If you have painful sensations of the anus, you need to understand how you can recognize the sphincter spasm. This pathology is characterized by involuntary contractions of smooth muscles located in the anus. We will talk about the symptoms and treatment of this disease today.
Description of the disease
You can observe cramping with injuries of the anus, the presence of diseases of the rectum, autonomic disorders. Disruption of the intestines and colic can also lead to the development of pathology. This disease is also called rectal sphincteritis, because its symptoms are similar to hemorrhoids, but at the same time, sphincter insufficiency can be observed. During the illness, a person will experience pain in the anus, which can spread to the perineum, tailbone or stomach. Pathology can be classified by duration and cause.
Duration Classification
This disease can have a different duration. Pathology is distinguished long and quickly passing. If the disease is transient, you can observe a sharp pain of a piercing or aching character in the anus. Often painful sensations are given to the coccyx or hip area. The patient may complain of pain in the perineum. Patients often confuse this symptom with a disease of the kidneys, prostate gland or genitourinary system.
If the spasm of the sphincter of the rectum does not go away for a long period, severe pains worry, and sometimes even painkillers do not help, then you should urgently go to the hospital. After some time, the pain can go away on its own, but then return with more force. Factors leading to such a pathology are often hidden in the psychological and emotional state of a person (psychological disorders, frequent stresses, etc.). It should be noted that it is incredibly difficult to cope with this disease on your own, and you need to seek the advice of a proctologist to prescribe the correct treatment.
Classification due to occurrence
Depending on the cause of the disease, specialists distinguish between proctalgia secondary and primary. Primary is very rare and develops as a result of neurotic spasms of the coccygeal muscle and anus. Secondary proctalgia develops with concomitant rectal pathologies: tumors, fissures, and hemorrhoids that occur in the anal canal. Do not delay with contacting a doctor and conducting diagnostics to timely eliminate the symptoms of a disease such as an anal sphincter spasm.
Causes of occurrence
To identify the causes of spasms, you first need to understand the functions and structure of the anus. The sphincter is internal and external, its external part is a lot of receptor cells that influence and control the act of defecation. The inner part is fibrous. This muscle is smooth muscle, having a circular shape, and it is impossible to control a person. The inside helps to contain gases and feces. If the muscles and all internal muscles are damaged, there will be insufficiency and spasm of the sphincter.
Determining the source of the disease and knowing how to relax the sphincter of the rectum is very important. Most often, elderly people suffer from this ailment due to weak muscles. An unstable emotional state leads to the manifestation of spasm, and therefore this ailment often becomes a companion of women prone to hysterical seizures. Sphincteritis also occurs in the presence of injuries of the anal canal, for example, as a result of pancreatitis, duodenal ulcers, cracks, gallstone diseases, tumors, hemorrhoids and hemorrhoids.
All these reasons are attributed to proctalgia secondary. They lead to the occurrence of violations in the area of the anal passage and a change in the organic state. Such reasons include injuries of the anus during operations undergone in the anus or complex births. It happens that the increased localization of nerve endings in the anus region hides the focus of spasms.
Sphincter spasm: main symptoms
Depending on the type of pathology, pain can be of a different nature and intensity. Sometimes painful sensations disturb not only the anus, but also extend to the perineum, coccygeal zone and hip joints. Most often, pain occurs during bowel movements, but there are times when it bothers just like that. After a warm bath or bowel movement, the pain syndrome may disappear.
Rectal sphincter spasm also occurs with prolonged stress. Complicate the situation of the patient's experience after the occurrence of manifestations of sphincteritis. If a person cannot empty normally, he may develop a mental disorder, as a result of which the patient will be emotionally unstable. Often you can hear complaints from a patient about severe pulling pains or colic. Since the pain is strong enough, a person is lost in determining their exact location and can perceive them as a disease of the genitourinary system and begin treatment of a completely different ailment. When therapy is started on time, pain symptoms can be very quickly eliminated.
