal abscess?
I think I might have one .
I’ve been to the doctors about 6 times now and keep getting sent home with the same hemorrhoid treatment and still not had an examination.
I have lower back pain and a terrible throbbing/ aching/ burning in my back passage .
I’ve had blood tests and they all came through ok and had 3 lots of antibiotics.
It’s keeping me awake all night and I feel like I just don’t want to do anything as I just feel so tired.
Does this sound similar to how you felt?
Thanks for the info.
I was so glad to find a blog with people discussing the same trauma I am going through. I had my first “PIA” in 1999 - got it drained and then nothing for about 2-3 years, then it started again - but always before I got the stage of getting it drained - or procrastinated - it would go away. I found a pattern though - pork - every time I would eat it, I would get one of these. Anyway, as I type this, I have another abscess and this time its back with a vengeance. I am going tomorrow to get it drained, but will now investigate the Crohn’s side of it as well. Thanks for the support.
You are doing a great service for people who aren’t quite sure what to do or know what they are experiencing. Keep the information streaming and you will be blessed.
Thanks for insight of your ordeal. Well My “pia”exploded on its own. Being disabled “SCI” This hole won’t go away. I been in bed for two months keeping off my tush. Not getting any better, not getting any worse. but the smell, jeeze!! They have me packing it with panafil, 2×2 gauze, wet to dry. Somebody have any input?
Thanks for all the responses.
@Beck:
It sounds like you might want to go see a different doctor. If they haven’t even examined you then it isn’t a good sign. Even when my doctor initially examined me, he thought it was a hemorrhoid too, but at least he still examined me. External hemorrhoids are supposed to go away after treatment usually. If you are experiencing any fluid draining (especially if it smells terrible) then it may be an abscess. Ask to be referred to a colon and rectal surgeon.
@William OHaver:
The only thing I can recommend is to take frequent warm baths. It can help both to heal the abscess and to clean up the drainage. If you haven’t been referred to a colon and rectal surgeon by your general physician, then I’d ask for one. They tend to know how to get this stuff fixed.
I just had surgery for the PIA and hope that it won’t come back. Remember to use your sitz bath dude!
My daughter (20) has just been told that she has a perianal boil/abscess, but hers was caused by trauma to the area, or at least that’s what we assume as we don’t think it was there before she fell off the horse and it only seemed to come up in the week after the fall. Is this the same thing then? They are booking her in for day surgery and have told her that she will be under general anaesthetic, whereas it sound like you guys only had a local. I was trying to find out exactly how the surgery is performed as she is worrying about it. Because the abscess is deep inside the buttock, we aren’t sure whether they will cut in to the buttock or use some sort of a suction doodad. Anybody got any ideas?
@meg: Its possible that this is similar to the abscesses that I got, but they may be different since your daughter’s was caused by trauma rather than disease. When an abscess needs to be opened up to drain, the procedure is usually only done under a local. But it seems in your daughter’s case they need to go deeper in to fix the damage. I eventually had to have surgery on my abscesses as well and was put under for it. But I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know everything. Your best bet would be to talk to your daughter or her doctor about what to expect.
I recently had surgery for a perianal abscess last Tuesday. It all started about three weeks earlier when I started experiencing immense pain in the buttock region. And of course, my Doctor said it was a internal hemmorhoid. The Doctor gave me medication which was to be inserted anally. (Yay, that was fun)
Well, I continued to experience pain and went to the Doctor’s office on three, yes 3 separate occasions. After the third visit, the Doctor looked at me and said, I miss diagnosed the hemmorhoid and it’s a perianal abscess. I was immediately referred to a surgeon who said me an hour later. The surgeon said that the abscess was so deep that I needed to have surgery in a hospital under general anaesthetic. I was admitted into the hospital about 30 minutes later and was in surgery within 45 minutes.
After surgery, I had immediate relief but still sore. I took all my medication and was prescribed pain medication. I have to take sitz bath’s every night and after every bowel movement. I also have to change the 1/4 inch medicated gauze everyday and after every bowel movement. It’s been a week since the surgery and I’m still uncomfortable. Does anyone know how long the wound takes to heal? And I continue to read on the internet about fistula’s occuring about 30-50% of the time. Does anyone have any information about that, it would be appreciative. I found this blog tonight and really appreciate you all writing down your incidents. It makes me feel better that I’m not alone.
@Frank: Abscesses typically don’t take too long to heal (a couple weeks I believe usually, but YMMV) as long as a fistula has not formed. If a fistula forms, then the abscess will take much longer to heal and may require more surgery. In my case, I had three abscesses, each of which formed fistulas. I had to have surgery to place drains into each of the fistulas (think of it as a piece of string that looped through my anus and out the abscess via the fistula) so that over time the fistulas would heal and the drains would be taken out as each one healed. I had this surgery in January 2007 and I still have one drain in as my fistulas are still healing. The drains were necessary because if they weren’t there, then my abscesses would close up and then fester all over again. The drains kept my wound open so it would dry out and heal.
