Today I saw my gastroenterologist for the fissure . My concern was the fissure was not healing in a timely manner. ( or at all )
He said the conditions need to be a PERFECT ENVIRONMENT for the fissure to heal. ( something I already knew)
His suggestion was to get on a fiber diet , watch for trigger foods which cause hard stool or diarreha , and try to achieve stool which is the consistancy of mashed potatoes exactly. He said it would take some time to find the exact dose of fiber and diet to perfect the mash potatoes .
MOM was suggested for fine -tuning occasionally .
Anyway, The Doctor suggested that one should always soak after each bowel movement and CAREFULLY clean out and around the anus well . Then apply the Nitro cream if used , and immediately - generously coat the fissure and immediate anal opening with zink oxide ( baby diaper rash cream ) This puts a protective coating over the injury to allow it to heal.
I am now going to test this regimen dilligently .
Hope this helps anyone else as well.

Actually I think it is aluminum that is lnked to Alzheimer's Disease, not magnesium!

ooo i like the zinc oxide cream idea!

Mother Luch , Yes thank you - I believe you are right ........
I want to edit that comment now that you have mentioned that.
Thank you for that.
JA

Luxdunst , Yea, I thought that was a great idea too when he mentioned it yesterday. I had another idea - there is a new surgical glue ( Fibrin Glue )used for eye surgery which is used in place of stitches. The glue has been used successfully for plastic surgery in the past. I will ask my surgeon if this can be applied over the fissure for temporary shield against infection and promote healing. The only drawback is that the glue is made with human blood products - which I would really research heavily before intruducing to my butt. But why not start thinking outside the box for once ?

I have a sensitivity to zinc so I use A&D ointment so if the zinc bothers you in anyway you might want to look into it. I use it before I go to the bathroom to occlude the injury. In between using the cream (for me it was diltiazem) I would use aloe vera on the area. There is some evidence that it can help heal fissures.

But I think what your doctor said is true. It is a matter of keeping that area primed for healing. For me I had to eat the same foods every day so I could at least have an idea of how things would go in the bathroom. It takes a lot of discipline to heal a fissure and not much to experience a setback. It is definitely a case of two steps forward and one step back (or is it the other way around?)

Thanks Lecia, yea I was wondering how the butt would take to zink oxide .......... it's somewhat if a harsh chemical but it's used for baby's butts almost exclusively. Guess we'll try it and find out . Butt thanks for the alternative A&D ointment idea !!
( get it ? Butt thanks ) ........... Ha !

JA,
I think my fissure is starting to heal well. I have no pain when using the bathroom, just some minor tension down there, that I hope will go away with time.
I have been eating lots of Veggies...no junk food. I really don't like junk food anyway, so its really not a problem. I drink about 4 glases of water a day. I am not a huge water fan. Anyways, I take 2 fiber choice chewable waffers a day. They taste pretty good! I go to the bathrrom every morning when I wake up. All of these things keeps my BM's like Mashed potatoes.
Jen

I tried something that is akin to fibrin glue called Zim's collagen ointment but I can't really recommend it. It felt fine going on but then when I went to the bathroom the next morning it was like pooping through superglue. It set my healing back a day because that stuff was so sticky I couldn't get it off and it irritated the area. But maybe fibrin would be different.

Glad your fissure area is feeling better, Jen.

Thanks Lecia...I hope it's for good....My last set back was over a month ago. When you were using your cream, did you notice it took about a month before it started working? The nifedipine started healing right way, but it has taken a month for the area to really relax. I am glad I listened to Fiss. My doctor only wanted me to use it for 3 weeks, and she recomended 3 months!