Anal fissure
Overview
An anal fissure is a small tear in your anus that causes pain when you poo. It usually gets better on its own but if it does not go away, there are treatments that can help.
Symptoms
The main symptoms of an anal fissure are: severe, sharp pain when you pooburning pain after you poo that may last for several hoursbright red blood in the toilet or on the toilet paper after you poo There are other causes of pain around your anus andbleeding from the bottom (rectal bleeding), such aspiles (haemorrhoids).
Causes
It's not always clear what causes an anal fissure. They're more common in people aged 15 to 40, and in young children. You may be more likely to get an anal fissure if you: haveconstipation– this is a common cause of anal fissures in childrenhavediarrhoeaa lotare pregnant or have given birth vaginallyhave a condition such asinflammatory bowel disease (IBD),Crohn's diseaseorulcerative colitishave asexually transmitted infection (STI), such assyphilisorherpes
Treatment
An anal fissure usually heals on its own. If an anal fissure is not healing or your symptoms are getting worse, you may need treatment. The main treatments for anal fissures are: laxativesto help you poo if you haveconstipationmedicines to help with pain after you poo, such asBuscopanormebeverinea cream you put on your anus that helps with healing – you may need to use this for up to 8 weeks If these treatments do not work or you keep getting anal fissures, a procedure may be recommended, such as: an injection into your anus to help the muscles relax so the tear can healmaking a small cut in the muscle in the anus to reduce tension and let the tear heal These will be done undergeneral anaesthetic, so you'll be asleep and will not feel anything.
Prevention
If you think you might have an anal fissure, there are some things you can try to see if they help. take paracetamol or ibuprofen to help with pain take paracetamol or ibuprofen to help with pain drink lots of fluids and eat plenty offibreto keep your poo soft drink lots of fluids and eat plenty offibreto keep your poo soft have a warm, shallow bath after you poo to ease pain in your bottom have a warm, shallow bath after you poo to ease pain in your bottom keep your bottom clean and dry keep your bottom clean and dry do not ignore the urge to poo do not ignore the urge to poo