What other symptoms of sphincter spasm are there? In the event of cramping due to hemorrhoids, the presence of a crack or other diseases, as well as trauma to the anus, pain is associated with the act of defecation. It occurs from the moment the desire to go to the toilet appears and can last for a day. The patient begins to fear the process of emptying and tries to endure, put it aside, thereby causing constipation. The most important thing here is to immediately consult a doctor at the first symptoms and start treatment in time so that sphincter insufficiency, leading to spasms, is eliminated.
Diagnostics
First, the specialist should ask what the patient complains about in order to find out what lifestyle he leads and what is the cause of the disease. Maybe a person has intestinal diseases, or he is tormented by constant colic, which will cause the appointment of a comprehensive treatment. Often, injuries that were received earlier can be the root cause of spasms. The doctor should find out if the patient has diseases of the nervous system, mental disorders, pathology of the genitourinary system or rectum.
When the focus of the disease is primary proctalgia associated with a spasm of the smooth muscles of the internal organs, the patient may turn to the wrong specialist unknowingly and receive incorrect treatment. First of all, for pain in the sphincter or colic in the anus, it is necessary to contact a proctologist. The specialist will conduct an examination of the anus and an in-depth study of the walls of the rectum through rectoscopy. If necessary, colon colonoscopy will be prescribed. The patient can be sent to a psychotherapist or psychologist if the doctor has noticed mental disorders.
Sphincter spasm treatment
Treatment is prescribed depending on the symptoms and course of the disease. It is impossible to engage in self-medication under any circumstances, therapy and diagnosis should be prescribed by an experienced specialist. If sphincteritis has aggravated or lasts long enough, you will have to resort to surgery. At the initial stage, drug therapy or treatment with folk remedies aimed at relieving pain may be suitable.
Conservative therapy
Such treatment is aimed at eliminating both the symptoms and the focus of the disease. Medications will help stop mucosal defects and inflammatory processes, and to reduce spasms, pain medications and antispasmodics are prescribed. In case of complications, the doctor may prescribe medications with mild antibiotics in the composition. To eliminate constipation, you need to take laxatives, but you should not abuse them.
During the treatment, rectal ointments or suppositories are used (Ultraproct, Proctoglivenol, Relief Advance and others). In addition, there are suppositories with natural components - sea buckthorn, belladonna. Warm baths help reduce cramping and relax. Also, the doctor can prescribe microclysters with anti-inflammatory oil and electric sleep. Constipation may occur due to intestinal dysbiosis or colic, and therefore should be addressed by their treatment. A spasm of the sphincter of the bladder is also possible. This is also rather unpleasant. As a result, urine is thrown into the ureters, which causes an inflammatory process.
Do not forget about personal hygiene: washing the anus in the morning and evening and after each emptying, so that toilet paper does not irritate or injure the mucous membrane. Important factors include diet. The consumption of allergenic products, smoked meats, salty, spicy, eggs, cottage cheese, meat and fish should be reduced to a minimum so as not to irritate the gastrointestinal mucosa. It is also worth abandoning fried and fatty foods, fruits and raw vegetables (carrots, apples, cabbage, potatoes, strawberries and plums). You need to know how to relieve sphincter spasm .
Operative therapy
In the absence of the result of conservative therapy and continued cramping and sphincter insufficiency, you will have to resort to surgical intervention. This procedure is called sphincterotomy. It is carried out using a partial dissection of the muscles of the external sphincter, which causes relaxation of smooth muscles. To a greater extent, this procedure is prescribed to relieve pain.
Such an operation is performed when a spasm of the sphincter of Oddi, a muscle valve located in the duodenum, occurs. It is also called postcholecystectomy syndrome, as a result of which the normal outflow of bile is disturbed.
Folk methods
Traditional medicine uses thermal baths and herbal enemas. Enema is best prepared using chamomile. Warm baths with the addition of a certain amount of potassium permanganate have a good effect. However, do not forget that it is better to use folk remedies after the permission of the doctor in order to avoid causing even greater harm to health.