Have you tried Miralax? I've decided that's essentially what healed my 4-year old fissure, along with Sitz baths and Nifedipine ointment. None of my efforts were working until Miralax came on the scene. My CRS said I could use it for 6 weeks.

Could you try Botox before the anal stretching? Would Botox be more conservative?

Hi Everyone,
I am new to posting in the forum, but I have been getting a tremendous amount of support and inspiration from reading all your posts, so I figured it was time to give back with some info on my experience.
quick background: AF appeared about 4 months ago. Very painful to me, but considering other's experiences in this forums, I think my AF is one of the less severe cases.
Visited a couple of doctors, have been doing the "diet, suppositories, soaking, diltiazem" dance for 4 months. At times it seemed it was almost healed, but usually a question of time before it got bad again.
After much debate, I finally decided to get the dilatation done, which took place yesterday. I wasn't sure I wanted to get it since I have always been scared of being completely sedated, but finally decided to go ahead with it and this is more or less the events that took place:
It all happened very fast, I had the anesthesiologist hook me up with an IV, and started to take my pressure, pulse, etc. They sat me down "in the position", and the anesthesiologist said "you are going to start feeling very relaxed". Before I knew it, I was out. To me, it was all instantaneous, I opened my eyes not sure whether it had taken place already. All said and done, I was out maybe 15 minutes, no more. I felt a little dizzy, but otherwise fine.
When the local anesthetic wore off, I was in a LOT of pain, in spite of some serious painkillers. It hurt to move, it hurt to sit, it hurt to do anything except stand up or lie down. About 7 hours after the surgery I had my first BM. Not fun. A lot more pain and blood than even before the procedure. I soaked for a little while and put in some Diltiazem, which stung. At this point, not very optimistic about the whole thing.
Had a rough night of sleep, but woke up this morning marginally better. Still in pain, still can't sit down, but feeling a little better. I had a BM this morning, and again painful. It was painful, but not because of the AF, but because it feels like things are just very sore and painful down there. The Diltiazem didn't sting this morning. I am cautiously optimistic, but there is a part of me that is afraid that the whole stretching may have worsened the actual fissure.
According to the doctor, it should take 3 weeks to a month to be completely healed, and I should continue with the diet/diltiazem/soaking routine. I will update you on the progess as time goes by, but will be more than happy to answer any questions anyone has.

Thanks for joining and sharing your experience, Fishy! I think you are the only one that has had this procedure done here so you can be a tremendous resource for us here.

Thanks for taking the time to write all this down and we'll be hoping with you that this helps you on your road to healing!

I always thought it would be done in stages, with several procedures, each one dilating the anus a bit more and more. Seems like there would be less pain/bleeding/etc. that way. But it appears they went whole hog on you all at once...???

Congrats Fishy for being one of the first with this experience and thank you for sharing with us.
I hope you have continued healing and lots of success!
Keep us posted.

I think so. while they were preparing the room I saw them bring in 3 odd looking contraptions which I assume are the dilatators. However, I do not know if they use the three of them or just pick the most appropriate for my "size". The whole procedure takes 6 minutes, so I can't imagine them trying to many things...
It's been about 24 hours since the procedure, and am still pretty sore. Very difficult to sit down and painful to cough. I was sold on the "there is no or very slight discomfort after the procedure" line, but so far, it doesn't seem to be the case.

I was sold on the "there is no or very slight discomfort after the procedure" line, but so far, it doesn't seem to be the case.

Indeed!! Most likely though you will improve rapidly over the next day or so!!

well they didn't lie...you didn't have any discomfort right after the procedure....but they didn't tell you what would happen after the anesthetic wore off
anyway, i think you will be good....just keep a positive outlook despite the challenges right now.....
hugs, g.

Wow, that sounds like it would hurt awfully badly. I know that's a known procedure for AF's but I still don't know the "why" of it.
I had the Botox injection last Wednesday, and it didn't help in the least, but that's because of the depth of my fissure, according to my Dr. Ordinarily, I do believe Botox would have helped a lot more. All I can do is apply ice packs. The very idea of anything warm touching me there makes my eyes roll back in my head...even a sitz bath.
Also, I ordered Triad cleansing cloths over the internet. They are so soothing, so much more so than Tuck's pads or any super soft toilet paper.
I am so sorry that you're going through so much pain right now, Fishy. I hope you feel better really soon. And MPHM, please keep us updated on what you decide to do and how you are doing.
Wishing you only the best,
NW