Hi, I am new to this forum. I am 45 years old female. Great health with daily workout. In March, I had anal abscess and was drained surgically. Took only 5 days to completely heal up.

In July, there was a small hard lump formed, and the surgeon said he think it has formed a fistula, very shallow and simple at 6 oclock. So he scheduled me for a fistulotomy. I had it on July 23rd.

The first 2 weeks I healed up very well. I went back to almost normal life routine, except the drainage and would still there, I did not feel very bad.

However, things halted since then. Now it has been almost 2 months. The wound looks exactly like it was 2 weeks post op, red and open with the same size. What's worse is that I constantly feel the heaviness in my rectal area, the feeling that you have a diarrhea and cannot complete the BM. The feeling is so terrible, and I started feeling like a disabled person because I am constantly distracted and down.

So my question for everyone who has completely healed, how long does it take for a simple fistulotomy to heal?

Is it 3 months? 6 months or 1 year maybe?

I started doing a lot of research, and what I found was in multiple medical journal publications, people who study these are saying avg healing time for this kind of surgery is 3-5 weeks.

I printed out those papers and brought to my doctor, but he said those are bullshit and cannot be trusted. I should trust his 30-year experience. However, he refuses to give me a time frame when my wound will heal... He only said "time is the best diagnostic tool".

Should I ask him for an MRI to see what is really going on?

Has anyone else experience the "heaviness" feeling in the anal area during the healing? Is that even normal? My doctor said I have "tight ass", e.g. muscle too tight and have too much spasm even though I don't feel them myself. And the spasm is keeping the wound from healing up, and the feeling of heaviness.

I am not sure if I believe in that. Thanks for everyone's input.

Hello,

How are you doing now? I haven't been on this forum for a long time and have just seen your message now. I had a low fistulotomy back in June.

Best wishes,

Claire

Update - My surgery was in July 2020. The uncomfortable feeling lasted until Dec 2020, and started getting better just slightly. 1 out of 4 days I would have complete normal feeling, but the other 3 out of 4 days I would feel the heavy and uncomfortable feeling most of the time.

Fast forward to now, late April 2021, it's been 9 months since my surgery, but I am still not 100% normal feeling. My back side still feel bloated, uncomfortable and heavy about half of the days. I have been trying to figure out if it's something I eat, or some habits I have. I do feel like I have been having trouble to pass gas since the surgery.

Maybe the surgery left me with much narrower and tighter anus? The bloating and heavy feeling may be coming from the difficulty of passing gas? I don't know. I have gone and seen another colon rectal surgeon who has had over 30 years of experience. He said he did not see anything infected or other issue, but he did not say I have a "tight ass" either.

I am not sure where to go from here, except just wait and see if this terrible feeling can completely go away by 1 year mark from the surgery.

My honest recommendations to everyone who is about to do Fistulotomy - don't think it's a small outpatient surgery. It's a life altering experience. Ask your doctor before the surgery about any long term side effect, including if you have "tight ass" and the scar tissue may make your anus so narrow that you will forever feel bad.

Hi,
How are you, hope you are well.

I have fistula surgery 7 weeks ago, and like you i feel really bad, 4 days bad day 1 day only fee hit better. And pain radiating to my thigh and groin, really afraid.

Doctor say it is a really superficially fistula in 12 oclock and did not even detected in MRI or scope.

I suffer sitting issue before the surgery and now the same. Really puzzled

Do you have the radiating pain to thigh and groin as i am? And has you fully recovered now? Hopefully yes.

Wish to hear from you soon. Tks

Hi Drama83,
I replied to you in another post and was hoping to get some response. I experience similar symptoms to you. Sitting pain that gradually increases and radiate to my perineum. I also had clear MRI, but seeing your post made me think I might have a hidden fistula or something. So it would be nice if you could share some of your experiences/much appreciated