Back to the Clinic (2)

When Dean first came in to see Dr Dawn he’d been struggling with a bowel problem for over a decade. He’s been spending a total of 3 hours every day on the loo, answering the call of nature ten or twelve times every single day. Worryingly, he’d also been passing blood every time.

After a quick examination, Dawn sent Dean to get a gastroscopy – the inserting of a camera into his stomach in order to investigate the problem. With nothing untoward reported Dean had a similar procedure, this time with the camera inserted anally, followed by an ultrasound. It’s this final test that revealed the root of the problem. A fistula on his anal canal had been disrupting the operation of his sphincter muscle. Rather than going under the knife Dean was referred for a course of biofeedback treatment, designed to retrain his bowels through a series of exercises and dietary improvements, coupled with a course of anti-diarrhoea tablets.

The treatment is a success – 8 months on and Dean is seeing real results. Simply knowing the cause of the problem has given him the understanding he needed to rectify his troublesome rectum.

As many as 1 in 10 women suffers from an inverted nipple. It’s often not a medical worry, but for some women can cause low confidence and a lack of self-esteem. Sandra’s inverted nipple was taking over her life, so she came to see Dr Pixie.

Inverted nipples can in some cases secrete mucus and other nasties, leading to bad smells. Pixie referred Sandra to a specialist for further advice on this all-too-common problem. After a meeting with a consultant plastic surgeon it transpired that Sandra’s milk ducts were pulling the nipple inside the breast, causing scar tissue. There’s only one course of action for a problem like this: cut the ducts, releasing the nipple.

Under local anaesthetic, the surgeon pulled the nipple out of the breast and then severed the milk ducts, removing scar tissue at the same time. 15 minutes later the job was

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S04E12 - Back to the Clinic: Anal Fistula