for whatever it's worth, sitz baths are fine but if you have a true fistula it can be life threatening. i have three setons to drain active fistulae, and after the second seton i was so tired of being cut up that i decided to see if i could muscle through the pain. took 2 days to go to ER. the morning of the 2d day, my perenium had swollen to the size of ping pong balls. i had sepsis and had to be hospitalized for 4 days on all kinds of nofun iv drugs. i don't mess around with them anymore.