Hi there - I've been gone from here for so long because my fissure has been doing SO WELL! It acted up again lately and I'm trying to figure some things out. I now have a rash between my cheeks around the anal area. I only seem to get it when my fissure is acting up and I"m wondering if maybe it is caused by the ointments I use and there being more moisture in that area or if it's caused by some type of food allergy, specifically dairy. Has anyone else had this issue with a rash?

I never got any rash down there at all. Have you been eating a lot of dairy -- it kind of a no-no, you know! I would think it was more related to the creams, and you're right, the moisture could be a cause too, or a combination of those things..

I have been having dairy, yes. I didn't know that was a no-no. For what reason?

i don't know about the rash, danielle, maybe it's just chafing. have you been sweating more than usual?
regarding dairy, i think it just depends on your body. i try to stay away from it since i've had this fissure, only because it makes my stomach feel yucky and i feel like it makes me kind of constipated. i think anything's okay in moderation, but i wouldn't eat a ton of it everyday. maybe someone else has more ideas...

My chaffing in the area was caused by too hot of water, antibacterial soap and too many creams.

dairy is just more likely to give you the harder, less consistent stools, and perhaps even constipation. Avoiding dairy is just part of the AF diet, but probably not related to the rash...

It must be somehow related to the creams. etc. because when the fissure was fine, so was the butt. Now fissure is back, and I've been using different things on it and it hasn't been dry and now the chafing. I guess that's what it is.

Hi,
I have always loved your avatar-it looks like paradise! An AF-free paradise!

Anyway, If it is convenient I would go to the doctor and just get it checked out. I have overdone the self treatment of rashes and butt irritations that I have wound up making the situation worse.

I agree about the dairy-it is really high on the allergy index of foods and can be hard to digest. So, if you think you can cut back or make some substitutions that would be great, but I doubt you would get a rash all of a sudden from it.

I was wondering if you might want to share what you did to help you heal up to this point. There are a lot of new members who I know would be encouraged that they won't need to hang out on this board the rest of their lives!

Thanks!

Since yeast is my paranoid trip of the month, you might have a yeast rash and infection, which can be accompanied by the anal fissure.
I recently had a rash and my CRS was able to look at it right away and tell me it was something I was eating and not an infection. Sure enough, it was the oranges I was eating in the morning.
So I would heed Lecia advice and get it checked out, as I too have fell prey to my good intentions and made my rash worse before seeing the doc.
Good luck!

Lecia -
I' m not sure that it was one thing that made me better. The biggest thing for me personally was peace of mind once my colonoscopy was done and I knew nothing was wrong. From that day onward in August I believe I just did lots of water, I got aloe vera pills and took them along with flax seed to keep things soft, I put Palmers cocoa butter on the fissure as well as the aloe from the pills and did also try to keep it dry by using gold bond powder. I guess between all of that and the less stress I was under knowing I was okay, things just kind of settled for quite a while. Then......I got lax. Cut back on the fiber and water, had a couple hard ones and blood again. But.....I didn't panic! I know what it is and just dealt with it. Hence, I'm at this point with the rash. Too many creams and moisture and here I am. I'm still thinking it might be linked with dairy somehow though because I do remember this summer trying to eat Activia and I couldn't because every time I did, I got a butt rash! Now I've been heavy on the egg nog lately and that has of course lots of dairy. We'll see. I need to sit in a tub and then dry things out I think. Sorry for the long post.