After a few weeks, your doctor should be able to tell you if they believe a fistula has formed or not. Hopefully they won’t form and the abscess will completely heal. Best of luck to you!
I *think* I have this. Two months ago I ended up having surgery for what the OB/Gyn called “an abscess in the area next to the perineum”. He said the culture came back with E Coli in it, which is unusual for that area, unless something else is going on. He said we’d just let it go for now, but if I got another one, we’d have to do a study to figure out what’s going on. He did mention a fistula.
Whatever I had then, I have again. Unless it’s the bartholin’s cyst that I had 3 years ago.
And I already know I have Crohn’s, but I don’t take any meds for it. I just have to not eat stupidly.
I do have a question. You’ve recommended seeing a colorectal surgeon. In my mind, surgeons were the people you saw once a non-surgeon diagnosed you. I’d just as soon not go to one doc, just to be sent to another (and my insurance will cover specialists as long as they are in network - no referral required). Maybe I’ll look for a colorectal surgeon, instead of banging my head against the wall trying to get into an OB/Gyn. I don’t want to go back to that first OB/Gyn - he’s very far away. If this is going to be a recurring thing, I’d like to go to someone closer.
Hi, My wife has just been diagnosed with a “PIA”. She assures me that it’s bloody painful and has been suffering with flu like symptoms. To be completely fair it does look like it smarts a bit! (I get all the good jobs!)
Now my question is as follows. She was diagnosed with the PIA on Wednesday and given a weeks worth of Augmentin Amoxicillin. She was told that the anti-biotics would/should, more than likely, start to kick in after 48hrs and she should see an improvement within a week.
However, It’s Saturday now and the redness and hardening of skin seems to be on the increase and is now taking up about a third of her left buttock!!! The doctor didn’t even mention getting the abscess drained?? Has anyone had their PIA cured by just antibiotics alone without drainage?
This subject seems to have very little resource dedicated to it on the web, So this site is is greatly appreciated, as would any advice anyone can put our way. She seems to be really suffering. The Doctor seems to think the PIA was bought on by an ongoing Animia problem that she suffers with so we hopefully Chrones is not even on the cards in this instance. Thanks for any advice in advance. Keep you chins up…
Fedupwithbuttfiddling!
Had my 4th operation yesterday for a perianal fistula. It’s been six years since this PIA started. Hopefully, this will be my last. To reply to UK non sitter, I was told by the surgeon that operated my first abcess that it would have been possible to get rid of it by antibiotics if it was detected early enough. I was operated on a week after the pain started and it was too late for antibiotics at this point. By then they drained about a cup of pus.
This website lists some great info regarding fistulas. http://www.bowel-health.com/fistula.html
For those with Crohn’s, please buy the book “Breaking the Viscious Cycle” by Elaine Gottschall. I don’t have Crohn’s but my friend who does has used this book as his bible and has had his crohn’s in remission for a while.
Hope this info is helpful.
Hi All,
I thought it might be worth giving you an update on my wifes condition. It does seem that sure enough, the Abscess did seem to shrink after about 5 days of what seemed to be agonising pain experienced. I was increadibly worried.
However, we are now over three weeks into the course of Anti-biotics and all is well on the road to recovery. Yay! We are both keeping everything crossed that it never comes back. My wife is boosting her ferratin levels and trying to consume foods that aid her anaemic condition. I still have to keep on at her tho!!
So, If ever this happens to someone else, I feel for you, because it did look so, so painful. But there does seem to be hope for some in the form of antibiotics. All I would say is, if you can get to a GP quickly, do so, because I am assured this gets a whole lot worse really quickly.
Good luck to all on this site, and I hope this post helps someone who may find themselves in the same situation one day.
May peace be with you….
@Brenda: Yes, if you have been diagnosed with having a perianal abscess, then I would highly suggest that you visit a colon and rectal surgeon. They have the expertise to be able to treat it without it being too painful, plus they can tell you whether or not you need surgery to correct the problem.
@UK non-sitter: I’m glad to hear your wife is doing better. Keep us informed on her condition!
@Goodbye Fistula: Good luck with recovery, hopefully this will be your last surgery on your PIA. Also, thanks for the book recommendation, I’ll have to check it out.
Hello all.
I am currently experiencing an anal abcess and/or fistula. This is about the 8th or 9th time it has occured. I have never had any type of surgery for them. I am always prescribed antibiotics and Vicodin. It takes about 9 days, and then they pop/drain. I do have Crohn’s disease. Will I have these the rest of my life? Is there an ultimate cure that I am not aware of? Maybe a surgery that will do away with them for good? I am only 25 years old and can’t imagine having these for the rest of my life!! They are so painiful! I can not sit down and all I do is cry! I even got fired from a job for not being able to come in because walking was impossible! I am depressed about the whole situation of having these abcesses…It is seriously interfering with my life. Nobody around me can truly understand the pain I experience.
