Sitz bath is basically a plastic tub put over the toilet that is filled with over a couple of inches of water. If you are suffering from intense pain in your bottom or around your private parts, sitz bath is one of your best tools to treat the symptoms. People usually use sitz bath after getting anal fissures or hemorrhoids or giving birth to a baby in order to relieve pain. It is highly recommended for gay people (bottom boys) and women who enjoy receiving anal sex on a daily basis. Sometimes, after anal intercourse, your bottom will hurt a bit and you may need something to make pain more bearable. Sitz bath may help you to improve other conditions as well, like soreness, burning, inflammation, constipation or diarrhea, prostatitis and vaginal infections.
Sitz bath help you to speed up the healing process by improving blood circulation in your bottom and around your private areas. It will not cure your affection, but at least it will make you feel better and reduce irritation. There are many things that need to be taken into consideration before, during and after using a sitz bath:
Steps:
1) You need to go to a drugstore, pharmacy or medical supply store, where you will buy a sitz bath. It usually costs around 10 dollars. Sitz bath are cheap and affordable for the majority of working people. ou may also find them at hospital pharmacies or medical supply stores. Sometimes, after a surgery or having a baby, the staff in the hospital will provide you a sitz bath before you go home. This may be the quickest way to get one.
2) Prepare the items you need before sitting in the sitz bath, such as: clean towel, washcloth and salt. These items are commonly found in any bathroom, so you will not find any trouble. If only a doctor has recommended it, you should use salt in a sitz bath. You need to be extremely careful with this.
3) Place the sitz bath over the toilet, making sure that it fits perfectly and will not move. Then, you need to fill the sitz bath with warm temperature. You may need to test the temperature of water with other parts of body, rather than your hands. Your hands are certainly cooler than the rest of your body. You shall sit as fast as possible because warm water gets cooler over time.
4) Remember that the majority of sitz baths come with a solution bag (to be used by filling with water and hanging from a hook that is higher than a typical toilet. to fill and a tube (to be used to provide a continuous flow of water from the bag into the sitz bath). The bag can be used by filling with water and hanging from a hook (in the hospital, typically an IV pole is used) that is higher than the toilet. A tube will run from the bag into the sitz bath to provide a continuous flow of water. Use the clamp provided to stop the water from going through the tube.
5) Sit in the sitz bath between 15 and 20 minutes. However, if your doctor has recommended you to sit longer, you shall do what he has recommended. When finished, dry the affected areas with a towel.
What to consider:
6) Most sitz baths are made to prevent overfilling, so you can be sure that the water is not going to overflow.
7) Please, do what your doctor has recommended. You shall use the sitz bath several times a day as needed to ease pain and irritation. However, you need to remember that it is important to take some breaks to let your skin heal and dry.
8) Wash your sitz bath after each use and dry it. The sitz bath needs to be cleaned really well in order to prevent any bacterias. If not, you may get an infection, which may worsen even more your condition.
9) If you have a vaginal infection, you should add ½ cup of table vinegar to the salt water solution.