TREATMENT OF THE MONTH:ANAL FISSURES OR TEARS ARE A COMMON PROBLEM, OFTEN BROUGHT ABOUT BY STRAINING WHEN CONSTIPATED.

If you do happen to be among the 10 per cent of people reckoned to suffer from anal fissures, medicine has got an interesting new treatment lined up for you.

It’s moving away from standard treatment of surgical sphincterotomy because the procedure can lead to permanent anal deformity and incontinence.

Instead, they are beginning to use injections of the lethal poison botulinum toxin. A study among 30 sufferers showed that the treatment had relieved the symptoms in 87 per cent of cases, and 73 per cent were healed.

So one man’s poison. . .