i always clean with sea salt water and a baby wipe after a bowel movement just to stop the risk of another abcess, but after i have done that i now dip a cotton bud into my pot of salts and put it directly onto my wound i do it in the morning, lunch time and late afternoon i am not going to lie it hurts a lot but only for 5 mins! i have felt very sore because of it but if its working i don't care! is it normal do you think to feel more pain if its healing and getting smaller? x

Hi, I had my fissure for over 8 years. I had a failed LIS and waited 5 years before I went back for more help. I was scared. I finally had double advancement flaps a few years ago. If I had to do this all over again I wouldn't have waited so long on the surgery. I couldn't pass a pea that's how bad things got for me. The surgery is a little tough and the recovery is long but the pain isn't as bad as you think. I have IBS too. You have to decide if you want to live the way you are now or you want to try to do something to help the situation. Your fissure is chronic and that makes it very difficult to heal on it's own and even harder to keep it from happening again. I hope you find some relief soon. Suzy

Hi Suzy, how did you LIS fail? Did you just not heal after it? How long was your recovery with the skin flap? With that I was worried about the stiches coming out as I have a problem with straining

My LIS healed but because I had so much scar tissue (which doesn't stretch) the fissure kept opening up. As it healed and opened it created more scar tissue to the point that the area no longer could stretch to pass a solid bm period. When I had surgery I could literally not pass a pea. It would get stuck. I waited so long because of fear that I need 2 advancement flaps. All my stitches were on the inside. My CRS left my donor sites open so as to not cause extra scar tissue. It was a tricky few months and 2 years before everything settled but I should have done it sooner. You adjust slowly. You learn what does and doesn't work for you. I use miralax every evening in a cup of tea. I used to eat a lot of fiber but after surgery I found it to be too much. I followed my surgeon instructions to the letter to avoid infection with the open sites and I dilated startings at 2 or 3 weeks post surgery. Dilating is very important. It's not easy when you first start but after you get comfortable it takes a few seconds and it's done. As far as straining if you take miralax and you find the right amount that works for you straining shouldn't be a problem. Never sit on the toilet more than a few minutes if you're not producing a bm. Get up walk away and try again later. Good luck Suzy

Hi, what do you mean by dilating? Do you mean self dilating? I keep hearing about miralax, I'm on molaxole is it the same kind of thing? I'm so glad you have managed to heal after such a long time! Do you do a special diet to help? X

How's everyone doing? So the salts have been really helping but one day it seems to open up slightly then the next looks like skin and then back to looking open and red again I feel like I'm going round in circles! I'm feeling really sore the last couple of days too and I'm sure the Botox has nearly ran out I'm feeling a lot more tighter

Hi becka,
That must be very annoying for you, strange that if it's starting to heal that it opens again even though your not straining or anything.
Well I think I jinxed myself because after 2 weeks of decent BMs my IBS has decided that it's going to show off big time having really bad stomach cramps and have already had one explosive BM...not a happy bunny now

I know I'm wondering whether my stools are too loose and that's what's causing it now! Oh no that's not nice at all Hun i hate the fact that ibs can be so unpredictable:(

I know it's like I haven't eaten anything different...all I can think is I had a bit of lemonade at the train station but not even half a can and I'm normally fine with it.
Yes the looser the stools the more pain I'm in my ideal BM is a Bristol 3 any looser and it gets way too acidic and makes the fissure sting and burn then the spasms start.
We'll I'm on my second BM in 20 mins....this is not going to be a good night lol

How strange I'm usually ok with lemonade too but then my ibs just likes to play up randomly! I find that too, can the loose stools and the acid cause it to open up slightly? I'm wondering if that's what's happening... can't believe your still getting the spasms I thought the LIS would of helped that by now!