Cold therapy (cryosurgery), Anurex
Anusitis and Other Causes of Rectal Bleeding
By Dr. Gifford Jones“Why didn’t you come to see me earlier? It could have saved you months of worry,” I recently asked a patient. She had delayed seeing me because of rectal bleeding and she was terrified I’d tell her the diagnosis was cancer. Yet her only complaint was anusitis, an often overlooked rectal condition. But whether it’s anusitis or a serious problem a cardinal rule is never, never ignore rectal bleeding.
Many people think rectal bleeding means they’re suffering from hemorrhoids but the cause is often anusitis, an inflamed area just inside the anus, which causes a burning sensation, discharge and wetness. This results in multiple tiny cracks that trigger itching.
For many, relief is as close as the refrigerator door. For years doctors have used cold therapy (cryosurgery) to relieve swelling and pain of sport injuries, but until recently no one thought to use cryosurgery to treat rectal problems.
Anurex is one of the best kept secrets for this condition. It’s a reusable probe containing a gel that’s gently inserted into the rectum after being cooled in the freezer for a minimum of one hour. The probe is left in the rectum for six minutes, removed, washed and returned to the freezer.
Cooling of the anal area quickly reduces local blood flow, inflammation and swelling. This in turn relieves irritation, discharge and bleeding.
Anurex has a great track record. At the Rudd Clinic in Toronto in a series of 220 patients 90 percent were relieved of their symptoms within one to two days.
Anurex is used twice a day for two weeks, then once a day for another two weeks. Patients can then use it as needed. It’s also useful for pregnant women and it’s “drug free”, a great benefit these days.
On the other hand if the diagnosis is hemorrhoids that require treatment, fewer cases today are being treated by surgical removal. Rather, doctors place a tiny rubber band around the base of the hemorrhoid and then use cryosurgery to freeze it.
The rubber band shuts off the blood supply to the hemorrhoid and several days later the pile drops off. This leaves a raw area that takes two to three weeks to heal. Most patients require two to three visits to destroy all hemorrhoids.
Unfortunately, not all cases of rectal bleeding have such a good outcome. An article in The British Journal of Medicine shows that less than half of those with rectal bleeding sought medical advice for this problem. This is tragic if the problem is cancer.
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W. Gifford-Jones M.D is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker graduate of The Harvard Medical School. He’s been a ship’s surgeon, hotel physician and family doctor and later trained in surgery at McGill in Montreal, University of Rochester N.Y. and Harvard. His medical column is published by 60 Canadian newspapers and several in the U.S. He is the author of seven books. Dr. Walker has a medical practice in Toronto. His Web site is: http://www.mydoctor.ca/gifford-jones. He can be reached at:
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