Hey there,
Unknowingly until recent, I have had chronic anal fissures for a good portion of my life. I am a 24 y/o male and have noticed blood on my tp for about 10 years on and off. The pain has never been THAT bad other than the times when I over eat (mostly on camping trips where I only eat red meat) then Im paying for it the next week. I thought it was just normal until I recently began getting gas pains at night for 4 nights straight so I ended up doing some research and read up on these anal fissures. After researching about a/f more, i feel lucky that I don't have it as bad as some but I'm worried that if I don't get it checked out it could get worse. Does anyone have any experience where they went from painless to painful over time? Im just dreading the doc shoving anything up that end...I feel that part of my body is an 'exit only' passage, yknow? Help me while I can still be helped please!
Thanks a load,
Brett

Welcome to the board, Waverunner...
The blood on the TP is *one* "symptom" of AF, but of course could indicate other things, too, but gas pains aren't. The rectal exam IS unpleasant, but quite endurable for *most* people. You are really going to have the get one to get diagnosed properly, however, it may be that your fissure is visible simply by gently spreading your anal canal without any, um, penetration. mine was! That's why its an anal, rather than a rectal, fissure -- it should be fairly close to the opening.
Are you having pain during the BM, immediately after, or are you having painful spasms a few minutes to a few hours after the BM?
Look around the site and I am sure you will find TONS of very useful information -- here's a good start:
http://anal-fissure.org/general-anal-fissure-discussion-f2/i-have-an-af-what-should-i-know-t1849.htm

Hi Kim thanks for the reply. The gas pains are unrelated but I was searching webMD and was just reading and realized I could possibly have chronic AF since its been going on for so long....duriing BM theres relatively no pain but constantly have blood on the TP during these gassy stints since im trying to relive myself so often from the pain. I think its probably time for me to start watching more what I eat. I dont drink pop or eat fast foods but I do eat a lot of red meat and drink a ton of beer. Ill check out that post, so thanks again.

There are other possible causes of blood besides AF--internal hemmroids, for example.

Well im pretty sure there is a sentinel pile down there...I havnt looked in a mirror or anything but Im pretty sure there is one. I just dont want it to get worse...it stings in the shower but only for a second...Im wondering if anyone else started with a painless one that doesnt affect their lives that turned into a nightmare....

It's normal to be apprehensive about having a rectal exam, but IMO it's really the best thing you can do right now. You're right that you should get help while you can still be helped, and the only way to do that is to find out what it is you're dealing with. As Kim and Cheryl have suggested, bleeding and pain/discomfort can be caused by fissures as well as other things.
The possibilities run the gamut from very sinister ones like cancer or inflammatory bowel disease to largely harmless (but still painful and uncomfortable) ones like hemorrhoids to fissures. I don't say this to scare you, and of course it's extremely unlikely that you have some kind of terrible problem (especially cancer if the symptoms have been around for 10 years already), but I think it's important to have yourself checked instead of guessing. Both fissures and hemorrhoids get harder to treat the long you ignore them.
If you wonder why I'm so adamant about this, it's because I myself had anal discomfort (mostly intense itching) and occasional blood during pooping for maybe 4 years and just ignored it. Then in year 5, after taking antibiotics for a while, I ended up with a fissure. The feeling went from annoying itching to severe debilitating pain. To this day, I don't know if I had a mild fissure the whole time, or if I just had hemorrhoids before and then got a fissure. That's because I didn't go to the doctor or make any changes to my diet until the pain was completely killing me and ruining my life. Don't let yourself end up where I did.
BTW the first time you have a rectal exam is indeed pretty weird. Truthfully the weirdness wears off very quickly though. Most doctors will try to use a small scope (just a plastic tube that's several inches long) to look around inside, but as Kim says, some doctors don't even have to in order to see a fissure. Doctors can sometimes see or diagnose fissures by gently spreading the buttocks, or by doing a very gentle probe with the fingers. It's not that big of a deal, and it's worth it to prevent whatever it is from progressing.
Oh and the sentinel pile, that's definitely a possibility with a chronic fissure. If you can feel it outside the anus, it could be a skin tag from some other anal injury too. Could be an external hemorrhoid as well. It's hard to say, but a doctor (preferably a GI doctor or a colorectal surgeon) can tell you right away.

Yeap - I just second all said above !!!
First exam I thought I would not survive and it was actually less painful than my BM since a lot of local anesthetic was used as well as small plastic tube with a TON of lubricant.
Later exams became such a routine that I would start undressing before the doctor would even leave the room LMAO - would be like - OK - lets get over with this so I can go to Starbucks and relax LOL

i got my fissure about 13 years ago--deadly painful when i first got it, then it would come and go--only had a couple attacks a year that lasted a couple days each--bearable...
finally got to the point where this past fall i was in bed for 3 weeks straight--i couldn't do ANYTHING besides take vicodin and tylenol pm so i could just be asleep or mostly asleep all day...
then this winter the pain started in january and wouldn't go away--i was taking narcotics and eventually valium (which was my lifesaver) like it was candy and still in tons of pain--i had started a new job so staying in bed was not an option...
i had LIS about a month ago and after 13 years i honestly believe i'm done with my fissure--i'm going to stay careful (i hardly ever drink and i'm a vegetarian so i've got two dietary habits that are really af-friendly)
i had a rectal exam today...i'm not even sure if she used lidocaine--but i'm so loose after my surgery that i can take it like a man now
get an exam...get a diagnosis...and go from there...

Thanks for all the support people, I appreciate it.

Oh, Dee, you've had such trials and tribulations with your butt! :roll: Surprised that your doc would perform a rectal exam if everything is going so well for you, but, as you said, you took it like a man!!