I have had anal fissures since about 8 yrs ago when I was 25.. but it usually comes and goes. This time, however, it has been 2 months and it still hasn’t healed, so I finally went to the GP.
For the past few years, I have had BM every morning, and my diet is healthy in general. So I am really at a loss of how I got it this time! I think I have a hem too, which might have brought on the fissure (hem causes narrowing of opening, so it got overstretched and torn). But I think the hem has now gone. But since then, I have had pain and blood in the last bit of my stool every 2-3 days. The GP had a very quick digital examination and said there is no lump so it is probably a fissure (I think there are 2, one right and one left).
I have tried Rectogesic for a week now, it does help alleviate the pain a bit. On the instruction sheet it says that it must be inserted to the first finger joint. So far I have never managed to do that because no matter how far I cut my nail, it always seems a little sharp on the edge especially now that I have a fissure. I am really paranoid of making it worse in case I scratch the fissure with a bit of dry skin or nail.. I have thought of coating my finger with a piece of clingfilm… but that’s kind of rough at the edge too.. and I just can’t relax! thus making it harder to follow the natural opening into the anal canal. Oh, I know there is a kind of disposable “finger protector”, but they don’t seem to be available for shipping in the UK.
I have also been adhering to strict (fibre-rich/soft food) diet, 2 sachets of fybogel per day, in addition to 10ml lactulose everyday. But despite that, the first bit of my motion is always hard.. During the day I am often in dilemma between (a) trying to open my bowel again (it does feel like there is something in the rectum, but no peristalsis) so that my stool won’t get too hard in the next BM and (b) have dry and hard stool the next day.
The most depressing thing about this condition is that you can’t tell anyone about it! So my colleagues are wondering how I am on diet when there is no need for me to lose weight, but they won’t believe it that I am not trying to lose weight.. :oops: