Treating Anal Fissures

by Annie K
(CA, USA)

Anal Fissures

Problem:

How do I treat anal fissures? I think there's something odd going on with my 21 mo son. This is what's happening:

He poops, it looks normal, his butt is normal, he gets changed. Then the next time he poops (which seems to be 1/2 - 1 hour after the first time), it looks normal, but his butt is completly red, chapped, bleeding (just the breaks in skin), and his hole is bright red and little dots of blood oozing from the skin. It's like toxic poop! The strange thing is that all the other poops don't make him red...how does he get such severe diaper rash in just one poop, in a short amount of time, when the others before that didn't? And he's in pain...he doesn't want to be changed, he screams, and before he gets changed, he walks around bow-legged, pulling at his diaper, so obviously he's uncomfortable. This has happened several times before, a while ago, but it happened today and once last week. He'll go for a month or more without being red at all, then to this. He never had diaper rash as a baby.

I'm putting coconut oil on him and he also gets a 1/4 teaspoon of baby probiotics in his morning cup of raw goat milk. He's also still nursing.

I'm thinking it has to be something he's eating, but for the last 5 months, he's been on an eating strike, and his diet is very limited. It's not that he doesn't eat much, it's that he doesn't like a variety of food anymore. Just another stage, I guess. So, basically, he eats almost the same things everyday with no problem, then just like that he's got diaper rash. Has anyone else had this experience? Any suggestions? We're stumped!

Thanks!
Rachel W. in PA

Recommendations for Treating Anal Fissures

Have you changed laundry detergents or her baby soap at all? My daughter never had a problem with rashes and all of a sudden her bum was covered but it was rings and very dry patches. At first I was thinking she may have ringworm but if I touched the area and didn't wash my hands right after it never passed on to me so I knew it wasn't that. Then I realized. My husband does our laundry for our swimming stuff and he had been washing our now 10 month olds clothes with our detergent instead of hers. Once we switched back to our natural laundry detergent everything cleared up!

Try using a Calendula based or Zinc based natural diaper cream to protect his skin until it heals. Coconut oil is also good, especially if the rash were being caused by yeast, but you may need to use a zinc based ointment to protect his bottom a little better so it isn't so sore in the meantime.

Also, consider what you are using for wipes and how you are wiping. If you use a chemical or even natural oil laden wipe to clean him, that could be the problem. Have you changed wipes or diaper ointments recently? Is your wipes solution more concetrated right before you refill it?

Baby's skin is very delicate. If you are wiping aggressively or with something rough, you may be causing some tearing of the skin which will turn red the next time he pees. Just a warm, damp facecloth is fine for urine, applied with gentle patting.

Lastly, my daughter would also get this kind of rash if she ate or drank too much citrus. Apparently, the acid in the citrus did not agree with her. If she ate just a little she was OK, but if she ate too much then she immediately got a very painful rash that sounds just like what your son is getting. Consider the amount AND frequency of citrus foods he is consuming.

For additional ideas read Diaper Rash Prevention and Treatment.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Nancy
From The Natural-Parenting-Advice.com Team