Very quick history - I'm a 48 year old female, married with two sons. November 2015 had haemorrhoid removal surgery, unfortunately left with skin tags so second procedure performed Jan 2016 to remove.. left with fissure, suffering ever since : ( ............

I've been using GTN ointment (second time trying) for a couple of months which seems to have helped a bit but still in a lot of pain with and after BM.
I've just had another consultation with a private CRS in Bristol as I'm still in quite a lot of pain despite the last doctor I saw saying she thought the fissure was healed/couldn't see it......


So, my CRS says he's pretty sure that from my description of pain and the issues I'm having it IS still a fissure!! He didn't want to examine me he feels quite confident that's what it is. He advised I have a proper examination done by him under sedation so he can check properly what's going on, make sure it is a fissure, nothing else besides, remove any relative scar tissue and apply Botox.. I was not happy at this : ( But I guess it might be the answer..
I don't do well with general anaesthetic (take weeks to recover, hurts my throat, I can't eat and the last couple of times my bladder hasn't woken up so I've needed a catheter, erggghh!), he says I could have a spinal block but then again that has a higher risk of needing a catheter..... Oh the joys......
He said the pain of a fissure is underestimated, they liken it to the pain of a calf muscle cramp, except that's something you can massage and get rid of, whereas the spasm of a fissure you can't, he said it's like a heart attack, in your bottom. WoW!
So it looks like I may be going for the Botox, but the issue is when I should get it done...... We have a couple of trips coming up, mid Feb to Iceland for a few days and exactly 1 month after we're off to Thailand for nearly 3 weeks... I'm concerned about having it done before we go, just in case I have any incontinence or other post procedure issues etc... Although it would be amazing to have it done and be able to go away pain-free, I'm so hesitant after having had the other surgeries which didn't exactly go to plan!!
I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who's had the Botox with success, your experiences, what sedation you had ie. general anaesthetic, spinal block etc. how was the recovery and how long it took for you to feel 'normal' etc.

Hi Nikki,
There have been a few members recently who healed from Botox...mamafizz and BumUK are a couple.
My CRS says he has an 85% success rate with Botox and I can certainly say that I had no spasms from the first day with Botox and was down to 10 mins of pain after a BM by week 4 after Botox....my spasms pre Botox were a level 10 and lasted anywhere from 8 to 24 hours after a BM.
Now Botox didn’t heal me but my fissure was 2 inches and down to the muscle so the Botox was just to start the healing process so the cut for the LIS didn’t have to be as long. But I really enjoyed and appreciated the pain relief Botox gave me.
By week 2 I was back at the gym and swimming. I had swelling after but then I have quite a lot of hems.
I like the heart attack in your butt analogy as that pretty much sums up how spasms made me feel.
Good luck

Thanks v much for your reply.. Sounds hopeful! But I’m a bit worried about some comments I’ve read regarding Botox, where it’s caused some people to have hemmeroids! This is causing me anxiety as that’s what started this whole world of pain in the first place, surgeries to remove hems led to fissure!
Were you told this is a risk? My CRS hasn’t mentioned it.... Did you have any after affects from the Botox?

Nope my CRS never mentioned the risk of hems, I have quite a few internal and external hems and Botox didn’t cause any more so it certainly didn’t impact me. Yes my hems did swell but I can imagine all the poking about up there irritated them

Hey I'll be following your story I'm having this exact thing done in two weeks I'm super scared too I have to boys and a trip in a few months but my son's birthday is 8weeks after my procedure hoping I can have a party for him an have control over (gas) is that to much to ask? I also have a hemroid I'm worried it my play up with the Botox but to be honest I'd take a bad hemroid over a fissure any day. Does your fissure heal then come back? Mine does this pattern active for 2 weeks gone for 3-4 weeks then back again.

Hi. It's great to have this support network.. It's amazing how many people around the world are suffering....... : (
I'll follow your story too, as your procedure is very soon. I wish you lots of luck and a speedy recovery!
If I do decide to brave it and agree to the Botox, I'm going to wait till I'm back from my trip to Thailand (beginning of April)
Where are you from missy moo?
To answer your question the fissure does seem to heal or at least start healing (at my last GP appt she said she couldn't even see it!) but then I think it re-tears(?) and it starts all over again with the painful BM and hours of pain after...
Such a ridiculous thing, a tiny cut which causes such problems, it really is depressing....
Please keep posting on this thread so we know how you're getting on..

I'm in NZ trying hard not to talk myself out of it I've had this fissure for 4years since I had my first boy it started when he was 2 weeks old heals an comes back over an over. I have a build up of scar tissue that I can feel an the surgeon can see it plus a skin tag my fissure is in the front so how about you? How long? Skin tag or not? Fissure in the front or back?

Hi missy moo, I'm in the UK. Hope you're feeling ok about the Botox procedure, are you still going ahead with it? When is it? Lots of luck! It would be great if you can post your experience on here..
I won't be having anything done just yet cause we're going to Thailand in March/April so will plan to do it on my return (if I decide to have it!) I'm so scared at the thought of it, but also so fed up with the pain I'm in..... I'd be paying to have it done privately, it costs thousands so that's another thing to consider.. Mind, you can't put a price on your health and your sanity!! This whole experience has been such a rollercoaster, some days I feel everything is fine, ooh I think I'm healed, no pain, woop woop, then I'll have a BM and owch, there it is, still there, hours of pain, feel like I'm going mad.....

How long have you had it for? Yep I'm going for the Botox on the 12 of Feb so 12 days till i let go of control an face my fears trust someone else and start my healing journey I believe we get stuff for a reason an we'll all be stronger from this. Mine is covered by the health system I will be putting my story day by day on here just not sure what category it should go in but I'll let you no where it ends up so you can follow along. Hope your not in to much pain today I'm in my pain free time which challenges my surgery plan because I feel normal but in two weeks I'll be in pain again for 10 days I'm over this cycle. This isn't working so I have to try something else it's been 4 years like this can't make plans go out family events anything because of this fissure we too want to go on hoilday to Samoa but I've decided to fix this first so I'm not worried about it recking my time.

It's been 2 years. I had haemmerhoid surgery Nov 2015, my CRS didn't do a great job and I was left with skin tags really bad, so he did a second procedure Jan 2016 to remove them. I was then diagnosed with a fissure and have been suffering ever since! My CRS says he "wouldn't have caused the fissure" but I absolutely think he did......
Some days I'm pain-free, have some pretty good days, then some bad days and some days in so much pain and/or discomfort...such a horrible rollercoaster! Sometimes I think maybe I can just put up with it and not go through any more procedures (by the way I had a 3rd operation Nov 2016, unrelated, I had to have my left ovary and tube removed so that was considered major surgery so my poor body went through all that within 12 months......) But then some days I can't bear it any more and feel i've got no option but to go for the botox..... I've got a lot of thinking to do : (

I'll be thinking of you on the 12th, hope it goes really well. Yes please let me know where you'll be posting so I can hear how you're getting along... Good Luck x