Hot water bottle use & skin discolouration anyone had this ?

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Hot water bottle use & skin discolouration anyone had this ?

Postby jillywilly » 21 May 2013, 02:40

I've had a chronic fissure for 18 months currently awaiting date to go in for fissurectomy (last year I had Botox & LIS but neither of these worked for me) pain is awful & the only thing that brings me any relief is sitting on a hot water bottle I do this most days sometimes for several hours depending on severity of pain. Today I noticed whilst inspecting my butt (after very painful bm) that my butt cheeks have a mottled purple discolouration!!! Whilst I was initially quite alarmed by this & I realise it must be due to the constant application of heat, right now I couldnot imagine life without my hot water bottle it's the only thing that brings me any help with the pain cos I can't stay in the bath all day!!
Just wondered if any one else knows of this? I really hope that I'll have the fissurectomy soon although the uk NHS doesn't always work that quickly despite my crs saying he'd put me on the urgent waiting list for surgery it's been 5 weeks & still no date to go in yet!! Just waiting & hoping it works this time.
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Re: Hot water bottle use & skin discolouration anyone had this ?

Postby Guest » 21 May 2013, 05:36

I think you are right. Since pain is involved, you may have to see your family physician for a prescription cream to heal it. It is treatable and there is nothing to worry. :-) You may have to stop using hot water bottle.
Actually hot water bottle just eases the pain and does nothing to heal the wound. I did the same thing except... instead of hot water bottle, I used ice packs. My on-call doctor cleared this myth for me. He said, "do it if you want to, but it is not going to help. The only thing that would help is sitz bathing. It relaxes the pelvic floor and the muscles".
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Re: Hot water bottle use & skin discolouration anyone had this ?

Postby jr2 » 21 May 2013, 08:58

jillywilly
it's called erythema ab igne, and it's caused by prolonged exposure of the skin to a heat source and is pretty common in use of hot water bottles and heating pads, prolonged hot baths/showers, etc. The prolonged exposure to the heat is causing skin damage. If you google the term erythema ab igne you can read all about it.
Sometimes the rash can become permanent, but should improve with the removal of the heat source. Some experts say if you continue on with heat there is an increased risk of skin cancer.
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Re: Hot water bottle use & skin discolouration anyone had this ?

Postby jillywilly » 21 May 2013, 12:39

Thanks for the replies guys, very interesting, I had a phone call from the hospital today asking me if'd take a short notice cancellation & go in on Thursday for my fissurectomy!! Needless to say I accepted & so hopefully sitting on a hot water bottle will very soon be a thing of the past. Getting abit nervous now but nothing can be as bad as the pain I've been in recently so I'll report in after my surgery.
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