I'm always exploring other aspects or symptoms that arise around my IBS, and this is one that I've been wondering about lately. Back before I got IBS-D about 4 years ago, I got an anal fissure that became chronic...and is still here to this day to some extent, some scarring and skin tabs. I've also noticed that increasingly over time, when I have "normal" BMs, I have to bear down more....like the muscles won't relax. They call it anal stenosis, and can be a result of scarring from the fissure, a result of sphincter spasm due to the fissure being irraitated over time, or having so much diarrhea that the anal muscles contract further because of habit. 10 years ago, I used to know how my body worked...now I don't. Heck, when I have a "normal" BM it might actually be constipation....I can't even distinguish *that* anymore. Maybe it's consitpation and not stenosis....but it's something I have considered. Anyone else have an experience like this?