I know for a fact I’m not the only one that has that super weird sensation to put my hands down my pants when my crack starts itching; you must have experienced it at some point in your life, too. And yes, to answer your question before you ask it, it IS awkward and super inappropriate (hence why we never follow through with our thought process of doing it), but even still, we wish it was socially acceptable to DO it.

        Before I go any further, I should probably warn you that there are two types of anal itching that you could be experiencing (no, I cannot put that lightly, and yes, this article is about anal itching). The first type of anal itching is caused by nothing at all, it just happens that some people don’t have good luck when it comes to the healthy anus part of life. The second type of anal itching is caused by things like hemorrhoids, anal fissures, bacterial infections, etc.

        If you happen to be experiencing the latter problem, and not the former, you’ll be happy to know that you can reduce, or eliminate entirely, the itchy feeling around your anus. That’s what I’m going to be talking about below. However, if you happen to be experiencing the former problem, and not the latter, you might want to talk to your doctor to see if there’s some type of cure.

Let’s get started.

You could be experiencing anal itching because you don’t wipe enough.

I apologize in advance, but I have to be blunt here: If you don’t wipe enough after you poop, you may start to feel an itchy sensation in your rear end.

I have to say, I think this is common sense. If you don’t wash for a few days, your skin tends to get itchy, right? So, if you don’t wipe enough and have proper hygiene near your anus, you’re probably going to start to get itchy, too. This is primarily due to the leftover feces hanging around in the area. Another unpleasant way you could get leftover feces to hang out in that general area is if you drink too much coffee. Yes, it sounds odd, but it is true. If you drink too much coffee, your anal muscles will naturally relax, sometimes causing feces to leak out of your rectum, therefore leaving you with leftover feces to cause the itching.

Try to eliminate this by wiping properly and washing daily. Don’t just let the water run down and in between your cheeks while you’re in the shower, though; really get in there with some soap.

You could be experiencing anal itching because you wipe too much.

On the other hand, wiping too much may be getting your anus to itch. Let me put it this way, the skin around the anus is usually super sensitive and tender. If you wipe too much with dry toilet paper, the skin may start to become irritated, therefore leaving you to feel the itchy sensation. If you use dry toilet paper, and too much of it, the toilet paper may start to shed its layers, leaving behind some. If some is left behind, it could potentially get into the anal opening, and that will almost always cause irritation in the back end.

You could be experiencing anal itching due to an STD.

STD’s happen to be a big reason for anal itching, but only when it comes to certain types of sexually transmitted diseases. The ones that have been proven to cause anal itching are gonorrhea, herpes, and chlamydia. What’s worse is that these STD’s are becoming more common by the day, particularly affecting those who have sex without using a condom.

When STD’s take effect on the body, they tend to cause anal inflammation, which in turn causes anal itching. If you have either the HPV or herpes virus, you may experience genital wart flair-ups near the rectum. This will make the itching sensation and burning feel worse than before. In addition to these signs and symptoms, any of the above STD’s can also cause a rash, discharge, or penile and testicular pain.

If you do suspect you may have an STD, make an appointment with your doctor to get tested and be given the appropriate treatment as soon as possible.

You could be experiencing anal itching due to eczema.

Eczema is a skin condition that consists of rashes, typically scaly ones, that appear in different areas of the body. Most of the time, these rashes cause extreme irritation and itchiness. Unfortunately, the cause of this skin condition is still unknown. Some flare-ups occur when the weather changes or when a different household product is used.

If you do have eczema, and you start to experience itching down there, go visit your doctor; most of the time, steroid-based creams are prescribed to omit the problem.

You could be experiencing anal itching due to a fungal infection.

Unfortunately, this reasoning is almost always the cause of anal itching, even though the last place you want to find fungus is near your anus. What’s worse is that fungus likes to live in areas of the body that are warm, moist, and airless, making the area near our anus a perfect thriving zone.

Most of the time, our bodies do a great job at fighting off such infections, but that’s not the case if we’re sick or stressed; the fungal infection may linger in that circumstance. If you do happen to be diagnosed with one of these, your doctor will probably prescribe a topical or oral medication to treat the problem.

I hope you don’t have anal itching, and if you do, that you have an easy fix for your uncomfortable problem!

 

By Jenny Lyn