According to my doctor who I saw about this about 3 months ago, anal fissures, (ie. little cuts around the anus) are very common. I had one about 3 months ago and went to see my doctor because anal bleeding can be a sign of colon cancer (which my mother had 4 years ago, making me especially conscientious in this regard). Anyway, I was thinking just now, if these are so common, how come we don’t see more cases of septicemia and other blood infections. I mean, these cuts are located in the grimiest area of the body and surely must be prone to such infections. If I had a cut on my arm and I decided to smear shit all over it, I would get septicemia or some equivalent pretty quickly, right? So why not with anal fissures and other butt cuts? Is there some special line of defence?
Possibly your own feces will not cause the same type of infections as someone else’s feces mainly because I would think your body would be pretty much used to the bacteria that you would be defecating.
Now, if you had someone else’s feces in your anal fissures, I would think you would increase the liklihood of infection.
Just my WAG.
I don’t know about you people but I use plenty of water and soap every time I go.
I have never really had any constipation problem but. to lose some weight, I have recently started a rather gastric diet and that caused me to not go for almost two weeks. By the time I was ready to go, man, it felt like a piece of wood and it was quite painful to evict. I could feel the fissures there. But plenty of soap and water and a couple of days later, I’m as good as new.
Well, they can get infected, in which case you’d have an anal abscess instead of an anal fissure. And then you’d need antibiotics and maybe even surgery. If you haven’t developed an abscess, that’s a sign that your immune system is working properly and isn’t being overloaded.
I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome and I have had anal fissures twice. One of the worst problems is that the tears will cause you to have spasms in your anal sphincter which exacerbate the tear and prolongs healing.
The first time was a mild case treated with stool softeners and sitz baths.
The second time was just awful. It was brought on by a bout of explosive diarrhea caused from antibiotics I was taking for a bronchitis and sinus infection. There was a tremendous amount of pain right after each bowel movement accompanied by about 2-3 onces of blood which is an alarming amount to see. I literally could not sit down. I either had to stand or lie on my side.
At first the doctor thought I had some sort of anal tumor but that turned out to be a hematoma–basically a large blood filled lump. My perianal area looked far worsed than it did following either of my childbirthing experiences.
I had surgery for fissure repair and a lateral internal sphincterotomy. They remove a small piece of your internal sphincter to keep it from spasming. In the original TMI thread I detailed how I said some pretty embarrassing things while under the influence of versed. :eek:
In spite of all that I never had an infection. I just kept the area very clean with witch hazel wipes and sitz baths three times a day. I swear I spent half my time in the bathroom. I brought in a radio and a stack of books and did what I had to do.
I would not wish this this on my worst enemy.
I thought about your question.
Of course, you can get staphylococcal and other infections in anal fissures, but not that commonly. I think this is for four main reasons:
- Immunity to your own poop
This reason has already been proposed. I suppose it is true your body has already some defences against your own E. coli. But this is not absolute. For example, you can be infected by your own skin bacteria. Also, bacteria in the bowel (like the skin) change with time.
- Good blood supply
Wounds to the scalp hardly ever become infected, as the blood supply to the scalp is so good that your immune defences can easily reach the baddies. The blood supply to the bum is excellent. The bum has one of the bodies “portal venous systems”. This might be the biggest reason.
- Good lymphatic system
Lots of immune tissue around the bum, too.
- Fissures aren’t deep
Usually they are a tear in the anal mucosa, but not through all four thicknesses of bowel layers. Thus, contact with poop is less than you may think. Also, blood on the surface tends to go out of the wound due to pressure, which may act to clean things up a little (harder for bacteria to go retrograde to the flow)?