Anal fissure causing itch

Hi panb. There's quite a lot you can do yourself before seeing a doctor. I would suggest that you get a mirror and a torch and have a good look yourself. Its easy to spot a fissure as it looks like a hole or split. My doctor miss diagnosed me with piles and by the time I saw a private doctor I had damaged my fissure further!

If you do have a fissure I have a few tips that may help

1.Use some vasaline beforeb you go

2, Always use a shower or wet wipes. Never use just tissue as this is too abrasive. Ifound wet wipes stung so try washing them in clean water first (

worked for me)

3, Make sure that your stools are soft.Take a laxative and drink plenty of water. Lay off spicy goods that could irritate.

4, When you go try let the stool out slowly . I found if I went too fast it tore.I would also try hold the tear to stop it opening.

5,if you have a lot of itching try an anti histamine. If this works you could have a mild allergic reaction to somthing and its affecting you. I had an allergy to oats and the itching sent me mad. For me I found oat powder in the crisps I was eating. As soon as I stopped eating them my fissures healed..

I had eaten the same crisps for years with no bad effect so its worth remembering how sensative you are down there now

I hope this helps and good luck!

It sounds like a fissure but you may want to get a doctor's opinion.  Piles can bleed, but the pain should not be sharp.  On the positive side (really) you don't seem to have the muscle spasms with the fisuure which cause untold hours of agony each day - and you really want to make sure that they never happen !  You need to look at actively managing this going forward because if it has happened once, it will in all likelihood happen again I'm afraid !

A high fibre, high fluid diet is essential.  There are different sorts of fibre though and you need to read up a bit and understand the different types - the laxative websites are helpful here!  Laxatives are helpful - Movicol/Laxiodo types always worked well for me as they made sure enough water got into my bowel - fibre without fluids is a disaster !  They are laxatives that you can use indefinately and I have had them on prescription now for about 5 years !

I agree with the philisophy below about trying to control how your stools come out - it is so easy to undo days of careful tending with one strong bowel movement.  Moist unperfumed toilet wipes are a godsend - you need to be exceptionally gentle in that area and keep it scrupously clean.  Not being clean can cause itching, and I found that perfumed toilet wipes contributed to the itching.  I also found that the creams (Rectogesic and Diltiazem) prescribed by the doctor caused severe itching as well.  The itching nearly drove me insane and really added to the misery of the experience over the 4-5 months I suffered! 

I sincerely hope that you can avoid the further complications of this condition by managing your diet and fluids now and being very aware going forward.  You may not need medical assistance, and personally the creams did not help my condition over months - in the end, the botox injection helped me !  But that was because I was having the muscle spasms which in themselves make healing difficult.

Good luck with this, and ask if there is anything else you want to know !

I also wanted to say that I totally agree with the keeping clean and itching.

I used vasaline on a cotton bud carefully after going to keep clean. Its amazing how dirty it can be even after showering!

I strongly believe that nothing will "cure" it but..... To facilitate the healing and decrease your pain or discomfort, yes..... Soft stool will greatly help you. Lots of water and patience. But seeing your doctor and getting it properly diagnosed will help you also. They may prescribe medication to help speed up healing.

Lots of hot water sitz.....

Good luck....

i had surgery in april 2014 for a fistula in ano took 4 weeks to heal i went back to see my colrectal surgion  in september who was going to discharge me but because im still having stinging  sharp shooting pains aches up there he told me it's a fissure in ano in other words from straining going to the loo its turned into a tear so i was given GTN ointment to place inside my rectum to heal this and also i take lactaloze and iv'e been advised to eat a high fibre diet i go back in december to see him but up to now im only suffering the odd niggle evry now n again so fingers crossed im hoping to be free of pain by the time i go back to see him .

For over two years I have itchy/painful area down there. Certain creams reduced pain, but doctors antibiotic + vasaline (to coat the fissure spots and allow healing) were the solution. Also, witchhazel wipes sooth the pain. GODSEND relief!

But twice 1week of medicine knocked disconfort down to 5% from 100%, and it gradually grew painful again. Currently trying a 3week regime that hopefully knocks it out for good.