Alles Wat Je Moet Weten Over Anale Fissuren en Huidziekten

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Signs an Anal Fissure Is Healing

Most anal fissures heal in a few days or weeks. The biggest sign that it's getting better is you stop feeling pain when you poop. You also may notice no blood when you go to the bathroom.

Acute anal fissures usually clear up within a few weeks, but they can become chronic when they take longer to heal or the tissue keeps tearing over and over. Fissures can cause some complications if they don't heal within a few weeks, including:

• Very serious constipation, when you can't poop and the stool backs up in your large intestine
• Anal stenosis, or when your anal canal becomes so narrow, it's very hard to poop
• Anal fistula, when the fissure gets infected, drains pus, and creates a tunnel to your outside skin

Anal Fissure Treatment

The goal of treatment is to relieve pain and discomfort, and heal the torn lining.

Acute anal fissure treatment

Acute anal fissures – the ones that don't last longer than 6 weeks – are common and usually heal on their own with self-care.

Chronic anal fissure treatment

Chronic anal fissures – those that last longer than 6 weeks – may be more involved and require a treatment plan. You may need medicine or surgery to help them heal.

Anal fissure self-care

Sitz baths may help to heal your anal fissure. To take one, sit in warm water for 10-20 minutes. Don't use soap or put anything else in the water. Do this several times throughout the day, especially after you poop.

If you still have symptoms after a month or two, you probably need medical treatment.

Anal fissure medications

Your doctor might suggest:

Surgery

The pain from this surgery is usually mild. It can hurt less than the fissure itself. The surgery might be followed by temporarily not being able to control passing gas, a small amount of poop leakage, or an infection. But in most cases, complete healing of fissures takes place within 8 weeks after surgery.

Treatment

People whose anal fissures don’t heal well may have an imbalance in anal pressure that prevents blood from circulating normally through the blood vessels around the anus. The reduced blood flow prevents healing. Medicine, Botox injections, and even some topical treatments that improve blood flow, may help anal fissures heal.

Other treatments include:

• Changing your diet to increase fiber and water, steps that will help regulate your bowel movements and reduce both diarrhea and constipation
• Taking warm baths for up to 20 minutes a day
• Taking stool softeners, such as fiber supplements, as needed
• Using topical medicines, such as nitrates or calcium blockers
• Having surgery, such as a lateral internal sphincterectomy. During the surgery, the pressure inside the anus is released. This allows more blood to flow through the area to heal and protect tissues.

The risks from Botox injections and medicines used to treat anal fissures are relatively mild. Complications from surgery include the risk for infection, bleeding, and persistent gas and fecal incontinence, or uncontrolled bowel movements.

Summary

As with any surgery, there are risks and potential complications, but in general, people recover from a sphincterotomy in around six to 10 without problems.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

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By Amber J. Tresca
Tresca is a freelance writer and speaker who covers digestive conditions, including IBD. She was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 16.