@Stephanie: It sounds like your Crohn’s disease is affecting your perianal area — this is sometimes called Perianal disease. I don’t know what medications you are on for Crohn’s but ask your GI doctor about mercaptopurine, also known as 6-MP. Its an immunosuppressive drug that takes a few months to reach therapeutic levels, but it may help. This is the medicine I’m on and it has helped for me. Also, if you aren’t already, I highly recommend you get referred to see a colon and rectal surgeon. They will be able to tell you the options for treating your abscesses and they will tell you if you ever need surgery. Good luck, I feel your pain.
I have been diagonized with perianal fistula for last 7 years, have been operated twice, once for drainage the other for curing the fistula… They were done within span of year…
I m pretty sure i dont have crohns, since the last two colonoscopy has showed no problem with my colon.
But the damn thing recurred & I lost my trust in surgeries… Now i m going to a gastro-entologist who is giving me azoran-50 mg…The fistulae have decreased in activity but the pus still pours.. lately he said since that medicine has no affect on me, he going to start me on infleximab(remicide)… As my research suggest.. this is costly drug to be taken again & again…
After all this history, what do u ppl suggest ?? surgery or go ahead with this drug? if surgery which one??
please let me know…I m smaller than all of my friends, in sweight , height ect, coz of this problem
About 2 days ago I noticed I had a rather firm and unusual lump in that region. It does not hurt, nor does it cause any discomfort when sitting or during any activity. It seems to have come suddenly but I don’t know when it initially began forming. I’ve been reading the symptoms of an abscess and the only symptoms I have is a lump. I’m not sure what course of action to take since I only have one symptom and have never had a problem like this before. At this point it isn’t even a problem… yet, just a worry. I wish you luck and health in the future with your condition, I hope you get a chance to respond to this.
Just an update on my situation: The lump turned out to be a perianal abscess and just yesterday I went to the emergency room where it was drained. I was then given a prescription for antibiotics. The pain began the very next day after my initial reply here. Thanks to you all I was well informed on my condition beforehand and knew what had to be done. So I thank you, and wish you all the best.
Hi guys,
I had my surgery on dec 2007. recently they found that they did not do it properly so i had another one. But even after the surgery i have an area which is hard(Jus below the wound). Do u guys think they will cut it or cure using medicine. I am at university now so i cant afford to miss my classes. =(
Were u guys able sit down or walk properly after the surgery.(jus after the surgery)
Thanks in advance
I am soooo glad I found this blog! I’m a male, 39 yrs old. I first started getting these horrifying abscesses about 6 years ago. I thought it might have stemmed from an accident on my mountain bike when I had slipped from my pedals and landed rather fiercely on my cross bar. It was within a week or so that I had started to get what I thought was a hemorrhoid (never gotten them before) but it got way worse than that. Same symptoms as described by everyone here, including about a third of my butt check becoming rock hard. A couple of miss diagnosis later I finally had the thing lanced & drained by my primary care phys. I remember hearing him and his nurse gasp and a few oh my’s come from them during the procedure and a horrific smell! Antibiotics were prescribed & I thought that was that…yeah right. The following year, same thing but this time it popped on it’s own & drained…I was disgusted that something like that could come from my body…not too mention the amount!!! Well, here I am 6 years later and maybe 8 to 9 times later of getting this. Antibiotics were taken every time and yes, if I did catch them in time they would simply go away without too much discomfort but a lot more often it would go on for a couple of weeks with insane amounts of pain (can’t sit, can’t walk & really hurts when I use my PC muscle…and lots of depression, anger & tears)…including the one I’m going through now. I am so thankful that you mentioned going to see a colon/rectal surgeon, I don’t think my doc has mentioned it once. I don’t know if there is fistula or Crohn’s or what but I am definitely going to look into it! I’ve looked around for years on the web for some sort of explanation to no avail…and here you are…thank you thank you thank you!!!! Good luck to everyone here & I hope to let you know what happens in my situation soon!
Hey all,
I last wrote on November 13, 07 and was healing from a Perianal Abscess. Well, it got reinfected in early December and I was diagnosed with a Perirectal Abscess. I was in the hospital for one week and then went home. I had a nurse come to my house twice a week and it finally healed/closed up in mid-Feb. 08. It was extremely depressing but hopefully it’s over now and won’t come bace ever again. The doctor checked my colon during surgery and said there was no fistula/canal and he said it won’t happen again if it heals. Please Pray!!!!!!!!!Hope everyone else heals properly, thank you for this site.
Greetings,I guess I am another victim to the PIA. As most of you , it all started with that pain and lump and what the doctor thought was a hemorroid. The family doctor gave me hemmorroids medicine and sent me to an specialist for a colonoscopy. I am 44 years old and the doctor thought it was time to get one anyway. ..I am so glad that was done because they found a polyp in my colon and they removed it while they did the colonoscopy. Luckyly the test results on the polyp were good and it was not malign. The doctor who performed the colonoscopy finally figured out that I have an abcess and referred me to a surgeon. The surgeon tried to treat it with antiboitics first and the treatment worked while I was taking the pills but when I ran out of them , it came back with avengance. ..this time the surgeon made an insicion at his office and a LOT of discusting stuff came out. That was about 1 month and a half ago. Unfortunately my incision healed before all drained out and the lump and pain came back all over again…I could not get an appointment soon enough with the surgeon and I was going to have to wait a week before I could see him , so the nurse called my local pharmacy and gave me more antibiotics and pain meds.
