Mark Patel4 said:I'm 18, and about a year ago I had this lump near my anus (not sure what the medical term is). I went to a surgeon, and he told me it was just hemorrhoids. He drained the pus out of the lump, which was fine, but now a year later, there’s still this little 1.5cm wound that leaks pus two or three times a week. It’s seriously irritating my skin and makes walking uncomfortable... what should I do???
Man, that surgeon totally steered you wrong! I'd bet anything that wasn't hemorrhoids—it sounds like you actually had a perianal abscess, which is basically a nasty, pus-filled infection similar to a cyst. Honestly, though, it was probably a good move that he drained it. But what you're describing right now? That's almost certainly a fistula. It's essentially a small tunnel that forms between the bowel and the skin near the anus, and that's why the pus keeps leaking. If you let a fistula go untreated for years, it can potentially lead to cancer, so you really shouldn't brush this off. Plus, it just sucks to deal with...
In big hospitals, they usually handle fistulas with pretty intense surgery under general anesthesia, which means a long hospital stay. However, in NYC, you can often get this handled privately with just local anesthesia, so you won't even need time off work. I actually know a doctor who specializes in this stuff. If you want, I can shoot you a private message with his info—just hit me up if you're interested...
