Help with post abscess surgery pain

[Ont24]

Hi all. Looking for advice, similar experiences, words or encouragement, etc.

Here's my situation. About 3 months ago after a misdiagnosis of hemmorhoids, I found myself in emerg in extreme pain. I had a perianal abscess. Doctor was very nice and drained it. Was about the size of a grape he said.

Pain relief was very quick however in the time since I am still experiencing irritation and some mild pain, usually during the first few hours of the day after my morning BM especially when transitioning from sitting to standing.

I would classify myself as a bit of an over zealous wiper but in the last few months I have been doing my best not to over do things in the cleaning dept.

I have been using Sudocrem to help with irritation but I just don't seem to be making any further progress in the healing dept. I will also say I'm a chronic worrier when it comes to things like this so that may be having some influence here. As many of you I'm sure know, an abscess is not something one wants to happen again.

I do sit for my job for long periods and I commute. I have a chair pad and try to get up every so often to walk around.

Basically I want to know if this sounds normal and I just need to give it time or if I maybe have something else going on. No blood, discharge or lumps at the moment. My abscess went from "hmm, that's weird" to "oh my gawd, put me out of my misery" within a week.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance.

 

[alice75]

I don't know that I can offer advice since my ordeal with my perianal abscess and now fistula only started a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to offer my support since no one else has answered yet. Tonight is the first night I have had very little pain down there while at work. My pain Is pretty localized to were the fistula comes out on my bottom though. I would think that you shouldn't still have pain inside. Do you have any more follow up appointments without your doc about it ? If not I would think it would be wise to at least attempt to talk to them on the phone about it.

 

[lollyadverb]

Hello Ont24. I feel your pain -- or I have in the past. It's a while since I had an abscess or fistula down there, but I definitely sympathize with the pain and having a job that involves sitting -- and the commute is probably the worst. Currently I have a nonhealing perineal wound that causes similar issues.

Regarding practical advice, I found that doing whatever I could to prevent diarrhea was important since that is what hurt the most and caused more infections. For example, eating apples helps.

Regarding pain while sitting, donut cushions can make things worse because they pull that area apart. You might look into getting a gaymar cushion instead -- or see if your doc can give you one. They are kind of pricey but work great.

Another alternative is to buy a yoga mat, cut it in half lengthwise, roll it loosely into two bolsters, then sit on those, one under each leg. Experiment with how many layers you need because making it too thick can make sitting more difficult (needs more abdominal muscle control). I find that three layers or maybe 4 is good, then use large rubber bands to hold them that way. I can get at least 4 bolsters out of one mat so I have one set at home, one at work, and one for commuting. For commuting, I don't want people to see what it is and speculate why, so I put the rolls in a canvas bag I can carry over my shoulder. People think it's just a little extra cushion because the train seats are hard, and sometimes they even say its a good idea!

 

[justbreathe8]

I know this post was from a couple months ago, but I had a similar thing. I was misdiagnosed with hemorrhoids and then had extreme pain and they found and drained an abscess. I still had pain like you are experiencing for a couple hours after having a BM. Turns out the abscess had formed a fistula. If you are still having pain, go back to your CRS, I think once the abscess is drained you should experience feeling better each day.