The Causes, Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention of a Perianal Abscess

Causes. Perianal abscesses can occur for several different reasons. The first of which is tears in the anus because of straining to pass large stools out of the body or injury to the anus from anal sex. Bacteria from the stools enter the tiny wounds over time. The body tries to heal them. This is no easy task if a person has a compromised immune system that makes healing difficult though, such as HIV, cancer, or diabetes. Some sexually transmitted diseases can cause perianal abscesses too. And so can diseases of the gastrointestinal system that cause constant diarrhea and constipation, such as ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel disease, and Crohn’s disease.