The skin around my anus feels really dry and, to a point, sore

[SpankYourSister]

I highly doubt it's hemmorhoids. There's no bleeding involved. No blood in stool or on toilet paper. But a few days ago, I did get some kind of infection in my system, I think due to minor food poisoning, which caused me to have loose, liquid stools which involved quite a bit of mucus for two days. Is it possible the passing of all that mucus somehow left the area irritated or what? I checked the area in the mirror (what other way?) and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just red around the area because of the irritation to the sensitive skin. I work, and I notice I do sweat down there some. And I do alot of walking and bending on the job as well. After that gastro infection stopped, for about three days, I hadn't been able to go, likely because my system was still clearing the infection, but I still ate alot. So I guess it was building up and now it's all coming out and I've been going number 2 quite a bit the last couple of days (about twice a day). If that matters at all.

I asked this in the health sections of Yahoo's Q&A, but people decided they wanted to be immature idiots and make jokes that I had anal performed on me, which I didn't...

Should I be concerned and what can I do about this? It's not terribly sore or anything, just minor discomfort which I notice more while I'm working.

[jiajee]

Have you had food that can cause constipation like fried stuff and chocolates or coffee? in my case reducing gluten, sugar and coffee with plenty of water helped to ease the dryness. Moreover in your bellybutton put few drops of almond oil before you sleep. Hope this would help.

[ayami]

i'm feeling something like that and googled my question so i found yours. i really don't know what caused mine i've recently decreased eating to like once a day [doesnt bother me much] to help me loose 25lbs. i realzied that i haven'd had any BM's lately...[didnt bother me, i hate havin them] but then i realized the skin aroudn my anus started to hurt. at first i thought itd go away, but the enxt day it was there. it got really dry...i tried looking didnt really see anything unusual, and my bf said it looked ok. but the pain got so bad i tried vaseline...cause i figured, hm...its dry...so why not? i've never had anal sex, never ever EVER want to...and oh yeah about my BM, so i ate a 6in subway with spinach, lettuce, olives, tuna, chedder cheese sweet onion sauce on italian bread and next morning i had a BM. was....painful cause the ansu area was so try i felt it kidna swollen a bit but after i got it out [i rinsed it off then blow dried it cause it couldnt handle TP and pur vaseline] i don't use alot just enough so that it wont feel dry. i noticed since i ate more food [more BM's] and used vaseline the problem is slowly fading away...


>>>sry for typos too lazy to correct.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms the possibility of chafing of the anus due to the loose stools cannot be ignored. Do not use any cosmetic products at the sites. You can apply some calamine lotion at the rash as it will help in soothing the skin.Also wear cotton undergarments.Application of mild corticosteroid cream and oral antiinflammatories like ibuprofen/acetaminophen are also helpful.If the symptoms are severe then it will be best to consult a dermatologist
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.