NOW, here is how I got the guts and took care of the draining myself. The abcess still had the old incision that had closed…I took a needle and sterilized it , then I sterilized the old incision area….I pooked it with the needle and it was like a balloon had exploded and lots of pus an blood drained and an immediate relief came along with that….I saw my surgeon finally , and he actually was happy that I did what I did because it helped to drain it again……right now I am in the process of healing but he wants to see me tomorrow to see if another incision or a pack may be needed.
I am glad to know I may not be the only one has felt the frustation and feeling of being helpless. Thanks for allowing me to give you my 2 cents.
wow. other people get these too!!! im 27, female of average weight and started getting them when i was 24 i have had 4 of them and been hopitalized all four times. twice last year. this weekend i noticed that one of my incisions was hurting so i got a mirror and looked at it, it was all red and blistery. i think that this was just a surface one. i am taking some of my antibiotics leftover from last time and i have a guaze soaked in oregano oil over it. i heard oregano oil is a great anitfungal/bacteria agent. its looking better already, but i am going to go see a doc about it tomorrow.
CON….in your case and when they hosptitalized you , was it because fistulas have already been created?…or was it just for the cleaning the abcess…just wondering…..I am scheduled for outpatient surgery in a week and they will try to deal with the fistula that was already created as a consequence of the abcess. Thanks.
i’m on my second one, has anyone had theirs drain on their own?? i hope mine does…it did the first time with antibiotic treatment. i cant believe the hospital time involved for surgical drainage! could anyone give me a recount of their surgical procedure? thanks everyone.
p.s. and MAN do these things hurt like a S.O.B!
Hey!
Im 23 and i got an anal abcess at the start of Feb 08, the anti biotics didnt work, and i had to get surgery under General anesthetic, the wound still hasnt closed and now this week iv just found out i have another abcess, im on anti biotics again but i thinks its getting worse and i also think another one has sprung up, so now i have 2 abcesses and a wound that wont heal
im so depressed about all this, but this site has cheered me up a bit, its good too know im not alone.
im also waiting for an appointment for my 2nd colonoscopy to see if i have crohns
thanks for posting i hope you all heal soon
I have been getting this perianal abcess since 2004. I get them every 6 to 8 months or usually 2 a year for the last 4 years. In fact just today I had one drained. If I am lucky enough to catch it in time then the 2000mg of antibiotics that my doctor puts me on just might work and shrink it and eventually get rid of it within a week or so. He has sent me to surgeons to see if maybe they can operate and maybe cut out the area but by the time you get in to see the surgeon you are completely healed and there is no residual residue left for him to be able to find his way into the anal canal so that they can cut out the area so that they never happen again. I gather that this is something that I have to live with for the rest of my life?
Hey!
Have any of you had trouble with your wounds healing properly? I been getting mine dressed now for over 6 weeks and it seems to have come to a stand still.
I had one of these 5 or so years ago, and I was told that nothing I did could prevent another one from happening! This was truly the most insane pain I have ever experienced. I have had several other surgeries including two c-sections, and nothing came close to the pain, and not to mention humiliation I experienced with this. It took over one year for my first site to heal completely. It was very trying time emotionally, physically and spiritually. I prayed to never go through it again and tried to understand why it even happened. I certainly have been blessed these last 5 years to not have to go through it again. I woke up two days ago to the all too familiar initial discomfort, and I know it is back. I am praying that it can be taken care of with antibiotics. Thanks to all who have written in here, I am glad I am not alone, and I have learned so much by reading your entries.
Thanks everyone, its relieving to know I am not alone like so many of you have said. My story isn’t as bad as most here but its still disturbing.
I got my first abscess like 2 yrs ago. But before that I would have pain in my ass from time to time when I would sit on a bench. I didn’t think too much of it and usually it would go away.
Then 2 yrs ago when I was 29 I had this pain and it intensified. First I would have to carefully plan how I would sit down, and this was painful. The most painful part would be sitting down and/or standing up. Then one morning when I woke up, I did my usualy roll over to get out of bed and I felt this unbelievable pain. I screamed and was like WTF? When I stood up which was excruciatingly painful I could barely walk.
I looked in the mirror which was difficult because I had to turn my back to the mirror and try to open my butt crack to see what was up. It was a large painful swelling. Walking was so painful it would take me like 10 minutes to walk from my apt to the elevator.
The only thing I could do that wasn’t extremely painful was lay on my stomach. This lasted about a week and a couple times I cried a little but because I was like what kind of crap is this, why me ? If it stayed I was going to go see a doctor but after like a week it started to go away then finally dissipitated.
For the next 2 yrs I lived in fear of this happening again. A few of times I would the preliminary pain in the ass, before anything visible formed and would become terrified. It never got to the unbearable point as before and would usually stop.
