15 Proactive Steps to Prevent Anal Fissures

Understanding Anal Fissure Prevention

You see anal fissures commonly between the age group of 20 to 40, though even children get the condition. The causes in different age groups can be different. However, one of the most common causes of all is constipation. 

Hard stools, when passed through your delicate anal canal, cut the anal lining due to the unexpected pressure.

Other preventable causes of anal fissures are:

• Straining during bowel movements,
• Diarrhoea,
• Anal trauma, and
• Associated gut conditions such as irritable bowel diseases.

Understanding your gut and how it works is the best way to prevent the occurrence of anal fissures. Let us see how. 

Top 15 Practices for Preventing Anal Fissures

You will be amazed to know that you can prevent anal fissures in so many different ways. Read on to know what you are doing right and wrong and how much you are doing works for you.

High Fibre Diet

A diet rich in fibre promotes soft and smooth bowel movements. This prevents constipation and improves gut health.

Eat many leafy vegetables and soluble fibres like sweet potatoes to let your gut love you. Some of the best fibres for your anal fissures are wheat bran, oat bran, whole grains including brown rice, oatmeal and whole grain pasta, cereals, legumes, Brussels sprouts, seeds and nuts, citrus fruits, prunes and prune juice. 

Hydration

Intake of enough water helps keep the stools smooth and hydrated. Non-hydrated bowels make the stools hard and sharp, injuring the anal canal as they pass. Include buttermilk, fruit juices and vegetable soups as a part of hydration.

Regular Exercise

You know well how exercise is great for your gut movement. It makes your system work better. Exercise releases endorphins, which are great chemicals released by your body which make your gut happy.

Good Toilet Habits

Ensure you don't linger on the toilet browsing your cell phone or reading magazines for a long time. Being mindful while passing bowels is also essential to your healthy lifestyle. 

Also, avoid using rough wipes. It is best if you use water spray to clean the anal region. 

Avoid Straining

Pushing or straining during bowel movements will injure your anal lining. Regularising your bowel timings is the best way to ensure you pass your stools without difficulty by letting them go off at their own pace and time.

Use Squatting Position

Humans pass stools in a squatting position. However, the toilet designs now come in the sitting position. Sitting position makes the string-like muscles around your rectum pull and close the bowel pathway. This makes the stools difficult to pass. 

If you have sitting toilet seats, use a squatting stool to support your rectum for easy passage of stools.

Avoid Spicy Food

Hot and spicy food irritates the digestive system and burns the protective lining. This is similar to how eating hot and spicy foods irritates your gastric. Spice can also cause constipation. Whenever you eat spicy food, try to neutralise it with a bland and laxative diet such as bananas.

Avoid Anal Intercourse

Less often, having anal sex or putting things into your anal canal can lead to injuries or cuts in your anal lining. If your sphincter (the muscle around your anal canal that controls your bowel movement ) holds very tight, the pressure can give you sharp cuts or fissures. 

Use proper lubrication to avoid injuries or minimise trauma if you engage in anal intercourse at all.

Avoid Stress

Stress can harm your gut health. Stress can make your bowel irregular, not knowing when you get constipation or loose stools. Avoiding stress and learning how to manage it helps your bowel regularise.

Avoid Duration Sitting

Sitting for an extended period can increase the pressure on the anal area, leading to irritation and development of fissures.

Take breaks, use a cushion and maintain a good posture if your work involves sitting for a long time.

Stop Wearing Tight Clothes

If you wear tight clothes around your waist and buttocks, it can contribute to anal discomfort and risk of anal fissures. Tight clothing reduces blood flow, increases friction and puts pressure on the abdomen, affecting the digestive system.

Opt for loose-fitting, breathable clothing that doesn't constrict your waist or buttocks.

Warm Water Sitz Bath

If you have ever experienced anal fissures or you know that there was some stinging pain when you passed the bowel a few times, then a sitz bath is an excellent solution to prevent any further damage.

A warm water sitz bath helps your anal muscles to relax and gives an improved blood flow. This helps in healing whatever cuts you have.

You can also add ayurvedic herbal powders such as Triphala powder, liquorice powder or neem leaves to the sitz bath, which can also help you heal the fissures.

Avoid Overuse of Laxatives

You use laxatives when you have a hard time passing stools. But, overuse of these comfort pills can give you a more challenging time. Habitual intake of laxatives may give you uncontrolled bowel movements leading to straining and irritation of the anal area. This can weaken the anal tissue and make it more susceptible to fissures.

Postpartum Fissure Prevention

If you are a mother who has recently delivered, know that it is expected that you get anal fissures. It is a result of strain during childbirth. To avoid further symptoms, follow a healthy diet, regularise bowel movements, avoid constipation and rest well.

You can lubricate your anal canal before and after bowel movements with any lubricating ointments or ghee (clarified butter).

Visit Your Healthcare Expert

You, indeed, tend to discuss less about your anal region. But it is equally important to reach the area where you cannot see. Let your healthcare expert give you a check-up and examine your anal canal to know what is giving you that pain. 

It is always best to get advice from a professional to know the real cause behind your anal fissure to prevent any further complications. 

To Wrap it Up

Even though the anal region is not reachable to you, you can still practise self-care tips to make your bowel movements happy and healthy.  

Make this painful condition of your anal canal painless just by following these proactive steps. Detect your problem early and shoot away the trouble before it troubles you.