# Anal fissures?



## Quirky_kitten (Feb 25, 2009)

I've found I regulary pass blood when I go to the toilet. I went to doctor who said that because it is bright red and not piles (they couldn't find any on examination) then it must be anal fissures probably as a result of the IBS, but they didn't offer any advice just said I shouldn't worry about them.I used to only get this occasionally when I had a bad IBS attack but now I get it every time I go. Its really painful when it hapens and I'm really worried and stressed about it - partly because I'm scared it could be something else and partly I'm scared about getting an infection in them or what happens if they start to build up scar tissue or something. Does anyone know of any ways to treat these things or, better yet, stop them happening? Thanks so much guys


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## AEV (Feb 26, 2009)

Yeah, I had the same thing. There seemed to be a lot of blood for almost two weeks. Those go away after a while; I wouldn't worry too much. Just try to eat foods that keep you from becoming constipated, and possibly try stool softeners.


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## 2manymorons (Mar 8, 2009)

Quirky_kitten said:


> I've found I regulary pass blood when I go to the toilet. I went to doctor who said that because it is bright red and not piles (they couldn't find any on examination) then it must be anal fissures probably as a result of the IBS, but they didn't offer any advice just said I shouldn't worry about them.I used to only get this occasionally when I had a bad IBS attack but now I get it every time I go. Its really painful when it hapens and I'm really worried and stressed about it - partly because I'm scared it could be something else and partly I'm scared about getting an infection in them or what happens if they start to build up scar tissue or something. Does anyone know of any ways to treat these things or, better yet, stop them happening? Thanks so much guys


I got these too and my gp gave me nitroglycerine cream to heal them. The doctor should have given you this option. The fissures are from too hard stools and you may need to take stool softeners. Mine were healed even though I am still struggling with constipation.


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## kellyb1223 (Mar 10, 2009)

I had a fissure at one point too for a couple months until they figured out what was actually wrong and it got pretty bad sometimes. My doctor recommended zinc oxide cream, aka diaper rash cream (believe it or not). it helped a lot. before i used anything it would bleed every time i went to the bathroom but the cream really helped slow it down and i haven't had those types of issues for a few months now. hope this helps and hope things get better for you!


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## workinghard (Nov 29, 2008)

I've had this happen twice before after a bad bout of C. Both times it took about two weeks to heal without any creams. If I'd have known about anything that would have helped at the time, I def. would have used it (it was before i was diagnosed w/ ibs).


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

This site lists some self help as well as medical treatments for fissures.http://www.boardsailor.com/jack/af/


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## 23470 (Apr 18, 2005)

I originally got my fissures when I was C (most of my life). I flipped over to D for the past three years....during which I got treatment for the fissure. Now I'm back to C, it seems, and it's opening the fissure the whole time.The reason your fissure may not heal right is because it keeps the external sphincter muscle in a state of spasm. When you have C (or any movement where you strain, D included) it's even harder for you to pass the stool because your rear end won't relax enough to let it pass. When you finally do push it through, the skin isn't stretching because of the muscle, and thus tears again/more/worse.I ended up getting a compounded medicine called Diltiazem. It's actually a blood pressure med, but when it's a cream it actually relaxes the muscle over time. It takes awhile for it to do it's thing, and you have to do it religiously 3-5 times a day (rubbing it around your perianal area) for it to take affect and continue working. I just had a bad bout today, where my lack of applying the cream met up with my bad diet....thus large, hard, painful C where I wasn't relaxed and thus tore my fissure open briefly. Any colorectal doc can prescribe it, but you'll need to find a compounding pharmacy to make it.When my fissure is painful, though, I use Carmex lip cream. There's nothing crazy in it, and it cools and stops the hurt pretty quick. If you think about it, the chapped cracks in the corners of your mouth that hurt so bad....those are fissures, too. It's ok to use, I cleared it with my doc...but you don't want to use it constantly over months because it's shown that it might actually make the skin a little more succeptible to more fissures. It's worth it, to use it for short stints, it REALLY stops the pain.


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