But now for the last few days it happened and reached the pain level close to the one the first time. I am just praying that it goes away and I wont have to see a doctor. It happens in the same dam spot each time too. This is bull crap honestly why does nature do this to people. It sucks because its embarrasing too.
I used to play sports in high school. What if this happened then ? How would I tell people I couldnt play in a game because I had swelling on my but. Thank God each time this happened I was an adult and was off work during the time.
Thanks for sharing your stories though, its good to know you’re not some freak of nature.
How long did it take for your wounds to heal?
Its been like 2 months and mine still hasnt scabbed over!
Wow, I have been to hell and back. The second abscess that I had which I thought wasn’t as bad as the first turned out to be WAY worst. After the 11th day I had it, I couldn’t sleep that night, and at 3:00 am in the morning decided to get up and go to the hospital. Luckily for me its right across the street.
After determining it was an abscess the doctor had to stick her finger up my ass to see if there was anything internally wrong with my ass. MY GOD this hurt. I don’t know how people receive anal sex. She had her finger all the way up in there, twisting and turning it. Im screaming and cursing while her finger is completely up my ass. She’s asking me at different moments what hurts and what doesnt. I’m like “EVERYTHING HURTS ! YOU GOT YOU FINGER COMPLETELY SHOVED UP MY ASS!!” She’s telling me to relax for crying out loud, but I couldnt. Anyway it was concluded that I had no internal problems.
Next the other doctors came in and said it would have to be drained. This process HURT LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER. It feels like they’re scraping your insides with broken glass. Obviously since an abscess is a swelling full of puss, the slightest touching of it, or movement hurts like hell. These guys had to stick a needle in to make an incision, then push and press it to get the puss out. I mean this HURT. These were the most horrowing 5-7 minutes of my life. They said they gave me painkillers, but they might as well have been pain enhancers based on the agony I went through. I was screaming, cursing, banging on the bed I was laying on, and begging for mercy. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy in the world.
However after it was drained, there was tremendous relief. I was able to sit and move around without being in excruciating pain. They prescribed me a bunch of medicine, and told me Id have to come back to the hospital for a few check ups. In a few weeks I need to have minory surgery done to prevent this from happening again.
May God have mercy on my soul, that this is the last of these ordeals.
Hi! I was diagnosed last Friday with a Anal Fistula, Abscess, Fissure and Severe external hemorrhoids. I see the Colon Rectal Surgeon Monday and I am scared to death. I know there are two different abscesses 1) Perirectal 2)Perianal.
Mine is not on the outside, so I am assuming that mine is the worse being Perirectal. I have lived in excruciating pain since the first Tuesday of this month. I have been living on vicadin and tramadol, stool softners then I switched to mineral oil. My pain finally subsided and is almost gone as of Thursday. It is still very achey in that region, but nothing like it was. Can anyone tell me, if you were really ill with this like fevers,chills, fatigue???. I have been so sick for a long time and am wondering if this has been my problem all along. I have experienced terrible night sweats three and four times a night I am up changing my clothes. I have to lay a towel down or a blanket just so I can go back to bed because the sheets are soaked on my side. I run a fever and then my fever disappears and my temperature drops below normal. My pulse is rapid and my blood pressure gets really low. I just want to know am I ever going to feel healthy again……….THIS SHIT SUCKS
I’m so sorry to hear all that Ruby! I’m assuming that you have told the doctor about all that? I did get really sick also. The fevers, night sweats, the whole thing. But it usually happened very close to when the abscesses were about to drain. That shit does suck…big ones. I was finally able to talk my doctor into referring me to a Colorectal Surgeon & hopefully I’m a step closer to getting rid of all this. ;-)~
Pain in The Southwest, I am glad that you are going to see a Colorectal Surgeon. I have been doing a lot of reading about this topic and it is absolutely nothing to play with. I knew how serious it was, but for some reason when it comes to the butthole we don’t want to admit our problem. I figured it would go away….. Anyhow..I am so sorry to hear you are in pain. I hope you have an appointment soon.
After going back & forth to the doctors since Dec 07, being referred twice to hospital with no conclusive outcome! I took myself to A&E on the 7th march where a nice on call surgeon decided i had a ‘perianal abscess’& admitted me next day for surgery. To be honest what a pain in the arse this recovery has been. Still to date i’m off to the nurse to get it checked. It has healed inside but still very sore on the outside & just wont heal that last little bit. Oh & apparently in the end i actually had a hematoma not an abscess. so hopefully i don’t have the same bad luck as most of you! who i can totally sympathise with!!!!
Joey,
You said “a nice on call surgeon decided i had a ‘perianal abscess’”
then you said “apparently in the end i actually had a hematoma not an abscess” are huge contradictions.
The two conditions are 180 out from each other. I take offense that you are condescending to others “so hopefully i don’t have the same bad luck as most of you!”
I think you are the one out of luck my friend.
