Can anal fissures cause itching?

Written by Yu Xu Chao

Colorectal Surgery

Updated on June 28, 2025

00:00

00:00

In most cases, anal fissures do not cause itching. Clinically, anal fissures mainly lead to pain during defecation and minor bleeding, with significant pain during and after defecation, lasting about 10 to 20 minutes. Moreover, patients with later-stage anal fissures often have subcutaneous fistulae and external hemorrhoids. However, in the case of anal itching, the patient might also have anal eczema or perianal condyloma acuminatum, necessitating a visit to the proctology department of a hospital for a digital anal examination and local secretion tests for diagnosis. For early-stage anal fissures, conservative treatment with medications can be chosen, along with maintaining smooth bowel movements to avoid dry and hard stools. In the case of chronic anal fissures, surgical treatment is required.

Other Voices

home-news-image

Written by Wang Ji Zhong

Internal Medicine

1min 12sec

home-news-image

Are anal fissures and hemorrhoids the same thing?

Hemorrhoids and anal fissures are common clinical conditions, but their symptoms are completely different. Generally, they both share a common symptom, which is the presence of rectal bleeding, and this bleeding is usually bright red blood. The difference between anal fissures and hemorrhoids is that anal fissures primarily cause pain, while hemorrhoids primarily cause bleeding. Hemorrhoids only cause severe pain when external hemorrhoids become inflamed and swollen, while anal fissures often involve enlargement of the anal papillae. Hemorrhoids do not involve enlargement of the anal papillae, and while anal fissures can involve skin tears around the anal canal, hemorrhoids do not. During a digital rectal exam, this can be diagnosed; hemorrhoids are caused by poor local venous circulation, leading to venous congestion and the formation of vascular bulges. Depending on their location, they are divided into internal and external hemorrhoids. Anal fissures are skin tears located on the more lateral parts of the anus, and during defecation, the tear worsens, bleeding and causing severe pain, whereas hemorrhoids usually do not cause severe pain.

home-news-image

Written by Hu Xiang Dang

Colorectal Surgery Department

1min 15sec

home-news-image

Is anal fissure serious?

People often ask whether anal fissures are serious and what the consequences might be if they are not treated. Although treating anal fissures is not particularly difficult clinically, many patients, due to a lack of treatment knowledge and awareness of the condition, often delay treatment, which can cause some harm to their health. If an anal fissure is not treated, in addition to the pain during bowel movements and bleeding that the fissure itself causes, over time, it could also lead to conditions such as anal fistula and hypertrophied anal papillae. At the end of the fissure, a sentinel pile may develop. Due to the repeated irritation by fecal matter in an inflamed fissure, a linear ulcer may form. The skin and subcutaneous tissue around the anus might undergo fibrosis, thickening, or. form a hard lump. If the fissure repeatedly becomes infected, it can lead to the development of an anal sinus, and after infection, it may cause subcutaneous fistulas or abscesses. Of course, if an anal fissure persists over time, due to long-term spasm and fibrosis of the internal sphincter, it can lead to consequences such as anal stenosis.

home-news-image

Written by Wang Ji Zhong

Internal Medicine

50sec

home-news-image

Anal fissures occur in which part?

Anal fissures are an extremely common condition in proctology. They occur in the fragile and narrowest tissue of the anal canal due to the combined effect of various internal and external factors, leading to the opening and cracking of the digestive tract outlet up to the dentate line and the surface of the anal margin. The oval-shaped small ulcers that form from anal fissures usually occur at the anal region, aligning parallel to the longitudinal direction of the anal canal. The condition is often recurrent and difficult to heal. The angle continuation between the anal canal and the rectum means that the posterior wall of the anal canal is under the most pressure during bowel movements. Therefore, the posterior midline is most susceptible to injury and is also the most common site for the occurrence of anal fissures.

home-news-image

Written by Hu Xiang Dang

Colorectal Surgery Department

2min 23sec

home-news-image

What is the best treatment for anal fissures?

How should an anal fissure be treated? It can be addressed from several aspects. First, let's talk about general treatment. What is the principle of our treatment? It is to relieve pain after bowel movements and gradually promote the healing of the fissure. However, the first step is to relieve the spasm of the sphincter, then facilitate bowel movements to interrupt the vicious cycle. But what specific measures are there? One is to take a sitz bath with traditional Chinese medicine for pain relief, such as "Shen Soup," and a 1:5000 potassium permanganate solution after defecation, maintaining local cleanliness. Then, by orally taking some laxatives or paraffin oil, feces can be softened and lubricated. Alternatively, by increasing water intake and eating more fiber-rich foods, constipation can be corrected to keep the bowels clear. In more severe cases, such as those with sphincter spasms, we can perform anal dilation under local anesthesia. By dilating the anus, the spasm of the sphincter can be relieved, and the healing of the fissure can also be promoted. However, this method has a relatively high recurrence rate, and there may also be complications such as severe bleeding, perianal abscess, and fecal incontinence. Anal dilation should be treated by a doctor, and patients should not blindly use it themselves. Of course, there is also surgical treatment. Once an anal fissure has reached a certain degree, generally a chronic anal fissure, many patients need to undergo surgical treatment. Naturally, there are several surgical methods available. We choose different surgical methods according to the condition and severity of the anal fissure. For example, if the patient has an anal fissure that presents with sentinel piles and hypertrophic anal papillae, but there is no anal stricture or internal sphincter spasm, a simple excision of the fissure can be performed. This involves removing the pathological tissue of the fissure, excising the infective anal sinus along with the hypertrophic anal papillae and sentinel piles, allowing the fissure wound to drain openly. However, if there is associated anal stricture, or there is an internal sphincter spasm, we also need to perform an internal sphincterotomy.

home-news-image

Written by Wang Hui Jie

Gastroenterology

1min 1sec

home-news-image

What should I do about rectal bleeding from an anal fissure?

Firstly, if rectal bleeding occurs before a doctor's diagnosis, it is imperative to seek medical attention promptly to rule out other conditions. The cause of the bleeding could be from a site above the anus or other diseases related to the anus, and it might not necessarily be an anal fissure. If diagnosed with an anal fissure, treatment generally involves the local application of ointment. It is important to avoid conditions in daily life that could lead to constipation or diarrhea, as these can irritate the mucous membrane of the anus and exacerbate the symptoms of an anal fissure. Dietarily, it is beneficial to eat more vegetables, fruits, and foods high in rough fiber to ensure that stools are well-formed. If anal fissures recur, do not avoid seeking medical help, as this could lead to the formation of scars and contractions around the anus, causing anal stenosis, at which point surgery would be necessary.