Posted by Pruritis Ani on January 22, 2003 at 20:27 [209.244.111.208]
Geez, some people will do anything for a research grant...
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When problems start to pile up
16 January 2003
FEATURE
Using dry toilet paper can be a no-no for some people, writes Leo Revell as he turns the spotlight on an itchy issue.
Why do people get sore and itchy bottoms?
Some people have piles that get itchy and inflamed.
What are piles?
These are veins around the ring of the anus, which is the hole at the bottom end of your bowels.
Is it normal to have piles?
Yes, everyone has them and they help the anus to work properly.
What do piles do?
They act as rubber seals on a preserving jar to help make the anus airtight and watertight. Piles help people to control their anus properly virtually all the time.
What sort of piles do people have?
There are piles that stick out like soft lumps outside the anus and there are piles that sit inside the anus to form a sealing cushion to keep wind and watery bowel motions from escaping when it is embarrassing for them to do so.
Why do piles get sore or itchy sometimes?
If you do not go to the toilet often enough, when you finally go, the hard bowel motion can push your piles out so you can feel them. When you use toilet paper, you damage the very thin and sensitive skin that covers the veins inside the piles.
Even the softest toilet paper acts like sandpaper on this soft skin.
The bowel motion contains very large amounts of "hungry" enzymes. This is because the bowel works by using enzymes to break up and digest food of all kinds. Bowel motions also have billions of bacteria in the tiniest smear of them. When you have even tiny scratches of the skin around the anus, the enzymes digest the raw meat under the broken skin and the bacteria infect the skin. This makes the veins itchy and sore.
Do inflamed piles get better?
Most people's piles do get better if they treat them properly.
How do you treat inflamed piles?
First, you make sure you pass bowel motions regularly. You keep the bowel motions soft and regular by eating food high in fibre, drinking plenty of water and getting enough exercise.
The most important thing you must do is to stop using dry toilet paper, which scrapes strips of skin off the piles. You should wet your toilet paper if you have piles. Even better is to buy cotton wool and put wet cotton wool on the toilet paper instead to clean the bottom propely after you have a bowel motion.
If you are away from home, you can buy Wet Ones and keep them in the car. You can put a Wet One on the toilet paper instead of the wet cotton wool. If you are desperate and have no Wet Ones or water, spit on the toilet paper before you use it.
When you have piles, you must not use dry toilet paper even once, because it will cause the piles to get inflamed again. People from places like France, where they use bidets to clean their bottoms after going to the toilet, have few problems with piles.
The wet toilet paper or wet cotton wool does not tear strips off the skin around the anus. It also cleans the bowel motion off the skin much better than dry toilet paper does. When you use wet cotton wool, it works like having a bath, a shower or a bidet to clean around the anus properly.
How can doctors help with piles?
They can prescribe pile ointments and suppositories that take the pain out of the piles, and make them shrink. For piles that are outside the anus, I believe that careful cleaning of the bottom is probably much more use than all these ointments. If you have bleeding from piles, the doctor can arrange for you to have your piles injected or have rubber bands put on them to strangle them.
When should I have an operation for my piles?
If you have bleeding from piles that goes on and on, and you get short of blood as a result, you should think about an operation.
Do you get pain after pile operations?
Some people do not have much pain, but others have very bad pain after they have their piles operated on. I tell people who want a pile operation to think very carefully before they have surgery. Sometimes the anus does not work properly after surgery and you cannot control your wind or bowel motions as well as you could before the surgery.
What is Pruritis Ani?
These Latin words mean itchy anus. This is where you get itchy skin around the bottom even though you do not have piles. The cause is using dry toilet paper, which tears strips of skin off the bottom and allows enzymes from the bowel motion to digest the skin, and bacteria to infect the scratches.
How do you treat Pruritis Ani?
You need to use wet toilet paper, Wet Ones or wet cotton wool on toilet paper to cure this problem.
How long do I need to use wet toilet paper or wet cotton wool for these problems?
Some people need to use wet toilet paper or cotton wool for their bottom problems always; others only need to use them while they have the problem. Piles and Pruritis Ani do come back repeatedly.
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Reprinted without permission. (I'm gonna get sued!)