I WENT THROUGH THIS PAIN DURING MY WEDDING DAY. I am so glad to have found this blog. I thought I was the only one to have this miserable a PIA. Heres my story. So i’m a fairly healthy active 28 year old and back in early February I went to the gym and went to my regular routine of weights but then I noticed when I sat on the bench and started to lay back there was a painful sensation.
I didn’t think anything of it as the pain wasn’t bad but then later towards the end of the month. I noticed more pain and when I checked around down there and pushed in I felt a hard lump forming. I thought it was nothing and after a few days I started having spasms at night while sleeping that would wake me up hourly. Pain was the worst thing ever.
I hate doctos so didn’t go to one until a couple weeks later and found out that I had the Abscess and he gave me anti-biotics which I thought would help it go away in which it didn’t and I was in pain everyday and it made me miserable. I had no motivation to do anything. I was in pain and couldn’t sit too long or stand too long. I was depressed.
Well I didnt think this problem would last so long as I was getting married to my lovely wife now on March 29th and it was already early March.
I had 5 visits with the specialist doctor and all his attempts to poke me and drain me were failed so it looked like I had to put my “Wedding Face” on as the day was coming and the pain wasn’t going away.
The wedding day came and the pain was horrible. I was in so much pain that day and was taking Advil every 4 hours. Standing at the alter for 2 hours was a nightmare as well. The wedding was still beautiful and it will be one I remember for the rest of my life.
Well shortly after my wedding a few weeks ago. My abcsess started to drain by itself, blood and white pus. It was pretty disgusting but I did what I could to force it all out. I change my gauze pads and use the sitz bath 4 times a day. Its still draining and the pain is still there but its slowly healing.
I’m so happy to have my wife as she has been so supportive and been my side at all times. Its just unfortunate she had to endure my PIA during our honeymoon phase.
Here is something that we laugh about now.
I told her that “I can’t honestly say I will always remember our wedding as the biggest pain in the ass ever”
Cranky Geek!
Sorry that i seem to have offended you but i think that you have misunderstood my text. Firstly it is not actually my fought that the on call surgeon misdiagnosed my condition!
Secondly you seem to think that my condition was no where near the same as a perianal abscess? Maybe not as painful? I don’t know, but the operation was the same and so i’m experiencing the same recovery!
Thirdly, Bad luck meaning not having to go through this again, before i’ve even had time to heal..
Have you had this op? Because i dont seem to see your posting?
“The two conditions are 180 out from each other” Sorry what does this mean? 180 out of what? 200?
I find your reply very rude and not supportive as i thought this site was supposed to be.
Joey,
Well I’m sorry for not being sympathetic to your pain but your post didn’t read very sympathetic to the people here. I hope this site gave you some beneficial info. 180 out means they are not the same conditions. Don’t mind me I’m just a cranky geek.
Well, after a long read, I wish I had seen this site sooner. I started with some peri-anal pain the Friday night, I assumed this pain was from hemmorhoids. I couldn’t see or feel them so I assumed they were the inside type. Well hot baths and hot compresses were my only relief. The Tuesday night I was in agony. I took a Tylenol #3 left over from a previous wisdom tooth removal a few months earlier. It helped me to sleep. I made an appointment with my family doc for the next day, but by the morning (Wednesday) I knew he wouldn’t be able to help me. Being a nurse, I knew that something was seriously wrong. So off to the ER I went, 4 hours later I was somewhat diagnosed, given morphine (they waited so long to give me something for the pain because they were probably afraid I was a drug user… alarm bells generally ring off for them when people come to the ER complaining of pain). They confirmed the diagnosis with an ultrasound of the area as a peri-anal abscess. (I found lots of info about it on wikipedia too). They put me under general anesthesia, lanced it, drained it, packed it with gauze, gave me IV antibiotics and sent me home with Percocet. The pain has lessened (9 days post-op). I tried to go back to work yesterday which did NOT work at all. I see the surgeon (colo-rectal and general surgeon… what luck! He is a specialist!) nearly 2 weeks post op (next Thursday). I plan to ask him about Crones and Colitis. Maybe he will recommend a colonoscopy if I mention it. I have NEVER had this problem before. I am a young (27) healthy female. I will keep you all posted. Good luck to all your pains in the asses!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the next day after the surgery I had to soak in a tub and pull out the packing. Then sitz baths after bowel movements and “frequently” to keep the dark moist area clean and very dry. I have placed a 2×2 on the area to prevent any drainage from gluing my cheeks together ; ) This doctor has had good success with this type of abscess to heal on it’s own without the twice a day packings. The only risk is that a fistula may form if it doesn’t heal from the inside out. KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED!
Wow - I was reading this and it was almost exactly what I went through last week. Went to some medical office and the PA and DR told me the same - it was just hems. and i needed to do x, y and z. I was like, no this is different. By the next day I was climbing the walls and hysterical in the ER so much that they pushed me through ahead of a lot of people. The ER dr was good though and diagnosed me in a couple of minutes, then i had a ct scan and the resident surgeon came down to do it. Took him 45 mins of me on morphine and lots of local and screaming my head off. He admitted me and it was good b/c the next day when i saw the surgeon she said he hadn’t gotten it all so i had to go through it again. Thankfully she knew what she was doing but even with 3x the morphine and all that local i screamed my head off. It’s been just over a week and I just discovered it’s still bleeding, it was just pus the last few days. I don’t know if that is a good or bad sign.
