Why does my baby's buttocks hurt?

Buttock pain is actually a common clinical condition. Usually, when a baby has buttock pain, it is mostly caused by anal fissures when the baby defecates, which causes pain. Therefore, when looking for the cause of the baby's buttock pain, parents need to consider it from multiple aspects. So, what exactly is the situation when the baby has buttock pain?

Anal pain often occurs in babies, which is mainly caused by anal fissures and perianal abscesses. Anal fissures refer to cracks in the skin of the anus. Long-term constipation and dry stools are the main causes of anal fissures.

In addition to anal pain, the symptoms include dripping blood after defecation or blood on toilet paper. Because defecation will aggravate the pain of anal fissure, the baby is unwilling to have a normal bowel movement, which aggravates constipation and makes the stool drier and harder, resulting in aggravation of anal fissure or re-opening of the wound that has just healed. Therefore, anal fissure often recurs and the baby often complains of anal pain.

Perianal abscess refers to an acute or subacute purulent infection occurring under the skin around the anus, which manifests as a red nodule in the anus. As a result, the anus is painful, especially when sitting, often causing the child to cry and be restless, and sometimes also causing fever and other systemic discomfort. It can occur at any age, especially in newborns, and is often caused by improper perianal care or low systemic immune function.

Because newborns have delicate skin, frequent bowel movements, and unformed stools, improper cleaning methods around the anus after defecation (using coarse paper or cloth, using excessive force) can damage the skin around the anus and cause bacterial infection, leading to local inflammatory reactions. This manifests as red nodules in the anus, and in severe cases, local ulcers and pus. If local inflammation is not treated and controlled in a timely manner, the baby may develop symptoms of systemic infection such as chills and fever.

The above is an introduction to the factors that induce the baby's anus pain. As mentioned above, parents should pay great attention to the phenomenon of baby's anus pain in life. Generally speaking, after discovering this situation in the baby, in addition to seeking medical treatment as soon as possible, parents should also clean the skin of the child's anus.