Hello,

So I have been struggling with these fissures for the past 5 years, but the thing is that they came into being in such a particular way that I'm not even sure what they are!

Here is the story. After a heartbreaking love experience in my late teen years I ended up catching anal herpes (the mild kind). So I had the normal herpes in and arround my anus, i had three recognizible crises, but then it got complicated. After the third crisis (a year after being infected) I cought a stomach virus that lasted for about three months. I was passing stool several times a day, which severely dammaged my pernianal area to the point of having constant paper towel cuts. During those months I had a boyfriend with whom I had anal sex, which I think just worsened everything, because it gave me fissures. So, ever since i have paper cuts in this area and I just dont know what it is. I never had a recognizible herpes crisis since. It is just the cuts, withouth pain other then when passing stool and even then is not the same pain as it was when I had the crisis. My doctor thought it was fissures, so she game me a nitoglycerin cream which helped but didint fix anything. I have these cutes that appear every other day, they heal, and reapper two days later. What the hell, its been 5 years

I dont think its the Herpes, because it doestn feel nothing like the first times, and unlike the herpes, its an everyday thing
I dont think its rough toilet paper cleaning because the cuts appear even when i just wash with water for weeks
And I also dont think its fissures because I can feel them heal and then just break again if I were to, for exemple, spread my but cheeks. It seems to easy for a fissure to reapper so easily. But then again, the cuts appear always in the same place : just on the outisde of the anus. I also get itchy so i scratch a little then they appear again.

Anyone can relate? is this just a normal fissure condition or what?

Thanks for reading!

Hi Asiuf,
Sorry to read of your ongoing distress with all these issues.
The first thing you really must do is get back to your GP and ask for referral to a CRS (Colon & Rectal Specialist) for a proper diagnosis of this.
My first off instincts are telling me that this is not a typical anal fissure condition as you might read here, especially if it is more generalised and you are not getting the horrible lingering pain that accompanies a BM for a few hours after, but you may well have developed another form of anal irritation, such as Pruritus Ani, Psoriasis or even Eczema down there. All of these are different issues but ones that might cause inflammations, itching or dryness (cracking of the skin) and discomfort & will need to be treated accordingly with certain medications and measures.
The main thing is until you know what you are dealing with, it could be that ointments etc. that you are currently using for relief could actually be making things worse and you could be dealing with a bit of a vicious circle. Personally, I would stop using anything you might be using for relief until I saw a specialist, keep the area nice & clean with plain hot water, stop using baby wipes (if you do because you might have a reaction to these) - just use a soft towel to dab gently with no additional pressure & maybe use a gentle baby-type barrier cream sparingly (such as Sudocrem).....Just keep the area clean/ cotton airy underwear etc. until you know more.
It possibly isn't the Herpes but something secondary to that now.
Just get it checked out & don't worry too much about it all.
Wishing you all the very best in finding some answers to your questions:)

P.S As you probably know try NOT to scratch because long-term it will not help - You could scratch gently around the area that it is irritating you but obviously, the more you leave things alone, the better - This is very difficult though I appreciate, especially if it's driving you crazy!!!