An anal fissure is a tear of the mucosa in the anus. Common reasons are dry and hard stool and needing to strain to open your bowels. Due to the pain, the sphincter cramps. Even more straining becomes necessary. With every bowel movement, the lesion is opened up again, cannot heal and becomes bigger and a chronic condition. As a result of an anal fissure, an abscess or a fistula may form.

An acute anal fissure may cause excruciating pain when passing stool, which can last up to several hours. Very often there are also bright red bands of blood in the stool or on the toilet paper.

With a chronic anal fissure the pain typically is less severe. In contrast to the acute anal fissure, the discomfort during bowel movement is tolerably bearable.

However, a few minutes after defecation the intensity of the pain will significantly increase, and may even continue for an extended period of time.

In general haemorrhoids are harmless, but they are unpleasant and cause discomfort. Haemorrhoids become pathological when the cushion located in the lower anal canal is swollen and the blood cannot flow off easily. The result: The small blood vessels of the vascular structure get enlarged and form knobby swellings of the mucosa.

Only enlarged haemorrhoids need treatment. Depending on their stage, the symptoms may include itchiness, burning sensation, weeping at the rectum, bleeding, foreign body sensation when defecating and/or occasional prolapse and pain respectively.

Haemorrhoids are considered a civilisation disease, i. e. your lifestyle is one of the primary causes. These factors are believed to play a role in the swelling of haemorrhoids:

• unhealthy eating habits with little fibre in the food
• not drinking enough
• prolonged sitting and lack of exercise
• straining when defecating (dry and hard stool)
• congenital or acquired connective tissue disease