by Lawrence Wilson, MD

ANAL ITCHING

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is solely the opinion of the author and is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

Anal itching is a common and annoying symptom. Possible causes of it are:

Hemorrhoids. This is one of the most common causes of anal itching among adults. Hemorrhoids are expanded veins that circle the anus and can protrude to the outside, at times. The hemorrhoidal veins connect to the liver and liver congestion can cause them.

Prevention and healing. Do not eat ANY fried or roasted food because doing so can make them worse. These foods contain AGES, which are liver irritants.

Avoid drinking coffee, which tends to make them worse. Occasionally one will just occur at random.

Also, do not strain to have a bowel movement. Drink more water and eat more cooked vegetables to help with constipation. If you need a laxative, Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) or magnesium oxide sold as a food supplement are safe laxatives.

Most small hemorrhoids go away on their own with a development program, so stay with your program. Very large, protruding and painful hemorrhoids may require laser surgery or galvanic current treatment by a doctor to resolve them.

You can try over-the-counter remedies such as Preparation-H. This remedy used to be an excellent, but they changed the formula and now it is somewhat toxic.

Coffee enemas and hemorrhoids. Coffee enemas may irritate hemorrhoids and this stops some people from doing them. A few suggestions are:

- Using a colon tube may help. This is a rubber tube that extends the enema tip so that the coffee bypasses the rectum and is released further up the colon. This may reduce or stop the irritation.

Colon tubes come in different sizes. A small size (thinner tube) is best. To use it, first attach the colon tube to the enema tip. Then lubricate about a foot of the tube with a little oil and insert the tube in the rectum. You may need to twist the rubber tube a little to move it along. When it is at least six inches inside you, then do the coffee enema.

- If the above does not work, try using less coffee.

Rectal irritation due to eating spicy or irritating foods. This area of the body can easily become irritated by eating hot, spicy or otherwise irritating foods, or by diarrhea, for example. This usually goes away on its own when the cause of the irritation is removed.

A fungal infection in this area, sometimes called jock itch or tinea. This is quite common, and annoying. This area of the body is warm and moist, so fungus grow there easily.

In general, fungal infections are due to excessive copper in the body, or a zinc deficiency. These infections will go away on a development program without medical intervention. Stopping all sugars and sweets can sometimes cause them to go away practically overnight. In some cases, it atakes months or a few years if an infection is very chronic.

If the itching is very annoying, you can apply over-the-counter remedies for jock itch such as powders or cream such as Desenex or Tinactin. Tea tree oil preparations, or a supplement called Wo Oil may also help for the itching.

Parasites, especially pin worms. These are somewhat common, especially in children. They should go away if the child avoids all sweets, including fruit and juices and follows the development diet. Rarely, a remedy may be helpful to get rid of them.

Imbalance in the flora of the colon. This is a less common as a cause for itching. It is usually due to dietary imbalances such as sugars in the diet, use of medical drugs such as antibiotics, or perhaps the presence of other toxins or medical drugs in the body.

The solution is to improve the diet, removing all sugars, wheat and soy from the diet. Drastically increase the amount of cooked, not raw vegetables that you eat. If you do this, in most cases the normal flora will re-establish itself.

If you think you need more help to re-establish the flora, eat some live culture yogurt or sauerkraut, and eat a tablespoon 10 minutes before each meal until the bottle is gone.

Another probiotic we find helpful is called Bio-K Original. It is sold in some health food stores. One takes about ½ teaspoon 10 minutes before each meal, and finish the entire container. Be careful with other probiotics because some are quite toxic. Also, please avoid other fermented foods except for some raw cheese, kefir, and miso. The others are often toxic, especially kombucha tea.

Note that on a development program, at times the body will eliminate a toxin from the liver or elsewhere that will kill off the normal flora. The toxin is often an old antibiotic residue. This can temporarily cause a flora imbalance in the colon that could cause anal itching or other discomfort. Follow the instructions above and usually the condition will resolve itself in a few days.

Diabetes. Diabetes, especially if untreated, can cause sugars to be released onto the skin. This can feed various fungal or other infectious organisms and cause itching. Diabetes, especially Type 2 diabetes, usually respond easily to a development program. Tyep 1 takes longer to resolve with a development program.

Psoriasis, anal fistulas and anal fissures. Psoriasis is an itchy skin condition that may be caused by fungus.

Fissures are tears in the anal mucosa.

Fistulas are abnormal openings between the anus and sometimes the vagina or other parts of the lower body tissues in the area. These could also possibly cause itching. For more on how to handle them, read Fissures and Fistulas on this website.

Other. Rarely, other causes are responsible for anal itching. A times, for example, a bacterial or viral infection, or perhaps a sexually-transmitted disease will cause itching.

These may require a careful medical exam, and perhaps other tests to find. In most cases, however, a development program will eventually resolve them.

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