Treatment of Anal fissure

Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List

| A |

| B |

| C |

| D |

| E |

| F |

| G |

| H |

| I |

| J |

| K |

| L |

| M |

| N |

| O |

| P |

| Q |

| R |

| S |

| T |

| U |

| V |

| W |

| X |

| Y |

In most cases the fissure will heal within a couple of weeks, and the only treatment that may be necessary is help with the pain and to keep the faeces soft whilst the fissure heals.

You should take warm baths and take painkillers (paracetamol) if necessary, but avoid painkillers containing codeine as these often cause constipation. You should eat lots of fibre by eating fruit, vegetables, cereals, brown rice, wholemeal bread, etc. If necessary, you can also take bran, or other fibre supplements (bulk-forming laxative), which you can buy from your pharmacist.

You should drink plenty of water and avoid too much tea and coffee as these can make constipation worse.

You can get an ointment that contains a local anaesthetic on prescription from your doctor or over the counter from your pharmacist to reduce pain and inflammation. You should only use this for a few days at a time, as it can irritate the skin around your anus.

You can also get an ointment that contains a steroid on prescription from your doctor. This will reduce swelling and inflammation around your anus. You should not use this for longer than a week at a time.

Glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) can be used for the treatment of chronic (persistent) anal fissures. This ointment should be applied to the skin around your anus three times a day. It helps to relax your anal muscle, reduce pain, relieve the spasm of the muscles and improve the blood supply to the fissure. The most common side effect is headache.

Some people require a minor surgical operation to cure a chronic anal fissure. The most commonly used operations to treat anal fissures are an internal sphincterotomy (cutting the internal anal muscle) or anal dilatation (stretching the internal anal muscle) . These procedures are carried out in hospital under general anaesthetic. Surgery is very effective, but carries a small risk of some degree of incontinence (of faeces or wind), although this may improve with time.

If your bowel habits have recently changed or you have been losing weight and have blood in your faeces, you should seek medical advice, as these symptoms could be due to a more serious condition.