Is it Harvard Medical?

Is it the American Society of Colon Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS)?

Is it the Cleveland Clinic?

When I search online for the answer to this question, all of the above are usually on the first page, but the number one result I most often get is an article titled “Pruritus Ani” from the US National Library of Medicine.

It’s a research paper done by several doctors over a decade ago, back in 2008, that consolidates and reviews all of the published medical information and studies they could find (there are 35 references listed) from 1950 – 2007. It’s stated purpose: ”This review aims to provide a systematic method of diagnosis and management of pruritus ani.”

If you look closely, you will find that this article has been cited almost 50 times by other materials. It appears that this paper may be the reason the same ineffective treatments are recommended again and again by medical professionals.When you look at this article’s “systematic method of diagnosis and management of pruritus ani”, it is simply recommending many months if not several years of “try this and try that.” Attempting to find which one of “nearly 100 different causes” of pruritus ani is happening to you and how to fix it, doesn’t happen overnight.

This paper is a culmination of all the best medical studies done on the subject of pruritus ani. Doctors use scientific studies, actual medical research to give the best medical advice to their patients, so it’s no wonder that this “summary of all pruritus ani research” has become the recommendation of doctors around the world.

This published article was done with the best of intentions back in 2008, but it’s time to send a lot of it into the trash bin. The complicated treatment approach they recommend (and one I followed) is now outdated and unnecessarily extends the suffering period of the patient.In the introduction of the article, the authors even admit to a lack of confidence saying, “most (treatment) recommendations are based on low-level evidence.”

Maybe the authors of a more recent (2017) medical paper should be considered for the title of “leading expert”. “ A Review of the Therapeutic Interventions in the Management of Pruritus Ani”. The authors conclude that “anal tattooing shows the greatest promise” in treating pruritus ani.

Yes, anal tattooing (also known as methylene blue injection) is now the best medical advice (according to this paper) for severe anal itching. The article confirms that it is only for the worst of the worst. (I personally had this done back in 2010, twice.) However, just like steroid ointments, it works for a while but then you relapse again into chronic itching.You might get a month or maybe several months of relief. (Personally, I got a month the first time and only a week after the 2 ^nd time.) Here is how it works according to the paper: “The mechanism of action of methylene blue is by sensory neurolysis, as suggested in an electron microscopy study showing nerve-ending damage by the methylene blue. This explains the hypoaesthesia (numbness) induced. However, this sensory neurolysis does recover within a year, which may explain relapse of PA (pruritus ani) seen with this therapy.”  To clarify, it numbs the nerve endings for a while and once they heal/recover you end up itching again.

In spite of the awful conclusion by the author, it is a good overall article that shows how complicated the pruritus ani condition is to doctors, and it also shows that there is NO common prescription for treatment amongst themselves. No one in the medical community has THE answer. There are NO definitive studies showing doctors what they should be prescribing. In a nutshell, they are lost when it comes to Primary pruritus ani. There is primary and secondary pruritus ani. Primary is the most common and is “idiopathic” which means “of unknown cause”. Secondary pruritus ani is just that, the itching is secondary to another condition, meaning it’s caused by something else. Most common is a fungal/yeast infection. Doctors or a pharmacist can recommend a treatment that will kill the fungus and end your itching. There are many causes of secondary pruritus ani that doctors can identify, so it’s absolutely necessary to get a medical examination if your itching is chronic. Your doctor is the expert at treating SECONDARY pruritus ani.

Unfortunately, most cases of chronic anal itching are considered PRIMARY pruritus ani (of “unknown cause”) and based on all of the above expert articles. It’s clear doctors do NOT have a scientifically verified successful medical treatment to recommend.

BUT, the good news is that the leading expert of PRIMARY pruritus ani has developed a treatment that works for ALL of those afflicted with this medical conundrum.In a survey of 17,685 treatment users from July 2013 – July 2017 (with 2086 respondents) a 90% success rate was documented. This survey was done in early 2018 so all respondents had a minimum of 6 months and most had years of use. This is a statistically significant survey documenting LONG TERM success in relieving the itching. Not just a few weeks or hours of relief. NOTHING has ever shown results like this.

Plato said, “Necessity is the mother of Invention”. My story is exactly that, one of necessity. I’m not medically or scientifically trained. The itching began at the age of 47 in 2008. By 2010 I had tried everything and was severely depressed. Multiple doctors and surgeons. Steroids and banana peels.If it was on the internet, I tried it. If a doctor could prescribe it I tried it. My bottom looked just like the bottom in the anal tattooing article above after having that done. Thousands of dollars and years of suffering. I couldn’t go on like that anymore. I had to find something or forget it all. Lack of sleep and the constant aggravation was driving me crazy.

So, in 2010, I began my search for the cure, (eventually settling for a treatment).I found many other sufferers like me willing to try any concoction to get relief. We were human lab rats.In early 2013, I stumbled upon a formula that worked for ALL of us. Over the years, I’ve communicated with thousands of suffers. Every day I communicate with even more. I find it hard to believe that anyone else on the planet has conversed and brought relief to more pruritus ani sufferers.

My goal is for doctors to pick up on this blog and start recommending the Pranicura Treatment. They have nothing right now that has demonstrated this kind of success. They can save years of patients’ time and money. The only problem is that our survey results are not in a scientific study. Medical professionals need scientific studies, and rightly so. I welcome that study. I welcome medical professionals to verify my research and treatment and then do it independently so no one can say I sponsored my own study.

My next article will cover more in-depth analysis showing how my conclusion that there is one main cause of primary “idiopathic” pruritus ani just makes sense.