From the moment I wake up until I go to bed I have a constant sensation around my anal opening. It's not excruciating pain, just a constant feeling that is very annoying. It is better when I stand up and worse when I sit down. When I sit it can feel prickly and burning. I do not have any pain during bowel movements and no blood.

It's hard to tell but my outer anal sphincter feels hard and possibly tight (is this a spasm), is it common for the outer sphincter to be tight? Has anyone else heard of someone who has had this constant prickly feeling? I am considering LIS but it doesn't seem like I have the traditional symptoms of an anal fissure, even though I was diagnosed with that by a colo rectal surgeon. The second surgeon I saw said that my fissures were healed.

I am very very very** slowly getting better. But it has been over a year and I just want this to be over with. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go from here, or if my symptoms sound like an anal fissure?

The problem could be scar tissue. If you had several fissures, after healing they could have left some non-stretching tags, which might be forming the source of the irritation.

After three years of fissures I have a similar problem, and am not yet sure how to deal with it.

Definitely incredibly frustrating to be at this stage and have absolutely no help :/ at least I am not alone

Part of the trouble - here in the U.K., at least - is that anal fissure, when it is not the sign of some more serious underlying illness, isn't considered to be a condition worthy of much attention by the NHS medical community. Even the NHS CRSs I have seen don't have much to offer by way of advice - their main concern is to avoid surgical intervention except as a very last resort, and to promote healing by means of creams, ointments, softeners and laxatives.

When I suggested to my GP that there are surgical procedures that can deal with the scar tissue problem, her response was yes, there are such procedures, but they are likely to produce yet more scar tissue, and so there is a vicious circle. That may very well be true, but it leaves the patient feeling rather let down.

The consensus among NHS physicians appears to be that patients must learn to live with a condition like AF, using medications, painkillers and creams.

Of course, there is always the option of going private.

I have similar symptoms but still have pain (more than just irritation) and my sphincter feels tight like you describe.

In my experience, the outer anal sphincter tightens along with the inner - my physio said that the source of the tightness is the inner sphincter.

I also have healed fissures, and some mild hems, and the tight sphincter squeezes on the area constantly causing pain. My surgeon is going ahead with LIS! She says the situation has not changed that much since the fissure was active, besides the fact that the pain has been reduced from the extreme levels of an active fissure. I guess if the resting pressure of the sphincter is too high, LIS can only help, and will at the very least help prevent further fissures and damage from trying to pass bms through a tight sphincter.

Hope that makes sense - just thought I'd share my two cents! Haven't had the surgery yet so I can't say if it will work or not for sure.
-GG

Thank you for sharing Gimore Girl! I feel like that is the point my path is leading me to. Please start a journal or keep those of us who are lost and confused updated on your journey with LIS. Did you have Botox too if my memory serves me right? Wishing the best for you and keeping all of you in my thoughts and prayers!

No problem!

Will do - just got my surgery date so will make a LIS journal starting soon!! I have not had Botox - my surgeon isn't a fan and to be honest Im happy to go straight to LIS.

Sending you healing thoughts positivesun!

Hi positivesun,

Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I am also in the U.K. and was diagnosed with AF nearly 6 months ago now - the Dr says it is nearly fully healed and it's been a few months since I had any blood in my BMs and it's also not really sore when I have a BM, but like you say, it's just a constant irritation. Like a burning, achey, tight feeling. It tends to go away when I'm fully relaxed - here's hoping we both heal in time. It's so difficult trying to find the patience though I just want to get on with my life without this hanging over me!

This sounds similar to my current situation (but maybe not the same). I haven't had a painful BM in a couple of weeks, and no blood for almost a month. However, I frequently have a feeling that ranges from "thumb tack" to "rough ball" in my butt. Sitting for any length of time makes it worse and causes a feeling of cramping. I imagine it as scar tissue, but my CRS didn't see anything (including the fissure!) at my appointment 10 days ago.

Walking seems to make it worse, as if something is rubbing. I tried lotion as lubrication, but that just stung. Coconut oil was better, but not great. Now I'm on to zinc oxide ointment (Honest brand diaper rash cream) to see if that works.

I too have had the same prickly feeling since a bout of diarrhea a week ago. It's driving me nuts! I used Neosporin on the area to stop it from pricking me while I walk and sometimes it works. I think it's scar tissue that's really fine but still significant enough to cause irritation.