I hope you never had it again. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy!
Just had my 2nd colonscopy last week
my stomach is all inflamed and they think i might have crohns, i have been put on pentasa at the moment, anyone else on these pills?
My 15yo son recently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and had an anal fistula from an abscess that had opened and was draining on his own. He’s been on ciproflaxicin and metranidazol since April 1st and we had surgery scheduled to have a seton put in because he was going to start on Remicaide.
But we canceled the surgery (and the plans to commence Remicaide) when we found an exciting new treatment, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). My husband is a doctor and looked up the studies and they have had some success treating fistula with HBOT. Here’s a link to a page that has some studies on HBOT and perianal Crohn’s that people might like to know about: http://www.hitechbo.com/Final/HBOT.htm
Scroll down that page to find this link: http://www.richmond-hyperbaric.com/RHHC.studies.Crohn’s.htm
We are having miraculous results!! The fistula is beginning to heal after only 9 HBOT treatments. I believe that this is going to be the new way to treat Crohn’s for everyone very soon.
hi iv had a small lump in my lower left anus that grew in the space of 5 weeks and i had throbbing pains and couldn’t sit down and fevers at night and doc sent me back at first she said it was glands but afew days after that it got alot bigger i went see another doc and he said it was an infected abscess so i had opperation and then had nurses coming to dress wound every day for 3 to 4 weeks and wound has scabbed over now but lumps are still under the scab and theres like a little split that ooze’s yellow stuff and blood but im starting to slowly to get pains when i sit and bruising is by the slit could it be comming back again or is there another explanation some one please tell me ??
hi can anyone give me some advice i have been in agony with anal pain for months, i ave been to see doctor and he gave me hae,mmoroid stuff but iv used it all and its got worse, an emergency doc gave me gtn ointment coz he said i had anal fissure and iv used it all but all that has done is give me bad headache. i am a
university nurse student and cant take this pain, it feels like a constant throb and sharp
unbearable stabbing pain. the throb is so intense and agony all day and night, i am using lidocane cream for temporary relief but it doesnt last long. please help someone coz im at breaking point and very embarrassed to go to doctor again thankyou xxx
well, I went to see the doc and he said I am healing well. He said he was happy he chose to do the surgery instead of lancing it as it was a very difficult area to lance (I probably would have kicked him in the head or something) as well as being deeper than originally thought. I asked him about the Chrones issues and he said that if I haven’t had any issues with bowels, etc, that it was just plain bad luck. There are glands in your anus that secrete mucus that help to lube up the poop chute and one of them probably plugged up, became infected and caused a pocket of pus which grew into a larger area (abscess). So, a 10-15% chance that a fistula will occur. He gave me a lot of time off of work. He said I earned it (LOL). He still stood by his decision not to pack the wound. Probably because I am healthy and have no underlying medical issues. I plan to see him on the 16th of next month. If I have any issues until then I am “NOT TO HESITATE TO CALL HIM”!
I find the drainage is more clear, but after BM’s and lots of sitting it produces more pus. Thank goodness the smell is bearable. I stopped using Vaseline on the dressing over the hole as the edges of the wound were looking pruny. I also laid off the epsom salts in the sitz bath for a while. This seemed to help. The dressing doesn’t stuck to my skin anymore. I think it was just the blood that did that.
Scary thing is that now that there is virtually no pain, I freak at the slightest amount of pain down there. I am petrified of living this over again.
So, for the people who want medical advice… Don’t be shy/proud/whatever. Go see your doctor!!!! If the abscess continues, the infection can spread to your blood stream causing septicemia (a blood infection). That is really bad and potentially fatal. SEE YOUR DOCTOR!!! RIGHT AWAY!!!! DON”T HESITATE!!!! (can I be any more clearer!!) Good Luck to all of you!
hi all
well i am glad that i came across this page. i am anoyed at the lack of information/support on the internet for this!It’s great to be able to share experiences…even though you’re strangers to me, it’s a relief!
ok, so I’m 21, ambitious, busy, college-attending, composer, ‘culture vulture’,fun, etc etc. I was informed that I was coming down with the abscess for a number of weeks before me realising. I was ‘burning the candle at both ends’. I suffered constipation, diorrhea, depression, insomnia,skin irritation and so on.
I find that I work well at night-time and never went to sleep before 1 or 2am most nights, then generally up at 8 or 9am.
I went out with friends regularly and enjoyed drinks and socialising.
I was not completely inactive, I did quite a lot of walking to and from places.
My diet was disgraceful, not a lot of ‘fastfood’ like burgers or whatever, but not having ’square meals’.
All of you, or at least some, can associate with that! I don’t understand why young adults end up with THAT abscess….I suppose we are not as invincible as we like to think!
