Lancing pain

[JHOLE]

Hi, just found this forum and I'm glad I did....

I have an appt tomorrow to have another perianal abcess checked out ( the fourth one in a year).

Was just in last week to look for a fistula - didn't find anything.. Then at the end of the week I found a bump in another location that I need checked out tomorrow...

Here is my question....Is the lancing/ cutting part of the procedure supposed to be the absolute most painful thing that I have ever felt in my entire life?????

Each time that I have had an abcess it is a bit uncomfortable - but nothing comes close to the pain of cutting it open...I have had two different doctors perform the draining ( first, my family doctor, and then a colon rectal surgeon for the others). All times I have had shots of local anesth which hurts like hell in itself - but the cutting makes the shots pale in comparison ( like the shots don't even work)...

Is this normal..??..

 

[ehs8998]

My daughter is 10 and has had 3 abscess/fistulas, and they Never drain I while she is awake. They do hers under anesthesia so if they have to clean/debride things, they can do that.
Tell your doctors that you want to be asleep for the procedure. Yes, it may take a bit longer, but your comfort is important as well.
Good luck..

 

[JThorn676]

I had two abcesses drained from my armpit and it was sooo painful. I am hoping and praying I never get another because of my Crohn's. The numbing medicine was actually the most painful part for me but the actual lancing was pretty freakin painful.

I had no idea you could request to be put to sleep. I would def. suggest that if you can.

Good luck

 

[Jennifer]

I'm sure its anything but pleasant and neither are colonoscopies. Some people choose to be awake for a scope yet most get knocked out (or have something like Versed used so they don't remember) for a reason. What you may want to do is let your doctor know that local anesthesia doesn't work for you (some people just require more or have a higher tolerance to certain pain killers) and that you would like to have an IV where you get knocked out for the procedure. The baseline is whatever your baseline is. If you can't handle the pain, then its too much and boarders torture really.

 

[Cordillia16]

For my abscess, I didn't know what was going on so I didn't go to the hospital until it was extremely painful. It was the single most excruciatingly painful experience I have had. I will never go through it again without being sedated. I would have 1000 colonoscopies before I would have my abscess lanced with general anesthetic again.
I don't want to scare anyone, but you have the right to know the degrees in which people have been able to take them before you.
Good luck!

 

[JHOLE]

Welllllll, aparrently, some people have a internal block to local anesthesia....

Noone really wants to expand on the information too much but I'm trying to search out people who are not involved in the situation to give me the straight info...

I was having a hard time explaining to the doctors how painful the procedure was for me, partially because I didn't know how painful it was SUPPOSED to be. Finally I focussed on one aspect of the procedure and asked each of them - "I understand that the shots will inherently be quite painful - but, should the pain level go down or up from that point on???" They both quickly stated "down of course".

This is where I explained to each of them that this was not my experience(s).

Their eyes widened and they quietly said that sometimes a local doesn't work for some people, and that if I needed another procedure that they would have to schedule it for a general... Neither wanted to talk much about it from that point on....


So, I guess my immediate concern is taken care of ( that I will not have to go through that again). But, I'm real curious as to how, and what extent the block to the local is...Is it overall, or just certain body areas ?...

Thanks to those that responded, and thanks to the forum in general. It helped me to read numerous posts and not see a reocurring mention of extreme pain to help me realise that my experiences were not the norm..

 

[Jennifer]

I'd imagine it would be overall as my fiance has the same issue. Have you ever had dental work done where they had to numb your gums? That should answer your question. My finance got to feel a dental procedure as it there was nothing used at all.

 

[Neko76]

As all the above have mentioned, YES, super painfull and freezing is almost as painful... next time do yourself a favour and speak up, don't ever worry that you are being "wimpy" etc... most dr's have never actually had to go through any of this stuff themselves. So ask for sedatives, spinal or some sort of pain prevention/relief next time. There is NO reason in this day and age that we need to go through any unecessary pain when we already have enough painful things to deal with with this disease. All the best ~Kat~