CONDITION: Rectal Pain

DESCRIPTION:

Rectal pain, which is commonly diagnosed as proctalgia or proctalgia fugax (a condition of fleeting rectal pain), affects roughly 15 percent of the U.S. population at one time or another. Proctalgia fugax occurs more commonly in women and in individuals younger than 45 years.

How does rectal pain develop?
The source of rectal pain can be difficult to diagnose. As a result, a number of different causes have been associated with it. It may occur with diarrhea and constipation, or with hemorrhoids, which occur in 25 percent of all Americans. Rectal pain may also be caused by an anal fissure, which is a small tear in the muscles in the area. Levator ani syndrome involves pain in the group of muscles that surrounds and supports the anus. Less likely causes of rectal pain include cancer, infection, inflammatory diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and foreign bodies in the rectum, or rectal prolapse.

While many of the above conditions usually respond to treatment, if rectal pain lingers and no known source is found, injured, loose or weak ligaments may be the cause. The most commonly affected areas are the ligaments around the sacrococcygeal junction, as well as the iliolumbar ligament.

What are the symptoms of rectal pain?
Symptoms of rectal pain include episodic sharp pain in the rectal region that lasts anywhere from several seconds to several minutes. It often occurs at night. Spasms and tenderness in the muscles in the area may also be involved. Other symptoms include a feeling of tight pressure, a sensation made worse by sitting and improved by walking or standing. This type of pain usually lasts 20 minutes or longer and tends to reoccur at regular intervals. If an anal fissure is involved, the pain is initially tearing or knifelike and turns into a dull ache that can last for hours. In the case of fissures and hemorrhoids, bleeding may also be present.

Conventional medical treatments may help relieve the symptoms of rectal pain, but they do not address the root of the problem. By strengthening structural weaknesses in the body, as natural medicine treatments like Prolotherapy do, rectal pain may be alleviated permanently.

Discover why we believe that natural medicine treatments are the best way to treat rectal pain.