Hi there. I am a 25 year old female who has been struggling with a chronic fissure for 2 years now. I have been prescribed the ointment from the gastroenterologist consisting of lidocaine, etc. I am using this at least 2x a day with forces of nature fissure control oil. I also use the preparation H suppositories when it is really flaring up. Here's my question... Does it ever actually go away? I will look down there when I am feeling better but I still see the cut. The whole thing is painful, devastating and embarrassing. I just wanted to see if anyone ever actually healed their cut (fissure) or if everyone on here is managing without surgery. Please let me know! I am desperate to find a solution and need to know if I am alone and will have to live with this my whole life on and off.

I've managed without surgery for 5 years now - it's not always easy, and some days and weeks are better than others, but I have now succeeded in carrying on with life more or less as normal. I was turned down for LIS because of my age (I'm 74), and was advised by several colorectal specialists that at my time of life most topical treatments, like creams, ointments, botox and so on, will probably me do more harm than good. In the end I was referred to a CRS and a team of pelvic floor physical therapists at a central London hospital who basically just showed me some relaxation techniques and the best way to use the Qufora irrigation device, and after that I was more or less 'dismissed' - with macrogol (stool softeners) and pain management in the form of pregabalin capsules, which work to control the pain of chronic spasms.

About AF - my experience is that it doesn't go away, but it can be managed, and with some perseverance and common sense about diet the symptoms can be reduced to a point where they no longer cause the kind of devastation that is usually experienced at the onset of the condition.

One thing to remember - you are not alone: many people around the world are afflicted with AF, and some just suffer in silence and never seek medical help at all. This forum exists to bring sufferers together, and to demonstrate what options for treatment and management there are.