DH has had an itchy bum.... for 5 years!!

[pleasestopscratching]

That's right, DH has had an itchy anus for 5 years and still refuses to go to the doctor. He has tried washing more thoroughly, using fragrance free shower gel, no shower gel, blow-drying it (!), wet wipes, etc etc but no real lasting improvement. It itches particularly during the night and he scratches it loads (I can hear / feel him scratching). Before 5 years ago he'd never had this problem. Any ideas please what else he can try?

I asked the GP once on his behalf and she said it was "pruritus ani" but it was hard to tell if the cause was fungal or something else (can't remember now) without having a look.

Please please please can someone tell me some over-the-counter creams or remedies he could try? I don't want to be married to a life-long bum-scratcher!!!!!!!!!!!

[liahgen]

if it's only night time, sounds like could be worms but i'm thinking there would be other symptoms, such as being able to see something in the loo.

Try fixing piece sellotape across anus before bed, and then check it either in middle night if he gets up for loo or in the morning. If it were worms, it be there.

sorry can't be more help.

[QuintessentialShadow]

dh was the same. his gp diagnosed psoreasis, he got a cream, itching stopped.

[PeaMcLean]

Sudocrem?

[zippitippitoes]

i would spell out the advantages of going to the gp

isnt it driving him mad

it could be dealt with and over in a week if he did

i would introduce sanctions like he doesnt sleep in the same room until he goes for a diagnosis

[gingerninja]

I had exactly the same and also left it a good few years anyway I went to the Dr recently and she was worried it might be Lichen Sclerosus which mainly affects the genitals but occassionally just appears on the anus. Anyway it's a skin condition that can turn nasty so must be treated. Not suggesting this is what he has but I was given a cream and it cleared in less than a week. Just wish I'd gone sooner.

[liahgen]

my dd has lichen sclerosis. Has had it since birth.

[yellowvan]

If it's worms you can get ovex over the counter. Tell him to try that first then if no improvement gp.

[gingerninja]

Liahgen is it something that's manageable?

[pleasestopscratching]

Thanks all... I twice got him to promise he'd go to the doctor if it hadn't cleared up by a certain deadline, but the deadlines came and went and he still didn't go.

Those of you who got creams prescribed, do you know what they are and if they are available over the counter? I really don't think he'll go to the GP.

[liahgen]

Yeah with steroids. Tis incurable at the mo though, and increased risk of cervical cancer. She's 13 and half now so the new vaccine is very welcome to us.

Took me 5 yrs to get her diagnosed, was told thrush at every turn, eventually stumbled upon an article in a tv!! mag, and took it to docs.

She had biopsy, at 5 and half and was diagnosed on spot.

at fucking gp's who refused to examine her.

Thankfully, she's aware now and hopefully will meet some nice young boy when the time is right who will be understanding. [oh god emoticon]

Sorry for hijack

[pleasestopscratching]

Yellowvan, if it was worms do you think we'd know by now or possibly not?

[gingerninja]

No they're prescription only. Honestly he must go to the Dr. They've seen any number of arses that day, they won't be unduly concerned about seeing his.

FWIW, I tried over the counter creams for piles and even steroid creams and nothing worked. I suffered it for years, mainly because I thought it was a bit silly to go to the Dr with an itchy bum, but I'm really glad I did. Really glad, and I'm not being dramatic.

[nailpolish]

piles?

piles can be very small and hardly noticeable, but damn itchy

[gingerninja]

Oh Liahgen , that is bless her. Awful that it took so long for a diagnosis.

[yellowvan]

You could try liahgen's sellotape trick, sometimes they are visible in poos, but not always. I think it's worth taking the ovex just as a first step, if it doesn't work you are one step closer to getting him to gps. Don't let him use steroid cream without diagnosis as it is not great for healthy skin (thins it?)and could mask the real prob.

[pleasestopscratching]

gingerninja, what was the cause of your itching if you don't mind me asking? or what was the cream prescribed? I will work on DH again as I agree the best thing would be to go to the GP!

[nailpolish]

will he let you have a look>?

[FabioTheFlouncingCat]

Like zippi, I would introduce sanctions.
I thought piles or worms too.

btw your gp told you, in Latin, that your dh has an itchy bum. I'd find a gp who didn't burst into dead forrinish when diagnosing, meself.

Poor dd liahgen

[WhereTheWildThingsWere]

My dp had scratched for years too, eventually persuaded him he had to see gp.

He did, it was fungal, used a cream. was gone in a week.

He was very that he had left it so long.

[gingerninja]

I think it was either fungal or some kind of dermititis because it's gone and I haven't used the cream for a couple of weeks. I don't know the name of the cream, can't remember.

The area around my anus (to much info for some here) was red and shiny and had tiny cracks. I put it all down to an anal fisure and the scratching but since using the cream I've hardly had any trouble with it (the fisure) at all so it must have all been down to the other problem.

Dr did say she thought it could be lichen sclerosis but I'm not sure as it hasn't reappeared. Having said that, it hasn't been that long so I'll just have to wait and see. If it returns I'll go back to the Dr and see what she says.

[asteamedpoater]

Tee, hee. My husband had the same for years, too. I finally persuaded him to bare all when he got an itchy toe - now that he had fungus growing in his foot and could see the doctor about that, he wasn't so embarrassed about then mentioning in passing that his bum itched, too! She suggested canesten for the foot and daktakort for the bottom - as he'd had the itching for years around his bottom, she thought he might need something stronger to clear that, and I think it has an antifungal plus steroid in it. I haven't heard him scratching for a while, now!

I'm doubtful about the idea that someone could have worms for 5 years without ever seeing them in his faeces or passing them on to someone else in the family (but then I have a dubious view of my husband's hand-washing habits). Piles are a definite possibility, though.

No way of knowing without baring all for the doctor, though. Very silly to be too embarrassed to do that - I'm quite sure it won't be the first itchy bottom he or she will have seen that day.

[hughjarssss]

I sympathise with your dp.
I too am the owner of an itchy anus.

I've tried overx and sudocrem. But it still itches. dp had a look (lucky man!) but he says he cant see anything.

Some days it drives me crazy but I will not go to the GP

[hecate]

get some sudocrem. Scoop it out and mix it up with some Deep Heat. Replace the mixture. Get him to apply it. The result will be that he will think his arse has actually exploded and he will be banging on the door of the gp the very next morning.

[hecate]

I'm sorry. I'm apparently not in a particularly helpful mood tonight.

[LackaDAISYcal]

hughjarssss do you wear thong knickers? or does your DH for that matter pleasestop?

I used to wear them but came out in a reaction to the elastic which caused me a miserably itchy bottom for ages. I read about it in some gossip mag and it sounded similar to what I was going through, so I stopped wearing thongs and the itching went. Now I can only wear shorts type knickers with no leg elastic at all.

pleasestop, has he tried something like canesten cream on it? It's worth a shot to see if it helps.