Hello I have finally triumphed over my Anal Fissure - abscess. I'm currently a 34 year old male. I was a little over weight when the anal fissure opened up. We believe it started as a deeper abscess as I was having testicular pain for about a month before the fissure opened up. The nerve pain is 100% linked to the fissure . December 2017- I had a round of Mexican food with extreme hot sauce. This was my first mistake. I ended up with diarrhea and an anal fissure. I figured it would heal on its own. I had fissures before and I would suffer for a month and it would go away. I figured I was on the same path and started eating smarter and smaller portions with fiber.

January 2018 – March I was still trying to baby this fissure and get it to heal. The pain was intense at times. This was at the point I started to spasm and having a really bad time. If I pooped in the morning I was worthless until afternoon. I was living on ansaid pain relievers. I was in crippling pain. I started to tear up in a business meeting because it was so bad. I couldn’t do any chores around the house or play with my kids. I started researching “cures” on the internet like shoving garlic up my butt and I decided it was time for professional help.

April 2018 – I went to my general practitioner doctor and was brushed aside with creams and suppositories. I had an external fissure so I’m not sure what a suppository was going to do. I tried them all and many made the situation much worse. I went with this plan for about a month before realizing it was stupid.

May 2018 – I decided to research a new colon rectal doctor on my own. The referral I received was sketchy at best and it seemed the doctors were more interested in doing a bunch of colonoscopies than dealing with my problem. That is when I found doctor Shacket. He is in Scottsdale, Arizona and runs what I would call a boutique practice. Much of his work is lasering off hemorrhoids and small things like the fissure. The first day he I went to his office I had relief. He used nitrous oxide to sedate me and did trigger point injections cleaned the wound and also did Botox., This gave me immediate relief from the spasm pain and made my life bearable again. He explained I probable had a deeper abscess and we would just need to see. I can't say how much I recommend Dr. Shacket if you are in the Phoenix area.

June 2018 – I went back to DR Shacket for more trigger point injections and a cleanup. He informed me at that time it would probably not heal on its own and it needed cleaned up and a small “nic” LIS as well as a gland removed. We scheduled the operation about a month out. I also ended up on Vicodin and anti-biotics at this time.

July 2018 – I went in for my fisurectomy and modified LIS surgery. He again did this all in office under Nitrous Oxide. It is a very different experience being awake but not caring one bit about what is going on behind. All seemed to go very well I pooped the next day and while I was in pain the fissure pain was worse. I also had Percocet at this time.

July 2018 – The infection! After about 10 days a woke up in a very different pain. The fissure had not discharged any liquid in days and I figured I was healed. I went to pass gas and I discharged a bunch of puss. I was in California on vacation with my kids and we were supposed to drive home that day and we did. It was the weekend so Dr. Shaket was unavailable and I started to get a fever. I was also in a bunch of pain. I ended up in the emergency room. The fissure had healed on the outside but still had an infection inside and that infection wanted out. It decided on two paths but was draining. I was given IV antibiotics and more pain killers and then was sent home. I was in the worst pain of my life. I was able to get into doctor Shacket on Monday. The abscess made a sack along the outside of my anus and needed to be cut open. This left me was a ½ open would on the outside of my anus. I was in an utter state of disbelief. I ended up on more percocet and antibiotics. I was in less pain after it was sliced open. I now had to cover everything in AD ointment before and after a BM.

August to October 2018 The wound continued to heal and did so nicely for few months until we got back to the original fissure that still would not. We continued trigger point injections and clean up. Dr Shacket suspected a Fistula and decided to probe the track. We found the track was only ½ to ¾ inch so it was superficial at best. I also had to detox off pain killers at this time and that sucked. After four months I was addicted. I quit smoking years ago and this was worse.

November – 2018 The fissure/fistula/abscess still would not fully heal but I was not in much pain. I would call it more an annoyance. I could have just changed my definition of pain. I had changed my diet and was drinking two giant kale smoothies a day. I was only eating a solid meal at dinner. This made my poops amazing. Much more effective than any stool softening product of fiber I have had. I was done with a BM in like 35 seconds. I still do one kale smoothie a day and it is really amazing what it does for digestive health. I also try to eat a fiber vegetable with every meal.

I was also recommended to Dr. Venkatesh at tri-city colorectal in Gilbert Arizona by Dr. Shaket for a second opinion. Dr. Venkatesh does more advanced surgeries in a “real” surgical center. Dr. Shacket’s setup is more like an office for minor operations. I had my consult with Dr. Venkatesh and he recommended a LIS surgery and cleaning. I scheduled the surgery for the end of November.

I went in for the surgery later in the afternoon and that sucked because I couldn’t eat or drink. I talked with half a dozen people and was wheeled into the back. I was given my anesthesia and I went to sleep. I woke up to my little girl informing me I did great. The doctor gave me a local that kept me numb for almost 3 days. This was a godsend because the first few BMs would have sucked.
December – 2018 I continued to do AD ointment and kale smoothies. I went back to the doctor yesterday and he confirmed what I knew and the fissure has healed.

This was one of the worst experiences of my life. I have been in horrible pain, addicted to pain killers and at times felt suicidal. . I have paid 100% of $3000 deductible on top of the ER doctor that was out of network for an additional $450. I have never had a though of self-harm in my life. I’m so happy this is coming to an end and I have a success story to tell you all. I gained a bunch of weight from eating sugar and being inactive. I was depressed especially when on the pain killers. I'm going to start the new year off right by continuing to eat right and start to work out regularly again.

Congratulations...i pray it's behind you now.
Do you mind me asking how much time did the abscess took to heal?
I'm 11 days post op abcsess drainage and fistulotomy and still very very sore.
I would say 8/10
Can't sit can't walk more than 5 min

I'm so glad you are better your experience sounds dreadful. It's incredible what a small area of your body when it goes wrong can do to your mind and daily life. It' gives hope to others to share success stories. I also hope I can end my pain and 2019 becomes a year when I put this behind me.

I figured I would post a one year update. I still have car tissue and at times you can still feel it is not 100% the way it was. It is much much much better and I will go weeks without directly thinking about it. I still make wise eating choices and will do kale smoothies or a couple spoon fulls of olive oil. I also drink excessive amount of water. Working outside for three days without adequate water and mexican food that set this in motion.

That’s great news. Perhaps in time you will not notice it at all although all the good measures like water , diet you put in place are worth following forever. Really pleased for you.