Advice on Anal Abcess

[Sonia1983]

hi all,

I've had my first ever anal abcess for a few months now as the doctor is relucant to operate we are trying to treat it with salt water baths and simplotan meds.
It getting rather small and has drained on its own but wont seem to go completely.

Does anyone have any tips that can help me? I really dont wanna have surgery, anything but that.

Thanks

 

[imisspopcorn]

You poor thing!!Those things are a real pain in the butt. There are a lot of people who have dealt with them on this forum. You may want to do a search on here because they are discussed often.I'm sure you will get some good info shorlty.

 

[Cookie]

Hi Sonia,

Have you tried Cipro and/or Flagyl (anti-biotics)? They are commonly prescribed for Crohn's patients. Flagyl may not be the most fun drug to take, but it is the only thing that keeps my abcesses from going crazy.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Sonia1983]

Hi guys,

So basically there is no way other than surgery that can completely remove it?? Shadycat, did Cipro and Flagyl make the abcess go away completely?? I cant live with this thing, its always on my mind and i'm afraid of the surgery cos an error by the surgeon could be very costly to me.

Thanks so much guys for your advice, i'll be sure to discuss these meds with my doc at my next visit.
Thanks again

 

[Jeff D.]

Have you tried a sitz bath? They always help mine a lot. I've also had mine lanced under anesthesia but the sitz baths really helped keep it clean. The flagyl also helped.

 

[Sonia1983]

Hi Jeff,

I've been having warm baths with salt water (my doc advice) is this like a sitz bath??

thanks for the tips

 

[Jeff D.]

A sitz bath is a plastic tub that fits into your toilet. It has a bag that you fill with water with a tube attached to it. There is a little hole that shoots the water onto your butt so you get things very clean. In a regular bath, even salt baths, ther can be a build up of bacteria. An abscess that is draining has a hole in it so you want to keep bacteria out of it as much as possible which by using a sitz bath allows you to keep it bacteria free.

 

[Cookie]

So basically there is no way other than surgery that can completely remove it?? Shadycat, did Cipro and Flagyl make the abcess go away completely?? Thanks again

Sonia, I get abscesses that branch out (like a tree) from what is called a complex fistula. Since it is a fistula, the is an open pathway for the infection to drain. Flagyl and Cipro help keep those "closed off" branches from filling up with infection. If you have an abscess, but not a fistula, it may be harder to drain, but I would say it is worth asking your GI about. The only thing that I would warn you about with the flagyl is that, if you do have an active infection, it can be a very hard drug to take. It will make you feel like absolute crap while that infection works its way out...at least that is my experience with it. I take it regularly, but I have to take "breaks" because I get the tingling sensations that others have described when I take it for too long of a period. When I stop, the tingling goes away, then the infection starts to come back, so I start taking it again. Sort of a vicious cycle, but what can you do??

 

[braveheart]

Don't worry about it. Actually I do not think you will have a real surgery. They just drain it and you will feel better soon.

 

[Wiles]

Sometimes they go away on their own, so hopefully it won't be come a bigger problem. Keeping the area clean as much as humanly possible helps, even when you're not having a problem with the abscess. I have two spots where I get abscesses - one of them never gets to be very large and goes away. The other spot sometimes goes away on it's own, but I've had to have it drained twice.

 

[garygepner1]

I just got over a pary anul disease abcess a week or so ago and my Doctor prescribed a course of flagyl after he drained it and for me it helped. Hope this works for you.

Sincerely and Respectfully, Gary

 

[Sonia1983]

HI everyone,

Sorry for the lateness of my reply, had a crazy few weeks.
Anywho... Jeff, now I live in AUstralia and after hours of phone calls discovered that sitz baths are no longer available in Australia, believe that. Anyway I have a plan and tell me what u think lol, we have the hand shower connection thingy lol that i can conncet to my bath tap, now for the past few days i've been attaching that and letting constant clean water wash over the infected area. Do u think this would work like a sitz bath?? how long should i do it for??
Another thing that i've noticed is, as awful as this sounds, that my abcess starts to get better and then when i get my period it gets inflammed again and fills with pus. Does this happen to any of the other women??
I was thinking also about a topical anti biotic cream to apply directly to the area along with oral meds, any suggestions??
Thanks everyone for your advice, you have no idea how much help u have been.
Sonia

 

[jennyfoust]

i notice that everything gets worse when i get my period. everything. in fact, the only time i have complications (unless i eat something that i shouldn't) is when i get my period.

 

[garygepner1]

HI everyone,

Sorry for the lateness of my reply, had a crazy few weeks.
Anywho... Jeff, now I live in AUstralia and after hours of phone calls discovered that sitz baths are no longer available in Australia, believe that. Anyway I have a plan and tell me what u think lol, we have the hand shower connection thingy lol that i can conncet to my bath tap, now for the past few days i've been attaching that and letting constant clean water wash over the infected area. Do u think this would work like a sitz bath?? how long should i do it for??
Another thing that i've noticed is, as awful as this sounds, that my abcess starts to get better and then when i get my period it gets inflammed again and fills with pus. Does this happen to any of the other women??
I was thinking also about a topical anti biotic cream to apply directly to the area along with oral meds, any suggestions??
Thanks everyone for your advice, you have no idea how much help u have been.
Sonia

When I had my abcess I took the atatchment in the shower and sprayed water on the area 3 times a day or after bowel movements. My doctor told me to do that and with keeping it clean and going thru a course of flagyl it helped to clear it. Hope this helps.

Sincerely and Respectfully, Gary

 

[Cookie]

HI everyone,

Another thing that i've noticed is, as awful as this sounds, that my abcess starts to get better and then when i get my period it gets inflammed again and fills with pus. Does this happen to any of the other women??
Sonia

Yep. Every month. My abcesses are attached to a rectovaginal fistula. I can't use tampons or it makes matters 10X worse. I think it must be related to general inflammation of tissue in that area during your period???

 

[sarah1225]

Wow, this is a very helpful thread. Ladies, I especially appreciate your posts because I too notice more "pressure down there" around the time of my period.
What's weird is, I went to my specialist just last week and he said it was an abscess but then said maybe its just a cyst - because it was pretty shallow. Either way, he drained it using only a local anesthetic. I felt every freakin needle and the scalpel!! He did it in his clinic rather than making me go to the hospital (thanks for saving me $$ doc) But seriously I don't think either one of us will want to do that again. It hurt like hell for me (definitely need to be put out or something) And for him....Im pretty sure I freaked out all the other patients crying and yelling "Ow! Ow! Oh my God! Ow!"

The aftermath: He used that packing string stuff so I left with a tail hanging out of my tush. He said to remove the string the next morning. I didn't make it to the next morning and actually tried taking it out that night. Bad idea. Bled all over my bathroom. (Looked like a crime scene).
I tried taking it out early for 2 reasons:
1. I felt the pressure caused by the packing string and wanted it out.
2. Concerned about having a BM and fecal matter getting on the string...infection control.

The silver-lining: Just a day later, I felt great since I was no longer sitting on a pus bump on my tush!

 

[Essieluv]

I have had a few abscesses that went away with just Cipro and Flagyl, and didn't need surgery. So there is hope. Regarding periods, I find that I get at least one perianal abscess every time I get my period. Fun times. Usually these go away with the antibiotics, but surgery has been necessary a few times.