Functional anorectal pain is subdivided into three categories (levator ani syndrome, unspecified functional anorectal pain, proctalgia fugax) based on the duration of pain and the presence or absence of tenderness elicited by posterior traction of the puborectalis muscle after excluding organic diseases that may cause rectal pain. Levator ani syndrome presents chronic or recurrent rectal pain lasting 30 min or longer, which serves to distinguish it from the shorter pain episodes characteristic of proctalgia fugax. Levator ani syndrome involves tenderness elicited by posterior traction of the puborectalis muscle and serves to distinguish it from unspecified functional anorectal pain, which presents with similar symptoms but lacks this specific tenderness. Proctalgia fugax presents a sudden, severe rectal pain that lasts from a few seconds to several minutes (rarely up to 30 min) and resolves completely. Symptoms must have been present for at least 6 months, and all criteria must be met during the most recent 3 months in functional anorectal pain. Conservative treatment is usually performed for functional anal pain.