Anal fissures are not exactly a topic for cocktail party conversation, and the reluctance to discuss them often leaves sufferers thinking they are the only ones affected.
In fact, this potentially painful, debilitating, anxiety-provoking condition is quite common. If a fissure doesn’t heal on its own, it can usually be treated and recurrences prevented with conservative measures.
If you’ve ever noticed bright red blood on toilet tissue or in the bowl after a bowel movement, chances are it is a small tear in the rim of the anus. Such tears are commonly mistaken for hemorrhoids, which unlike fissures don’t cause pain with bowel movements.
In an estimated 90 percent of cases, these tears heal on their own.
Source: The New York Times
