Grooming & Style

Fissure repair and overall digestive performance can exert a strong influence on personal grooming and style. Consider the following:

Grooming

When operating normally, our GI tract supports an obvious direction of travel, so no surprise that its natural features help digested material make a simple, sluicing exit. However, if you’re experiencing anorectal swelling, tearing, narrowing, distending, irritation, or inflammation, you’re at a crossroads and must choose your grooming wisely. Why? Because your natural features may be competing with at least three other influences: pain management, personal hygiene, and social factors. How so?

Damage to the anoderm and perianal skin can cause a lot of pain. A wide variety of factors can produce sensations of burning, itching (pruritus ani), or pain: leftover fecal matter, excessive moisture or dryness, infection, certain foods, soaps, lotions—the list is long. So while it may be tempting to practice more aggressive hygiene during fissure repair, vigorous use of toilet paper, wipes, or other personal products can actually result in further skin damage and pain.

Similarly, any practice of over-zealous cleansing (sometimes called “polished anus syndrome”) is actually self-defeating since increased friction can further irritate the anorectal area, resulting in more muscular tension and pain. The same goes for digital maneuvers (not the computer kind) used to perform fecal removal. In other words, a damaged anal area is not cleaner than an undamaged one, and a more damaged area is not cleaner than a less damaged one.

To avoid such a cycle, cleanse gently. Problems can come from too little or too much hygiene, so it makes sense to build a balanced routine. (If you find that you’re taking aggressive steps because you’re extremely concerned about cleanliness, your cleanest path forward might start with an exam from a qualified medical professional.)

Likewise, it makes sense to check product effects over time. Some remedies, such as hydrocortisone, can cause problems with sustained use. Others might be marketed to everyone but only work well for a limited range of consumers. As I discovered, options that first provide relief can become irritants if used regularly. Manufacturer instructions usually provide guidelines (“If irritation occurs, discontinue use”). But since using any personal product over time should assist you and not afflict you, a general principle is simple: don’t fight your features.

What, though, about the risk of offensive odor? True, fecal matter or other discharge that smells extremely bad or abnormal could signal an issue to be investigated by a qualified medical professional. But under typical conditions, is it possible that a tiny amount of digestive residue will produce enough odorant molecules to defeat the body’s natural sanitizing mechanisms, extend beyond the body’s perimeter, work through layers of woven clothing, overpower surrounding scents, and be detectable to others?

Not likely. Unlike some animals who can perceive an amazingly complex world of scents and detect pretty much everything, humans have far lower capacity. Moreover, a frank self-analysis might show that concerns about offensive odor or digestive residue are actually false fears—a front for something else.

Nonetheless, if self-generated odor is a concern, fecal deodorants (taken orally) are available over-the-counter. However, it may be more productive to focus on the GI tract’s entrance rather than its exit. In other words, regularly brush and floss your canines, incisors, premolars, molars, and gums. Consider brushing your tongue or using a tongue scraper. I’ve interacted with thousands of people from all walks of life, and when really difficult odor is present, it almost always arrives as waves of bad breath. Other notable odors arise from a medley of causes: natural variety, food and cuisine preferences, culture and background, age, activity, injury or medical condition, personal care products, and similar factors. However, in my experience, no scent I’ve ever encountered justifies an over-meticulous cleansing routine that results in anorectal trauma.

Style

It’s a style-crimping fact of life that fissures can cause a discharge of blood, mucus, or other colored or colorless fluids (sometimes called “weeping” or “seeping”). The good news is that bleeding from a fissure, even if it seems alarming, usually stops in a few minutes. (Ongoing bleeding, on the other hand, has a different repair strategy and is a great reason to see a doctor). Still, since fluid leakage remains possible, a challenging dilemma can arise, especially for men. What’s the issue?

If you’re concerned that fluid might leak from a hard-to-see part of your body, stain fabrics, become visible to others, and lead to embarrassment (or worse), what would you do? What would most people do?

My guess is that most people would do what they’ve learned to do with any body part when trying to prevent fluid flow—apply pressure by tightening muscles or increasing constriction. It works when chewing with the mouth closed, when trying to stop bleeding from a cut or scrape, or while waiting for a restroom. It might even work to prevent unwanted anal discharge. But clenching the external anal sphincter and surrounding muscles is exactly the wrong behavior when trying to fix a fissure. So the underlying principle is clear: don’t clench.

However, staying unclenched is what causes the dilemma. If you give relaxation priority and don’t clench, how do you address the risk of possible leaks?

One way is to seek leak repair from a qualified medical professional. For example, weeping scar tissue might be easily eliminated by a brief application of a chemical agent (such as silver nitrate).

A second way is to use products that will successfully absorb any leaked fluids. This can present a challenge for men, though, since at the time of writing there appear to be no simple and popular products made for men to wear while fixing a fissure. Do-it-yourself solutions are possible, of course, but these can cause excess moisture, rubbing, and pressure if not well thought-out.

A better approach might be to do what successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs do: see past the marketing and recognize a product’s true potential. For example, some widely available products are specifically designed to absorb blood, fluids, and odors while providing ventilation and staying put. These solutions are typically marketed as feminine products, but in reality are simply shaped strips of adhesive-backed absorbent material. And while the shape is less than ideal for the male anatomy, from a purely functional point of view, an unscented version with minimal material could prove superior to DIY remedies.

Other personal traits and choices might influence grooming and style decisions, such as being hirsute (hairy), having anorectal features like skin tags or a pronounced raphe (the seam of skin at the perineum), needing to cycle through different brands of pre-moistened wipes due to highly sensitive skin, or maintaining a preference for tighter-fitting garments. But overall, you see the idea: the goal is relaxation and repair. Any grooming and style choices should contribute to—and not detract from—that goal.

Next up: Eating & Drinking.

Last updated: June 2019