After some research and trial and error, including stories on this site, I started using 100% Virgin Coconut Oil and Mother's Love Sitz Spray, followed by vitamin E suppositories, plus sitting on hot water bottle. Within a week or so, my fissures have nearly healed completely, and they are no longer painful, nor are there any streaks of blood after bowel movements. I can only attribute this to my new regimen, details of which are below.
On a side note, I also have ulcerative colitis. If you have UC, you will want to treat that first, and get any inflammation under control. Depending on how bad your flare up is, you can try to control it with 1-2 herbal supplements called Boswellia and 1-2 probiotic supplements (Vitamin Shoppe brand), plus drink 8 ounces of Trader Joe's Kefir everyday.
My regimen,
Step 1) Drink 2 liters of water a day.
Step 2) Take fiber supplement or powder every day (20g at least).
Step 3) DO NOT use tissue paper after bowel movement, but instead use water and hand to clean yourself.
Step 4) Gently dry area with tissue paper by dabbing not wiping.
Step 5) Take a generous amount of coconut oil, put on tip of index finger, spray some Mother's Love Sitz Spray on it and insert gently into anus. The coconut oil will moisturize the area and the Witch Hazel and other ingredients in the Mother's Love Sitz Spray will immediately calm and sooth the area after a bowel movement. When applying, do not go in so far that it becomes painful. Start out slow and as the swelling and pain go down, you can go in further, after a few days, depending on progress.
Step 6) At nighttime, just before going to sleep, sit on a hot water bottle for about 20-30 minutes to loosen up and relax the sphincter muscle. It's important to keep the sphincter muscle relaxed at all times. Throughout the day, remain conscious of whether or not it is relaxed. Usually stress can cause it to become chronically tight, which will lead to fissures or keep them from healing quickly. If it is tight, try to relax with some deep breathing and focus on relaxing the area.
Step 7) Repeat steps 3-5 (without the bowel movement).
Step
Gently insert a vitamin E suppository in to anus. I used Carlson Key-e Suppositories because they also have a coconut oil base.I think it's important to keep up this routine, my fissures are almost healed and I plan to keep it up for at least a couple months before tapering off a bit to see what happens.
Also, if you can, try to have a bowel movement every other day, because the anal region needs time to heal. I know people say you shouldn't hold you bowel movements, but I feel it really helped.
This worked for me, and hopefully continues to keep working. Hope it works for you should you decide to try it!
