What Causes Anal Fissures

For some people, the easy everyday task of passing bowel movements can be a dreadful task, because of anal fissures. These anal fissures area tears in the anal canal lining that are very painful, bleed, and make it difficult and painful passing stools.

There are various anal fissure causes, which are basically trauma that is caused to the anus and anal canal. This trauma can be in the form of chronic constipation, straining to pass stools which are large, hard and dry, prolonged cases of diarrhea, practicing anal sex and insertion of foreign objects into the anus for testing and inspection purposes.
Tight muscles

While these are the main anal fissure causes, there are other causes for anal fissures. These additional causes or traumatic reasons are prolonged poor or irregular bowel habits. Some people have the habit of controlling the urge to go to the bathroom because of some work, and this leads to drying of stools and consequent constipation.

In some people, too tight or spastic anal sphincter muscles, which are the muscles that control the closing and opening of the anus, is one of the many anal fissure causes. When the anal sphincter muscles are too tight, stools too become tight and can lead to tear in the anal canal. Some people tend to have excess tension in this sphincter.

While the exte
al anal sphincter is under one’s control, the internal sphincter is not. It is the internal sphincter that remains under pressure most of the time and once the pressure on it becomes too high, it leads to a spasm and consequent reduced blood flow to the anus.
Other medical problems

Sometimes, the presence of some other medical problem like Crohn’s disease, anal cancer, ulcerative colitis, leukemia, infectious diseases like tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, gonorrhea and syphilis cause anal fissures. Anal fissures are sort of a side effect or complication of these diseases.

In some people, a reduced blood flow to the anorectal area becomes a cause for anal fissures. Once the blood flow is reduced to any part of the body, the chances of muscle tearing is increased as there is a reduction in the muscle and tissue strength in these regions.

Another common anal fissures cause is childbirth in women. It is the excessive straining in some women during childbirth that leads to anal fissures. No matter what the anal fissure causes may be, its treatment is the same.
Control anal fissure causes

Basically, anal fissures need no treatment as they heal on their own, over a span of a few days or weeks at the most. To help the anal fissures heal, you have to prevent constipation by following a high fiber diet by eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and by drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day.

As hard stools are anal fissure causes, you may have to take stool softeners to soften stools and thus reduce discomfort and bleeding during bowel movements. Even application of petroleum jelly to the rectum helps lubricate the anorectal area to facilitate easy bowel movements