I'm asking because I tend to bleed every now & then after a bowel movement. Sometimes it's only a dab, sometimes it's quite a bit; about the same as if you cut yourself. Also, usually the blood is bright red, and sometimes it's a little darker. Sometimes, like tonight, I'll notice a small squirt of blood in the toilet as well. Usually directly on top of the stool, again, like tonight. Now, I'm not in much pain, which puzzles me. I feel a very slight burning sensation down there, but nothing unbearable. Does that sound like a lot of blood?

Also, is blood always a bad sign? I always thought that the presence of blood is a sign of re-tearing. But then again I'm not so sure if the fissure is always open regardless if blood is present or not. Any thoughts on that?

From my own experience (no blood with my fissure) and reading other people's experiences here, I'd say that blood is not an indicator of tearing. Internal hemmies can bleed without pain, and a lot of us probably have both fissure and hemmies.

I think pain is much more of an indicator of how we are doing.
I don't really know what is considered a lot of blood. Perhaps somebody else will weigh in.