What You Can Do About Anal Fissures

It's an awkward problem to have, and many patients delay medical treatment far too long. That's a shame, because there's good news, too. Anal fissures are a problem you can do a lot about. Here are some suggestions:

1. Remember the acronym WASH. Take a warm shower or a warm bath after a difficult bowel movement. Use analgesics to control the pain, preferably not Aspirin, which can increase bleeding. Oil of cloves is the best herbal remedy for the pain of anal fissures. It's available as a cream. Take stool softeners such as Surfak. Ratio Lactulose and  docusate sodium (Colace) also work. Eat a high-fiber diet to increase the bulk of stools so they are lighter and easier to pass. It's always best to increase the amount of fiber in your diet gradually. Too much fiber without a chance for your intestinal flora (symbiotic bacteria) to digest it can actually make constipation worse, so take things slow.
2. Be careful with coffee and tea. Caffeinated beverages may stimulate a bowel movement, but they are also dehydrating. Some people who have anal fissures are best off to forgo them.
3. Walk 30 minutes a day. Gentle exercise increases blood flow to the anus, and helps it heal faster.
4. Try drinking a small amount (up to 1 cup/240 ml) of cabbage juice every day, or adding either cooked or raw cabbage to your diet. Cabbage contains a hexosamine sugar that acts as a kind of "glue" in the lower digestive tract, holding anal fissures closed so they can heal. Don't consume extra cabbage for more than a month unless you are also using iodized salt, so you do not experience an iodine deficiency.
5. If your baby has anal fissures, consider switching from cow's milk to goat's milk — always in conjunction with your baby's pediatrician, of course. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 40 out of 44 children aged 6 months to 6 years who had anal fissures had allergies to cow's milk. An allergy is not the same as the more common lactose intolerance, which does not cause fissures. Switching to a different kind of milk stops the allergy and gives the fissures a chance to heal. However, most babies tolerate breast milk best, and babies who are exclusively breastfed rarely develop a lactose intolerance.
6. Try a sitz bath to relieve pain from anal fissures. As its name suggests, a sitz bath is accomplished by seating at least the buttocks in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. There are several herbal additives for the bath water than can relieve both anal fissures and hemorrhoids, including calendula (test a little bit on your skin before you take a sitz bath in it to make sure you are not allergic) and collinsonia.
7. Don't use scented toilet paper, or toilet paper that is printed with a design. The scents and inks can irritate the anus. A bidet may be a better solution, if available.
8. Be careful about washing your privates. Sudsing up the ano-genital region dries it out and leads to cracking and irritation.
9. Try Preparation H. North America's leading hemorrhoid cream also soothes anal fissures.
10. Avoid large, heavy meals, especially large meals of fatty foods. Eating smaller portions results in less food traveling through the gut, smaller bowel movements, and less strain on the anus and the blood vessels surrounding on it. This gives fissures a chance to heal.

See Also : Anal Abscess and Hemorrhoids: Home Remedies or Surgery for Anal Fistula?