Do you experience sever pain and burning every time you pass stools? The pain may be so excruciating and lasts for such a long time even after you pass stools, that you dread going to the toilet at all!
If this sounds like an experience you have had, you have suffered from Anal Fissures.
Anal fissures are small tears in the delicate skin of the anal canal and the lower end of the rectum. They are responsible for the intense pain, burning, and bleeding that accompany a bowel movement.
Anal fissures can be a result of:
- Passing too hard stools that can tear the skin of the anus
- Being constipated for a long time.
- Child birth
- Inserting foreign objects into the anus
- Rectal examination.
- Old age. Old people experience anal fissures due to the reduced blood flow to the anal region.
- Crohn’s disease.
When you have an anal fissure, you are certainly going to suffer the following symptoms:
- Excruciating pain around the anal region before, during and after passing stools.
- Intense burning in the anal area that lasts for a long time after passing stools.
- Bleeding. You may find bright red spots of blood in the pan and on the tissue paper.
- Itching around the anal area is quite common.
- The pain and burning may make it very difficult for you to sit comfortably. Walking may also be quite a task!
Anal fissures that are small may heal on their own. A fissure that doesn’t heal within six months may require medical intervention and/or surgery. Anal fissures tend to recur.
Sometimes, the fissure may extend upwards into the internal anal sphincter making it difficult to heal.
Fissures are treated with locally applied creams containing steroids, nitroglycerine, and lignocaine. Blood pressure reducing medicines are also helpful. Surgery is restricted for severe cases.
Alternative forms of medicines like homeopathy and Ayurveda provide excellent non-surgical treatment for fissures and ensure non-recurrence too.
Drinking lots of fluids, eating a fiber rich diet, exercising regularly and having regular bowel movements will help you to recover from existing fissures and will also make sure that you do not suffer in the future.
