1. Pain while passing stools: The lower anal canal is an exquisitely sensitive area of skin and can produce fairly significant signals of pain if damaged. Sharp agonizing knife-like pain starts when the individual passes stool. The pain is severe and persists for an hour or so. It ceases suddenly. The sufferer is comfortable until the next action of the bowel. The individual tends to be constipated rather than go through the painful ordeal. If a fissure becomes chronic (long-standing) and deep, another kind of pain can develop. It is a dull ache in the anus and pelvis that starts a few minutes after the bowel movement and can persist for hours after passing stools. This chronic fissure pain is due to spasm of the internal sphincter muscle (one of the small muscles in the anus) and can be quite debilitating.

2. Severe spasm of the anal sphincter (as a protective reflex)

3. Blood streaked stool (typically on the side of the hard stool): It is important to note that the bleeding associated with a fissure-in-ano is bright red and associated with some pain or tenderness in the anus. Dark bleeding of greater amount without any anal tenderness or pain should never be ignored and should be brought to the notice of doctor.

4. Discharge, swelling, and itching occur, especially with chronic fissures. Interestingly, homeopathy has many medicines to relieve the discomfort. Rightly chosen homeopathic medicine covers various aspects of the fissure.

Types of Fissure-in-ano

Fissure-in-ano may present as an acute fissure of recent origin (less than 6 weeks of duration). At this stage fissures are superficial. Some of them may deepen to reach underlying layers and present as a chronic fissure of a long duration (more than 6 weeks of duration) or recurring fissures.
Fissure-in-ano is largely considered as a medico-surgical disorder. However, looking at it in the light of homeopathic medicine, it is medically correctible conditions. Fortunately, in most cases, surgery can be avoided with homeopathy treatment.