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Embarrassing question

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 9/24/2011 4:37 AM (GMT 0)
I know with Crohn's patients discussing bm and diarrhea, nothing should be embarrassing, right? Well...I am finally healing after six plus weeks of ongoing diarrha. I gave up gluten for the most part and was put on Ascacol along with my Rowasa and it's working! Two weeks and diarrhea free...yipee! Anyway, before this ended, I discovered outside of my rectum, inflammation, almost like a cut or fatty extra tissue. It's as if with having so much diarrhea, part of my rectum's skin got pushed out and now it's like an extra flap of skin. Is this a hemmorhoid? Tumor? Pardon my ignorance. It's still a bit tender and inflammed. All I know is that it was never there before. Should I see my GI about it?
Posted 9/24/2011 4:52 AM (GMT 0)
My goodness! There's nothing embarrassing about that, Kew.

My bet would be that it's a skin tag. The way my gastro doctor described it, the body tries so hard to heal inside that it over-produces cells, so some of them get pushed out, forming the tag.

Yes, I would call your doctor on Monday, maybe, (it's too late to call now in your country, isn't it?), and tell him / her what has happened, and see what s/he'd like to do. It's possible s/he'll schedule an appointment for you, just so s/he can take a look at it and make sure it is a tag and nothing else.

I could be wrong, of course, but a skin tag would be my bet.

Ivy (I have one too).
Posted 9/24/2011 5:08 AM (GMT 0)
This to me also sounds like the skin tag Ivy is speaking about have your colorectal surgeon or GI take a look or describe it to them. My Colorectal surg. Dx mine
Posted 9/24/2011 4:34 PM (GMT 0)
Yes I have perianal crohn's skin tags as well, they are common with CD that affects the colon (known as crohn's colitis). It is diseased tissue and although the can sorta resemble hemmies they are far from it. Mine were mistaken for hemmies (as that's where my CD started which is quite rare) and I had them banded while they were in a flare (large and hard) they have remained flared (so has my internal CD) ever since, this was 20 yrs ago now.

You're right, it is gross and embarassing but fortunately we have support forums like this so we can discuss our "grossness" LOL. My anus actually looks like it's turned inside out or like it's prolapsed outwards, mine are large and I have more than one, they basically are all around my anus and very painful alot of the time.

Definitely get your GI to check them out to confirm, it's important to report any changes to your doc.
Posted 9/25/2011 2:37 PM (GMT 0)
Yep, I have them too....all around. Before I was diagnosed over 10 years ago I was having diarrhea 20 times a day. My doc explained that with that much traffic, some of the insides are pushed out. If you notice it early enough, you can push the skin back in but once they have healed that way, there isn't anything that can be done. It can be embarrassing and painful but in time you learn how to wipe and keep yourself clean properly. Good luck! 
Posted 9/25/2011 4:40 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, because CD can affect the entire GI tract from mouth to anus, the perianal crohn's skin tags are diseased tissue and that's what causes them to form (it happens to be the particular nature of the disease for those CDers that are prone to them) not all CDers are necessarily prone to them. For example, since my anus is affected with the tags and my CD mainly affects my colon, I'm the sub-type that should typically be more prone to fistulas as well, but thankfully I've never had one in my entire 20 yrs having CD, so not everything is written in stone thank goodness.
Posted 9/25/2011 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
To make light of the situation my husband tried to joke about them calling them fart flaps...he tries to keep me cheered up as much as possible when I get down by this DD
Posted 9/26/2011 4:32 AM (GMT 0)
Very helpful...thank you! I am not so concerned now. Can it be burned or cut off? Just curious.
Posted 9/26/2011 7:24 AM (GMT 0)
If they are tags, you may find that you are stuck with them: we tend not to heal well around that area, so surgeons can be unwilling to cut unless they have to.

They can shrink as your health improves, though.

Ivy.
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