Fissures after Childbirth

Anal fissures are a very common occurrence in pregnancy. During the third trimester of pregnancy, from week 29 to birth, your risk of having an anal fissure is increased. You may also develop anal fissures after childbirth because when all the pushing and straining happens, increased pressure is put on your muscles and sometimes causes the lining of your anus to tear.

An anal fissure is a tear or ulcer in the lining of the anal canal, just inside the opening of your anus.  Such pregnancy fissures can be very painful, especially when  you are passing stools and for a while afterwards.  The initial sharp pain is normally replaced by a deep burning pain which may be felt for several minutes or even several hours after you have been to the toilet.  Anal fissures can also cause minor bleeding, which you may notice on the stools themselves or on your toilet paper.

So anal fissures usually have just the two main symptoms of  pain and bleeding.

Anal fissures in pregnancy can be classified in several different ways:

• An acute anal fissure is one which has been present for less than 6 weeks.
• A chronic anal fissure is the name given to one that is 6 weeks or older.
• A primary anal fissure is one for which there is no identifiable underlying cause but is thought to be something to do with the way your anus muscles work.  The internal sphincter, which is the muscle surrounding the anus, sometimes contracts too strongly.  This spasm causes increased pressure in the anal canal making it more susceptible to tearing.  At the same time, the increased pressure also restricts the blood flow to your anus, preventing your body from healing itself in the normal way, and from healing the fissure at the same time.
• A secondary anal fissure is so named because there is a known underlying cause such as constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, pregnancy or even a sexually transmitted infection.

 

Approximately 1 in 100 women will develop anal fissures in late pregnancy but it is more common for these to occur after the birth of the baby – the figure then rises to 1 in 7 new moms.  If you have any kind of rectal bleeding with your pregnancy, it should be mentioned to your health provider so that he or she can check it out but usually ensuring your stools are soft and easy to pass will solve the problem.  H-Fissures  is specially formulated to treat symptoms of anal fissures.

In addition, you should eat a high fiber diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, drink some 8 glasses of water a day, keep up with regular exercise and never put off going to the toilet.