Hi, hope you can help. I have had a pouch since December 2004. Recently, I have started to return to an excercise routine (weight training). I have been doing this on and off for about 2 months now, and I notice a pain in the rectal cuff area after excercising. This sharp pain lasts for about 6-8 hours then stops.

Do you think I should stop lifting weights, and turn to alternative forms of resistance training. I really need to excercise because I am putting on a lot of weight. Thanks.

You obviously do need to get this checked out and I would give up weight training in the meantime. If it's weight gain that you're most bothered about then you're better off with more cardio-style workouts anyway. Swimming is a good combination of resistance and cardio that may avoid triggering the pain you're experiencing.