I always have my soak in epsom salts then jump out and have a shower so as not to get soap anywhere near to my rear. Last night, however, I decided that as things were feeling sooo much better, I would have my much-longed for bath with all my lovely soaps-bloody big mistake!!
:pale: IT HURTS!!
So, I just thought I would warn anyone who is missing long, hot soapy soaks in the bath its NOT worth it! I haven't been in this much pain since a week out from the op!

Oh, dear Val :( , I am so sorry to hear that :( :( :( ! My bottom is still bothered by strong soaps too. I do not take soaks any more because I developed aversion toward them since they remind me of all the pain I had to endure in the past 6 months. Now I just wash my butt after BM under running water and when I take showers I put a lot of Vaseline on my butt to protect it from shampoo, conditioner and soap. It works very good.
Don't worry, it is just local irritation and it will be gone by tomorrow, just make sure all that soap is washed away from your bottom . And don't forget Chamomile option to calm things down !!!
Hope your pain goes away in a jiffy
XOXOOOOOOOooooo....

Wow sorry to hear about the bath sounds awful. I actually had a probelm with soaking in the epsom salt. This ever happen to you, I soak for a while in the sitz bath with 2 tsp or so of epsom salt and then I immediately have horrible cramps and have to get up and use the toilet. I was wondering if this is b/c epsom salt is a laxative if taken orally but maybe somehow it got absorbed through my other end and well, had the same effect. Sounds strange right? Still, won't soak with epsom salt again. Feel better!

That's too bad. I know my hiney is very sensitive and I can only use water or the flushable wipes on them. But Fiss is right, that kind of irritation should be better in a day!

I guess it is possible, Erin, that the mag sulfate in the Epsom salts was absorbed through your skin. I have never had that happen. Usually it helped when I had a fissure but every one is different!

thank you for your kind words, and you're right, it is a lot better today-phew! I was pretty worried there!
Thats strange with the epsom salts Erin, they are usually fine with me, but I suppose anyone could have an adverse reaction to anything! I alternate between table salt, epsom salts and Savlon antiseptic which is very soothing-have you tried anything like that? It may help.

What is in the Savlon antiseptic? I'm wondering if we have an equivalent out here in Cali.

Cetrimide 3.0% w/v and Chlorhexidine Gluconate 0.3% w/v, Isopropyl Alcohol, Terpineol, Liquid Deodoriser, Benzyl Benzoate, D Gluconolactone, Sodium Hydroxide and Purified Water.

Its good stuff!

Glad you're feeling better today Val :)
I use Savlon sometimes too, it's great for soothing irritations :)

I should have said earlier--sorry to hear about your bad time inthe bath. someday very soon you wil be able to enjoy all of those wonderful Lush products again.
thanks for the info on Savlon. I'm going to look for our equivalent over here.