The incision is made over the internal anal sphincter muscle. Once the incision is made in the skin, some of the muscle fibers of the internal sphincter are divided. This releases the tension off of the skin at the anal fissure. This allows the fissure to heal as the skin closes. If swollen skin and scar tissue are present at the fissure, these may also be removed.
Individuals can usually be back to work two to ten days after their surgery.
Thrombosed external hemorrhoids are blood blisters under the skin of the anal opening. Bowel movements that are too hard scrape across the anal skin and cause a shearing action. This causes the blood vessels below the skin to tear. The stronger skin above is left intact. This is not dangerous to the rest of the body.