Anorectal muscle pain

[Lyuda29]

I have an anorectal muscle spasm accompanied with a prolonged pain for about a year. The pain occurs an hour after the morning bowel movement and can lasts a whole day. Sometimes the pain becomes so strong that i hardly can move. In general the symptoms are very much similar to the proctolgia fugas symptoms but pain duration is much longer( day or days ). Can i consider this as a proctalgia fugas or it may be something else? The doctors say that it is a muscle spasm of no reason, which should be treated by self-doned exersises for the muscle of the sphincster. Pls advise if any injection ( nerve block or muscle related ) can be effective? Thanks a lot.

[Lyuda29]

Dear Tuck, Saramjmt and others who replied!!! Thanks for your messages, it is important to have some support from other people when you feel miserable. I did posted my messages there on Gastro community, but no response so far. Is it possible to post on `Ask the Doctor ` forum? Can you help  me with this please!

[Sarajmt]

My doctor uses it for my abdominal adhesions but I've not had it the area you're talking about.  It does help the abdominal pain.

I agree with Tuck.  You really should repost this on the Gastroenterology Forum.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Gastroenterology/show/68

[Tuckamore]

Sorry Lyuda, I haven't heard of this procedure. Have you also posted in the MedHelp's Gastroenterology Forum?

I think you approach to this offered procedure is correct....just keep researching to gather as much information as you can. I can goggle this and see what I can learn but I'll bet you have already done that.

Best of luck to you.
~Tuck

[Lyuda29]

I just visited a pain specialist in Singapore who recommended to try an Radiofrequency injection into the sympathetic nerve supplying the rectum. It is not just a common nerve block procedure. The heated needle only  disensetives it. It is quite an expensive theraphy which probability of success is assumed to be 50/50. If it is successful, the pain will be reduced to 50% but not completely in case of proctolgia fugas. Have anybody heard about it or even tried before? Pls share your opinion. Thanks a lot.

[Tuckamore]

Hi Lyuda,

Welcome to the Pain Management Forum of MedHelp. I am glad you found us.

Please know that you are always welcome here but your post may be better suited on our gastroenterology forum. You may obtain better suggestions on that site. I encourage you to also post there. If you have any problems locating it please let me know.

Unfortunately muscle spasms are not often treated aggressively in spite of their ability to cause intense pain and discomfort. have you been told the cause of these spasms? Finding the cause will help treat the symptom. I hope you have had the investigative medical tests to determine the cause of your spasms. If not a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy, as Jaybay suggested may prove to be an excellent diagnostic tool.

Sometimes when these spams do not respond to any other treatment there is alternative therapy. I found this at a trusted site: "When the symptoms are more intense, people can undergo therapy with electrogalvanic stimulation, in which a high-voltage current is delivered to the muscle via a probe inserted into the anus. Such stimulation helps stop muscle spasms."

I encourage you to discuss your frustration with these spams with your treating physician. If he/she is unable to offer any acceptable treatments or therapies I suggest you seek a second or even a third opinion.

I wish you the very best and hope that you will find some answers. Life is to short to suffer needlessly. Please keep in touch.

Take Care,
~Tuck

[Jaybay]

I'm honestly not knowledgeable enough about your particular problem to offer much advice.  However, it would be worthwhile to consult a pain management physician and see what they may have to offer.  I'm assuming your doctor is a gastroenterologist?  If not, that's another specialist for you to consult.  A sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy would probably be worthwhile as well, again assuming you haven't already gone that route.  

I can't imagine living with that kind of pain for long.  A male friend of mine had similar symptoms that went on for nearly a year.  Both his primary care and gastro docs blew him off.  The pain got worse and worse until he ended up in an ER.  That's when the on-call gastro doc performed a colonoscopy and discovered a horrible rectal fistula.  Basically, it's an infection that finally ruptured through the wall of the rectum.  He had surgery the next day and it took several weeks to recover, but once he healed up he was just fine.  

You know your body.  If your current doctor's diagnosis doesn't seem right to you, it's imperative that you consult another doctor.  Sometimes it takes a different set of eyeballs on a problem (and ears for that matter) to sort it out.  

[Irenak]

Homeopathy may be of help to you.  It is best to find a licensed practitioner.  You may respond to 1 dose of the sulphur remedy in a 30x potency. Just take a dose each time this happens.  You will probably need to take it less and less often as time goes on.