I had a miscarriage at 20 weeks at the end of January. I gave birth naturally to our little girl. A week or so after I started having a slight pain and burning after having a bowl movement. I blew it off. Then, I started having intense itching and irritation at night. After about four weeks I got over the embarrassment and went to my obstetrician. She said she couldn't see anything but thought it was just internal hemorrhoid. I asked if she could suggest another doctor if it didn't go away and she did. Three weeks later I met with the other doctor since the pain during bowl movement was worse and it was still very irritating throughout the day. He diagnosed me with a minor anal fissure and prescribed lidocaine. It had been going on by now almost two months. I did not take the lidocaine since the pain was/is bearable.

At the end of April I went to visit family in the states and saw a doctor there. I am currently living in Germany. She saw a small fissure and prescribed Nitroglycerin ointment (0.2%) three times per day (pea size amount). I took it for about 10 days but stopped since my husband and I want to start trying for a baby again and I didn't feel like it was working. She said she thought I could use it while pregnant but was not 100% it wouldn't harm a developing baby. Has anyone used Nitroglycerin ointment while pregnant?

This has all been a very draining/hard time. It was extremely hard losing our first baby so far along in pregnancy then to be dealing with this for about 4 months. Surgery isn't an option for me. Does anyone have any advice on how to heal a chronic fissure naturally? Does anyone have any positive stories?

Currently, I have been taking Dulcosoft for a little over a week. It seems to be helping but is not something I want to stay on long term (especially if I become pregnant). I have resumed taking sitz baths but have started to make the water very hot. In the past sitz baths didn't seem to help so I thought maybe making the water warmer will. I have been taking them the last three days three times per day. I eat 2-3 prunes in the morning and 2 at night. It seems to keep me very regular (once per day in the morning). I wipe with wet wipes. I have started using a little vaseline just recently (last day) before a bowl movement. I sit with my feet on a stool when using the restroom. I try to never hold a bowl movement.

In the past I have tried the following -- I have used coconut oil for two weeks putting it on multiple times per day. It helped but the fissure still never seemed to fully heal. Also, I started to not feel very good. I think it was because I was using so much coconut oil- so I stopped. I have taken Magnesium which helped with bowl movements but I didn't want to stay on that too long since high doses of Magnesium are not healthy. I have used Metamucil but it makes bowl movements too large. I have tried eating more fiber but there seems to always be a "hard tip". I usually walk every day somewhere and still do currently. I have changed my eating habits for over a week (cut out dairy, fried food, and gluten/carbs) but it didn't seem to help.

If anyone could share success stories of how they healed naturally I would greatly appreciate it. If you could share any insight of what I could do differently too. I am feeling so drained. Every time I go the bathroom I have pain and a burning feeling but it doesn't last long and my spasms aren't too painful. However, it always feels like a small rip every time. I sometimes have a little blood when I wipe but normally I do not. Also, I have noticed a strong urge to go the restroom and it seems hard to hold. I don't know if it is from the fissure, training my body not to hold back and always going as soon as I have felt like I needed to the last few months, or the prunes. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thank you so much to everyone who responds. I am very grateful.

What you want to acheive is not easy, sorry to say this. You need to keep the stools soft at least a few months without any re-tear - and doing that without taking anything to soften them seems like a tough job to do.
It is not impossible though but it will take you longer because you have to figure out what to eat and what to avoid - during which time you might experience setbacks and probably have to live with the pain.

I am really sorry about your situation as I can understand you want to go on with your life and your body seems to tell you something else. My only advice is don;t fight with it but help it the best you can.
Read this forum success stories to learn how others made it - this should help you get an ideea on what to expect.

Good luck!

Sorry that you're in this difficult situation. Abu has already given you good advice, but I wanted to add that you don't need to worry about being on the dulcosoft during pregnancy. It's not systemically absorbed by your body so it's safe to use. Of course you should check with your doctor about it, but it's widely prescribed to pregnant women.

Thank you Abu and Patience. I really appreciate you alls feedback. I have heard what you said about Dulcosoft being safe- thank you. However, I read a mother took colace throughout her pregnancy gave birth to a baby which had a few problems. However, others who took it moderately had no issues. I know that Dulcosoft is a little different so I will check with the OB here then.

What kind of diet can you suggest? A lot of fiber seems to give large stools.

Vaseline and sitz bath seems to make my fissure worse...has anyone else seemed to have this problem?

I don't add extra fiber to my diet because that makes BMs larger too. I rely on miralax and fiber from vegetables and grains. Avoid foods that have slow intestinal transit like red meat.

If the Vaseline and sitz baths are causing more pain then you don't have to do them. Do what works for you. Many people here have found coconut oil to be helpful, which you could try. It's possible that the application itself is irritating the fissure, in which case applying nothing would be better.

help_please wrote:Vaseline and sitz bath seems to make my fissure worse...has anyone else seemed to have this problem?

I don't see how sitz baths will do more harm. I think they are very benefitial, but most people don't have the time and patience to make it 2-3 times a day. Maybe its the petrolleum jelly, and more precisely - you touching the anal fissure too much or somehow making it "open up" again when applying the ointment. This was pretty much my case and I've noticed it once I've ran out of the prescribed ointment (was using it for nearly 2 months!!!). So my fissure hadn't healed and I wasn't sure what to do. But so it happened that I've had several great days (read: easy defecations) and somehow things started getting better. After this point the only thing I was doing was diet + sitz baths. Maybe I was lucky and my fissure was small, maybe the creams were working actually working and I was somehow ripping the fissure apart (I was told to put the creams inside, not just on the outside), but in the end I now feel much better. Although when I have a larger stool I still feel *something* there... And there is some itching left that I didn't have before.

Thank you. For all the responses. I bought a sitz bath things for the toilet. I make the water pretty hot and it seems to be helping. I stopped using vaseline since that seemed to irritate it. Also, I think the sitz bath is better than a regular bath since you're not sitting on a hard surface. I started my TOTM so I started back the nitroglycerin. I will use it three times per day for maybe 14 days or until I ovulate. Does anyone ever have positive results from using it for such a short time?

fisuuur what ointment were you using? So are you completely healed now? How long did you have a fissure? So happy for you if you're completely healed.

@help_please it was diltiazem prepared by pharmacy, they gave me two, had to use them for 6 weeks or more. I am better now, but not 100% healed. Its all so slow. The spot where the fissure was feels like it is scarred or something...maybe not scarred, but tissue doesn't feel the same.