If you have noticed blood in your toilet paper, it might be a cut in your anus. Yes, these cuts are also called anal fissures. An anal fissure is a cut in the anus that gets worse when poop tries to pass through the anal canal, making pooping itself troublesome.
Many people have micro-tears in the lining of the anal canal and the body does what it should to heal them on its own, but if any tear in the lining persists, it upgrades from just a harmless cut to an anal fissure or an ulcer. It has been found that at least 11 percent people around the world get one anal fissure in a lifetime. So, it is evident that there are a lot of people who get this problem, but either they never seem to care about it or they are too embarrassed to tell anybody about the problems in their bottom. However, anal fissures are different from hemorrhoids and this is why, you need to read below to find out more about it.
Causes Of Anal Fissures
Anal fissures might be caused by many reasons. These reasons might be many: tight anal muscle that keeps blood from flowing to the rear, hard poop and constipation, and even pregnancy. Anything that causes pain or trauma to the anal canal can prevent blood from flowing to the area, and this will slow down the healing process. This is because if a cut splits open a few times, it never looks like it will heal.
Signs And Symptoms Of Anal Fissures
The first and most common sign of an anal fissure is blood on the toilet paper or blood dripping in the toilet bowl. When you go to the toilet the second time, things get worse and it’s so painful that it might feel like a razor blade passing through your anus. The pain doesn’t even stop once you are done pooping. It lingers for almost half an hour or even until later.
How To Deal With Anal Fissures
A mild anal fissure, especially in its early stage heals on its own. However, you can still see a doctor the very first time you notice blood on the toilet paper so that it doesn’t get worse. It is recommended that you drink plenty of water and include a lot of fiber in your diet, such as lentils, broccoli, and berries, to name a few. This will let poop pass easily through the anal canal. When you go to the loo, do not sit there for more than a few minutes. This will ensure that you don’t exert unnecessary pressure on the area.
Your doctor might prescribe certain medicines and even an ointment to apply in your anus. This will easily speed up the healing process and relieve you from the pain of anal fissures. A diet rich in fiber and drinking enough water will help you easily deal with it but a diet and ointment combination will relax the muscle of the butt so that the fissure heals soon. Another way to deal with a serious anal fissure is to cut a few fibers from the anal sphincter. This will, of course, require you to take medical help from the pros, but this method must be followed only if it is taking forever for your anal fissure to heal.
Now that you are aware of the causes and symptoms of anal fissures, you will easily be able to differentiate it from any kind of internal hemorrhage. Dealing with an anal fissure is not very difficult, so stop yourself from panicking the very first time you notice blood in your toilet paper.
