It is a cut, ulcer or tear in the wall of the anus at its outer border.
What are the symptoms of anal fissure?
- Pain: Severe tearing, cutting or pricking pain while passing stools followed by burning pain after passing motions, which may last for a few minutes to few hours
- Bleeding: bright red blood streaks are seen on the stool bolus &/or on the toilet paper. Later fresh blood drops after motions.
- Constipation: hard stools are responsible for the tear.
- Straining: the anal opening goes into reflex spasm and it becomes very difficult to pass hard stools through this narrowed anal opening thereby causing a tendency to strain or push the stools out – which in turn only increases the agony.
- Swelling: a skin tag is developed at the rim of the anal opening at a later stage and it remains outside (does not go back inside the anus). These skin tags may swell, get thrombosed (blood clots) or get infected by the bacteria which persist in the crack of the fissure even after cleaning the anus after toilet.
- Generalized weakness: due to blood loss and severe pain, patients feel weak.
