quote:washing with antibacterial soap
I made that mistake after take-down, and had a very sore butt. My doctor told me to wash only with straight water, never soap. Soap is very irritating, and anything other than a daily wash when you bathe is too much. After stopping the soap, the irritation disappeared. (I still get butt burn, but that's different than what we're talking about).
I had a bad fungal infection around my stoma before take-down, so I was paranoid about fungal infections. I used an antibacterial/antifungal soap in my bidet sprayer, and the result was an extremely sore backside.
That having been said, I do still get some itchiness in the area around the anus and especially in the hollow below the tail bone. I've stopped worrying about it, as the dozens of times a doctor has looked at it, there has been no sign of dermal infection, fungal or otherwise. I did get fistulas, but that isn't related to superficial skin issues - the abscesses always started deep in tissue, not on the surface.
So what I do now is look at it as an opportunity to enjoy a good scratch. In my case, the itching is not real bad. Obviously if it is distracting to you, you won't be looking at it in the same way.
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