Hello everyone, my name is Erek and I am a 23 year old gay male.
I've been reading through some of the topics and I am so glad to have found such a helpful welcoming community.
I'd like to start by saying that I am not entirely sure that I even have an anal fissure. I know that seeing a doctor in these situations is essential, but unfortunately I live in NYC where it takes weeks for any doctor to see you. I do have an appointment made for the future.
My story begins around February of this year...I had begun to develop some rather obsessive hygiene habits in the shower, one of them being thoroughly soaping up my anus on a daily basis with a soap that I later came to find out is known for drying out your skin. I was doing this for a bit and one day I passed an unpleasant BM and found that there was about a nickle-sized amount of bright red spotting on the toilet paper. This was the first time I remember such a thing happening, and I am pretty positive it was caused by my soaping.While it did hurt to pass it, I wouldn't describe it as excruciating. The pain went away and the bleeding only lasted about 2 or 3 days.
Ever since then, about once every 2 months or so, I will experience very small amounts of blood on the toilet paper. It never lasts more than a day or two and I usually put neosporin on it immediately. I never feel discomfort of any kind aside from the actual bowel movement.
The past two weeks, however, have been different. I've been experiencing small amounts of bleeding off and on throughout this time as well as some itching and discomfort throughout the day. The small amount of pain I do feel during a BM does seem to be more external than internal...more the actual anus. I guess I am having a hard time understanding if what I am experiencing is a fissure or hemorrhoids or both. Again, I know I need to see a doctor but I can't get in until mid-October. I did see a doctor once before, a day after I noticed a small amount of bleeding and he said he did not see anything unusual and my stool tested negative for blood.
The impression I get from reading about fissures is that they are so unbelievably excruciating, and what I experience is "unpleasantness" at the most. So this makes part of me think that maybe I am experiencing something different...possibly hemorrhoids. But then I think back to what started all of this and a fissure makes sense.
I'm just really scared and depressed. Because I am gay, my butt is kind of an important aspect of my sexuality and I just feel like this could be a potential death sentence for my sex life. Although, I have had anal sex since the first bloody episode and it didn't cause any problems whatsoever.
I am sure to always be hydrated and I take a lot of fiber in my diet. I usually BM 2-3 times a day and there's usually nothing on the toilet paper. I also rarely "push" as I know that's not good for you. I started taking sitz baths as of yesterday. I've noticed a pattern during the past two weeks...the first morning BM of the day will usually draw blood while the next one or two do not.
Anyway...that's me. Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated. :)

Hi there Erek-Welcome to butts anonymous! If you are spending a disproportinate time thinking about your rear end this is the place for you.
It sounds that you are at the beginning of whatever is happening down there and I really think that you need to get back to your doctor. Sometimes they can't see what is going on - I've got a 4 mm fissure and my doctor couldn't see it until I showed him where it was. It may not be a fissure it may be hemorrhoids or something else - but I know from experience that in the acute phase ( early on) these things can be easier to treat - once you get into the chronic phase later on things become a little bit more tricky. It has been a slow build for me - little problems developing over 6 or so years and I wish I had been more proactive in understanding the problem earlier.
I'm glad you have found the forum because butt problems can be very alienating and support from everyone here has made a real difference to me, and now hopefully for you , keep in touch. :)

Hi Erek ~
Welcome! I'm so sorry to hear about your butt problems, but you are lucky to have found this board so early on. There's tons of helpful advice.
Of course, you can only really know what's going on by seeing a doctor, preferably a colorectal surgeon (CRS) if you can.
The one thing I want to point out is that fissure pain is not always excruciating. I often had only the bleeding...and no pain. Then there were times when I had no bleeding, but I would experience an aching feeling after a bowel movement that would last from a few minutes to all day long.
If you read through people's experiences, you'll notice that for some people the pain is indeed excruciating. There are some people who would rather go through childbirth than deal with the pain of a fissure! That just sounds horrible to me because I never had that level of pain. But then there are others who feel little to no pain, but have associated problems such as bleeding.
Fitchatak is right...it sounds like whatever you have going on is in the early stages (acute) and now is the time to address it before it turns chronic and much more difficult to treat. Hopefully, you can see a doctor ASAP.
Oh...and one thing my CRS told me early on is that soap is bad for the anus...too harsh and drying. I still use a little on occasion, but I don't go crazy. When I do, I make sure it's all-natural and has no naughty ingredients like sulfates, parabens, etc. I had surgery 2 weeks ago, so I'm not using soap at all right now.
Anyway...keep us informed on how you're doing!