How to heal a sewn up anus..?

Hi ,

Sorry to hear you have not had much help .

I can’t answer your question but I am going to tag in a few people who might and  or anyone else reading !!

You might also like to speak to our helpline staff 0808 808 0000 they may be able to ask the Macmillan nurses what else can be done or how you go about things .

take care ,

 Court 

Hi chainbluelightening,

You'll have come a long way from your surgery, and well on the road to recovery. Unfortunately the barbie bum wound can take a long time to heal, but I'm surprised that your district nurses aren't coming in every day to clean and dress it. Perhaps that's because of Covid? I'm 8 years on from my surgery, and have to be honest and tell you that my wound still hasn't healed properly, and it doesn't heal properly for a lot of people too. Sometimes radiotherapy to the area weakens the skin, and sometimes diabetes prolongs the healing process. 

If it's painful, you should be on pain medication, but again, the nurses should be checking regularly for infection, I would have thought. When my wound was being dressed it was packed and then all held in place with a mepore dressing. Nowadays I'm able to use just gauze swabs place over the wound - it's still weeping, some days are worse than others. I even get days where I have no weeping, which is fab!

Can you speak to your colorectal nurse or surgeon's nurse about what to try to help with the healing? I had my surgery mid September and was able to sit comfortably for Christmas Day dinner that year, so things will get better!

Hope this is of some help.

Linda :-)

Thank you Linda

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a fantastic and detailed reply.

I think the problem could be covid as I haven't been seeing the colorectal nursing team hardley at all.

I will be chasing this up in the morning and asking about dressings etc.

I knew there must be more to it than just showering.

Many thanks

Anthony

Many thanks for that I will call the Macmillan help line in the morning

Thanks for taking the time to answer my plea...

Anthony

Hi, my husband had the same surgery October 2019, he had surgery on the Wednesday, came home on the Saturday and I had to take him to an appointment the following Thursday, at short notice, where he was checked over by a doctor. Since then, no one has checked him, other than myself.

The stitches externally and internally dissolved naturally, there was no dressings, he only had what I would describe as nappy pants. He initially had slight bleeding, then a lighter weeping, which has got lighter over time and I bought him ladies long panty liners for protection, he still uses them. He has mentioned this to various nurses and doctors but they implied it was normal. He showered initially, then after about 2 months or so started having baths. His wound looks pretty much healed unfortunately he still has some pain in the area but that’s probably down to his continued problems rather than the wound.

His stoma nurse was most helpful, in that she ordered him a ‘aidapt’ foam cushion, it’s about 2 inches thick and it really helped him, it went everywhere. He got his via NHS but you can buy them on Amazon.

I would also suggest you speak to your GP if you need pain relief, you’ve been through enough, you shouldn’t be suffering any further pain.

I wish you well, it will get easier in time....Budge

hi I wish I could give some helpful info, but I was so lucky with my wound, as after eight days in hospital they had even stopped treating the wound, and when discharged I didn't even need a nurse to visit, a few people with these type of problems say that sits baths with salt two or three times a day really help,also high protein in your diet helps the body to repair, take care cheers john.

Thank you so much for that, I am getting the impression it's just another "time" job and I thank you for your suggestions.

It's incredible the amount of knowledge there is out there when you ask.

The NHS has done the most fantastic job saving our lives with incredible surgery but I do get the feeling they work under a bit more cash pressure when it comes to the nursing and recovery side.

I have learned there are specialist dressings and treatments for this particular wound but they tend not to give these out due to financial constraints so I'm going to give these a go to see if they make things more comfortable.

Many thanks

Anthony

Thanks for that, wish I was one of the lucky ones

Hi loobyloo,

I am on a few forums and have now had quite a bit of feedback, your story seems to be pretty standard and looks like the route I am on...

Yesterday, however, I was in contact with a professor of woundcare, extremely specialist and not many of these around in fact I think she is the only one in the country.

She has said there are loads of things that can be done, specialist dressings, cleansers, topical applications that are not generally prescribed.

This is obviously a private treatment but it doesn't seem so expensive and I'm going to give it a go.

If it works I can pass the information round but better suck it and see first, I don't want to give out any false hopes to others.

I'm starting this week and will keep this feed up to date...

Again, many thanks Looby for your reply, massively appreciated.

Anthony