I've been suffering from hemorrhoids and a fissure on and off for the past 2 years. My doctor says that all my of hemorrhoids are internal, and thus shouldn't have any pain. However I am having some pain during my BM's the past few weeks. This pain is about 50% of when my fissure was at its worst, however it's still painful on the initial 'push'. The only pain after a bm happens when I 'flex' the muscle -- there's some discomfort but no sharp pain.

Anyways today I decided to take a picture to see if I could see my fissure reopening (I'm more worried about that than the hemorrhoids). What I saw I was quite surprised by. The hemorrhoid was way bigger than I expected and also very purple which worried me. I didn't even expect to see a hemorrhoid because my doctor said they were internal. Now, granted, this was shortly after a bm and then a shower, so the hemorrhoid might be 'out' a little bit still.

Can anyone tell me what kind of hemorrhoid this is and how it compares to what they have experienced themselves? Also, since the camera orientation is messed up, the right side of that photo represents the 6:00 position of my anus (the part nearest my feet). That is where my fissure was at one time and you can kind of tell things look a little 'off' there. Does anyone see a fissure in the picture? When I have google imaged searched online the fissure will usually be an oval shaped cut where you can clearly see that it's split open.

My dilemma is this:
My doctor says my hemorrhoids are internal and should not be hurting. If that's the case then the pain must be coming from my fissure, which scares me.

WARNING: This is a picture of a 34 y/o male's unsightly anus. Please do not look if you are squeamish. For anyone that does look, thank you for trying to help me with my problem.

http://i.imgur.com/qbb0zzg.jpg

I believe what I see is a thrombosed hemorrhoid. It looks very purple to me, and that indicates a blood clot. It's not very swollen... So I expect it may well re-absorb the clot and settle down.
I think I can see a small fissure to the right of the picture. It doesn't look too bad.... But we all know even the tiniest fissure hurts like hell!
I would go back and see your CRS, just for peice of mind.

Now for my dinner......... Lol

OMB x

+1 on the thrombosed hem diagnose. Looks external to me, or at least partially external.

Regarding the possible fissure, then the picture doesn't show the area clearly enough for me to see any.
I agree, it looks a bit off, but so does my rear end, even after I healed my fissure.