Myth #10: Men are 4 times more likely to have pruritus ani than women.

This “fact” has been regurgitated since the 1950’s when a limited study was published using under 100 people. Somehow this has been believed and has been accepted as fact, when in reality it is a myth. Pranicura LLC has sold the worlds most successful pruritus ani treatment to over 25,000 sufferers, and from this massive amount of data, it has been shown that men and women are affected equally.

Myth #9: A prescription from your doctor can cure you of pruritus ani.

In the case of secondary pruritus ani, this is actually true. If you happen to be in the vast minority of cases such as pinworms or fungus, then yes, your doctor may totally cure you with a magic drug. This is why everyone should be examined by a physician and rule out known causes. But it’s hard to really say you have pruritus ani when what you really have is pinworms or a yeast infection and the itching is caused by that. There are two forms of pruritus ani, secondary and primary… (I cover this in detail in another article here.) Unfortunately most cases of pruritus ani are considered primary and idiopathic (of unknown cause.) This is true pruritus ani and doctors don’t know what causes it and they don’t have a magic drug that will cure you. As of this writing, there is NO CURE for pruritus ani.

Myth #8: Allergies to certain soaps and cleansers causes pruritus ani.

There is no question that certain people are allergic to certain products. However, there are no medical studies that confirm changing your soap will stop the anal itching. In fact, we have over 25,000 people that will tell you that changing your soap will not cure you or provide any level of relief.

Myth #7: It’s all in your head, pruritus ani is a mental problem.

This statement makes all of us pruritus ani sufferers extremely angry. Again, we have 25,000 sufferers that will tell you the itch is very real!

Myth #6: Not cleaning your bottom well enough causes pruritus ani.

If this were true then there would be tens of millions of pruritus ani sufferers, not just 1-5% of the population. In addition, most of our Pranicura users would say even with extensive daily cleaning, the itch remains.

Myth #5: Over cleaning your bottom causes pruritus ani.

Over cleaning the bottom is a symptom of pruritus ani, not the cause. Sufferers try to clean away the itching. There is no questions that over-cleaning can worsen the condition but it’s certainly not the cause.

Myth #4: Just stop scratching and pruritus ani will go away.

The thought process for years has been that something temporary caused the itching and then the scratching created what is called “The itch-scratch cycle” that sufferers can’t get out of. The more you scratch, the worse it gets. It has been thought that if one can break this cycle they will get back to normal and be cured. BUT…our information and study of of sufferers disproves this theory. It is a myth. We have been able to break this cycle on thousands of sufferers and yet the person is NOT cured. Something else is causing the itch, it’s not just the itch-scratch cycle.

Myth #3: Diet changes are necessary to get relief from pruritus ani.

This is one of the most common myths that may never go away. Thousands of Pranicura treatment users have tried every diet and food elimination program imaginable…all to no avail. In addition, there are no medical studies that prove diet changes can cure or even mitigate chronic anal itching. You can waste years of your time trying to find different foods that may be causing your pruritus ani. Don’t do it. Don’t waste your time. It’s been done to death and it doesn’t work!

Myth #2: Cortisone and prescription steroid creams are the answer to treating pruritus ani.

This is by far the number 1 treatment given out by doctors to help give some relief to their patients. Steroids are only to be used for a limited time or else you risk thinning skin that leads to sores that won’t heal and an even bigger problem than what you have now. Breaking the itch-scratch cycle is the goal of doctors with the belief that if that is broken, you will be healed and cured. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen. It’s a myth. At best sufferers get a few weeks of relief and then when they go off the drugs, it triggers a rebound effect that seems to be worse than before they went on the steroids. This brings about a dependence on steroid creams that are not safe for long term use.

Myth #1: You need to find the specific cause of your pruritus ani to fix the problem.

Naturally, find the cause, eliminate it and you are cured. This is the process that doctors send patients down. It is common thought amongst them that there are multiple causes of pruritus ani so YOU need to find out which one of hundreds of causes is YOUR cause. The list is endless and it’s fruitless…because there are NOT multiple causes of primary pruritus ani…there is just ONE. We’ve already found the cause and it’s the same for all of us…it’s a myth that there are multiple causes. (Read here what we have found is the real cause of pruritus ani.)

Stop believing the above myths and listen to the expert.