Anyway, I went to my GP and I just broke down in his office, crying (i was fucking exhausted!!!!) I had made a list of things so I handed it to him. I had chronic bronchitis too.
Once I calmed down he lead me to the practice nurse where she examined the area….she asked me if I’d mind if the doctor took a look. So he did, it was very painful, I described it like a severe BRUISE feeling. Without warning he stuck his finger in my back passage. This, was just the cherry on the sundae (or so I thought..).
I was instructed to go straight to A+E, so I went there. They poked around again, and sent me on my merry way with a few antibiotics. A few days later I was sent back after one night I was VOMITING probably due to the antibiotics) and ended up staying the night in the hospital. I hardly knew what was going on.
I fasted for several hours before the surgery. y abscess was drained and left a tiny incision. I was told that the incision had to be kept open by a WICK so that it can drain , (has to heal from the inside out). My abscess originated from the side of bowel. The surgery was under general anasthesia and I was so groggy for days after. I did not feel like myself for a week afterwards.
I stayed in hospital for 4 days post-op. It was very humiliating for me, I shit my pants and vomited when I coughed. I lost all sense of dignity there. NURSES ARE ANGELS FROM HEAVEN…..
I am sure all of you felt this: I was soooo paranoid when I left hosp, watching my back and worrying. You feel kind of vulnerable, that’s why it’s so important to surround yourself with caring supportive people, friends and family.
So I had to have regular dressings (and the dreaded wick!). Thankfully I didn’t have to get the wick thing done more than a few times.
I have finished my antibiotics a while ago, and now on a course of Chinese Medicine (on recommendation from a friend who went through this).So I am having acupuncture weekly for a while and taking Chinese meds. I must say I noticed a dramati difference in even a few days. I would thoroughly recommend it for anyone who has finished antibiotics. My acupuncturist is a liscensed pracitioner and has a reliable and proven track record, and is also a family friend
Here is my big question:::::
If the abscess is said to heal from the inside out, and ANY medicine you take encourages healing(including the skin area where the incision was) should I be concerned about the hardness around the area???I mean, if there is no more drainage of puss, does that mean it is not healing?
The area of hardness has definitely decreased in size and not as severe as it was in the beginning. I am worried it is building up again.This is disgusting I know, but I popped it myself a few times(with a sterilised needle>saline) and has provided relief, but I can’t keep doing this….
Sick of not being able to work and have a normal life! My boyfriend and friends/family have been extremely supportive, and I’d be ost without them.
If any of you ave any advice on this matter(especially regarding my question above) please let me know. Any of you who have successfully over come this horrible condition, remember you only have one body! It’s sad that I had to run myself into the ground to realise that.
it’s sunny in ireland,,,,,woah!
Hi All,
After having read most of your responses I am really afraid now. My story begun in 2003. I had my first perianal abscess drained in July 2003. Then the same thing happened in October 2004. After the abscess was drained and healed I went to see a coloractal surgeon. He examined me with an ultrasound and told me to admit into hospital because I had a little fistula and he will cut the track.
At that time I was 29 and was preparing to get married in December. So I did not go to hospital and I nearly forgot what my specialist advised, until my third abscess formed in May 2008. I went to hospital through ER and the abscess was drained out inadequately by the trainee doctor. I was sent back to home with pain and each day after that for seven days I had such a pain that I never wish my enemy to have. Then I went to hospital again through emergency room and had more puss/abscess drained again.
This time the hospital colorectal surgeon advised me to come for a test on 30th June to see if there are some fistula/s near my anas area. I promised myself that I will do anything my doctor will say this time.
My question to any of you that am I too late to have the fistula to treat?
How long the fistulotomy operation takes to heal back?
*God help me* I am feeling a little lumpy area very close to my anas now. I am only hopping this won’t be another painfullllllllllllll abscess. God bless you all.
hey i really dont want this abscess in my butt drained i mean its embarrassing and painful…… what do i do? its been 5 days since i got it and i havent had thm previously…
isnt there anything i can do without getting it drained?
Hello everyone,
I had my first abscess in 2006 december and I had it drained. But things didnot go well and it changed to fistula. I had another surgery in 2007 for the fistula and I was fine in few weeks. It was great after then. But now few weeks back I had severe pain again and found another there was an abcess..So, immediately i got it drained. I am curing very slowly now. I am fearing if this will return back again. Can anyone explain me why this occurs and what should one do for not reoccuring again?
Found a small lump on my left buttock on Sunday - by Tuesday I couldn’t sleep or walk due to the pain. Got an emergency doctors appointment at 8am the following morning and was prescribed antibiotics and painkillers. I went to the toilet just after taking my first antibiotic and there was a lot of pussy, bloody discharge.
I phoned the surgery concerned and they told me this was good and that it had probably burst and was draining and that I should be fit and back to work by friday.
I really hope they are right! I think the trick is get in there asap, visit your doctor and get it seen to. My doctor said that there didn’t actually seem to be much puss in my abscess so I’m assuming it’s at a very early stage.
I’m to let him know how I’m getting on by Friday so hopefully I can post here and let you all know if things are better.