...it's gonna be 7 weeks since my LIS in 2 days time. I'm sure it'll heal eventually. It has to, right? But at the moment it just feels like I'm never going to heal

Hey all, sorry it's been a while since I checked up in here. In my experience, the fissure was never healing 100%. It would heal to the point that it wasn't constantly hurting, but some bowel movements and attempted anal penetration of any kind would cause it to tear more. I was able to bottom again 2-3 months after the surgery. From everything I've been told from my doctors, I wouldn't wait any longer than a few months for it to heal before thinking about surgery. Even in that time period be taking to your doctor because they will probably want to prescribe you something to help the muscle relax and promote healing.

After reading this thread I'm a bit confused of what I have. I was operated for a fistula that was not inside the rectum, but outside maybe an inch from the opening of the rectum. The operation happened maybe a year ago and the fistula still leaks a bit on occasion. The doctor told me I needed another operation.

I waited for several months before I started to bottom and I haven't had any problems being penetrated and have enjoyed it very much. So my situation is different from some cases I've read here where bottoming after the operation is hasn't been pleasant experience. Someone mentioned "sand paper" which has not been my experience.

My only concern is that my wound may open up and may be more susceptible to the fistula infection and even STDs.

I have a different question for guys out there. I am a bottom and had a fistulotomy. I feel that while sex is comfortable, I am not sure the sphincter is as tight any more, and while most guys are polite and don't say anything, I feel that I've noticed they have a hard time ejaculating and some guys seem to give up rather soon after starting. Wondering if I'm imagining this, or have others encountered this. Would also love to hear from top guys if they have noticed a difference in a partner after that partner had a fistula opened.

Gay guy here too.. just found out last week that I have a superficial abscess fistula which doesn't hurt but I want to try the homeopathic route of dealing with it. Has anyone tried it? Turmeric - Menuka honey - tea tree oil etc etc ..any thoughts??

Hi there!

Just wanted to share my experience and ask couple questions.

To start, 24 years old, in generally good health and I am gay. Consider myself vers, however, I haven't bottomed in over 2 years due to my condition.

Around Thanksgiving of 2014 I noticed a bump near my anus. It was sensitive to the touch. I thought at first that maybe it was an ingrown hair or pimple of some sort. I ignored it for a few weeks but it just got bigger and worse. I went to my PCP and she looked at it and diagnosed hemmoriods. She prescribed some suppositories and also wrote me a referral to a colo-rectal surgeon. The pain almost become unbearable. I couldn't walk normal, I was taking 800-1200mg of Tylenol per day, and sitting down was a literal pain in the ass. By Christmas Eve of 2014 the "pimple" ruptured spilling out a ton of off-white pus. I laid in the tub feeling so much relief as the pressure was finally relieved. I hoped that this was the end of it and that the now 1/4" wound left by the rupture would heal up and I'd be back to normal... boy was I wrong.

I had to wait a few weeks before I could get an appointment with the colo-rectal surgeon. Which in the meantime I, again, hoped that it would heal up before my appointment, but it just kept discharging the aweful smelling off-white pus. The appointment finally came near the end of January 2015 and the colo-rectal surgeon prescribed a course of antibiotics and wanted to see me in 2 weeks. Which I did, with no luck or sign of improvement. The antibiotics did slow/lessen the amount of discharge but it never fully stopped or healed. After a couple of follow-up appointments he diagnosed me with an anal fistula and ordered a UGI test and also referred me to a GI specialist. The UGI came back normal with a few signs of "cobblestoning" near the terminal illium.

I made an appointment with the GI and he wanted to do a colonoscopy. Which we did, which found the inflammation and "cobblestoning" in the colon. This ultimately led to a diagnosis of Crohn's disease and my GI immediately put me on a course of antibiotics, steroids (prednisone), and he wanted to put me on Asacol HD but it was going to cost me $1100/mo because my insurance didn't cover it, so he put me on Colozol.

Shortly after all of this, I lost my job and my insurance. I could no longer afford to see my doctors and i didn't see any doctor for over 1.5 years.

Pretty much to sum up the 1.5 years, I was extremely careful about what I ate. I was eating as healthy as possible and taking notes on what my stomach could and could not handle. I pretty much got my Crohn's under control by simply changing my diet.

Diet, however, did not improve the fistula. Which brings me to January 2017. I was finally able to get health insurance again thanks to Obamacare. I pretty much have been wearing pantilinners in my underwear for the past 2 years and just dealing with the discharge from the fistula on a daily basis, again, hoping that it would heal on its own. During the 2 years I tried pretty much all of the home remedies that you will find online (ghee, turmeric, tea-tree oil, I have countless homeopathic minerals and vitamins that I tried) none never really showed any significant improvement or healing.

I never had any severe pain from the fistula, it was more of an embarrassment/inconvience than anything. It did really hurt my self esteem and confidence. Having to worry about leaks showing up on your pants or shorts is nightmare. I've had it happen to me a few times where wet spots show up on my bottom and it is very embarrassing. Even when nobody may have noticed, my anxiety about it all made it feel like everyone saw.

Anyways, January 2017 I was able to make appointments with a new GI specialist and a colo-rectal surgeon. I met with my colo-rectal surgeon first and he wanted to schedule a Fistulectomy after I was cleared by my new GI since having active Crohn's can severely hinder the healing process. I met with the GI. He asked me a lot of questions about the last 2 years and how I had essentially cleared up my symptoms of Crohn's by my diet. He cleared me for the surgery which brings me to now... March 2017. I had the fistulectomy done just a few days ago. My surgeon assured me that everything went well, there were no other tracts that had formed and I should be on my way to a full recovery. He told me that it will take about 6-8 weeks for it to completely heal but with Crohn's, it may take a little longer. The last couple days after surgery haven't been bad. My surgery was on Wednesday and I took work off until Monday (per my doctors instructions). he prescribed Percocet and Toradol for pain, which I've used sparingly. I'm hoping to switch to straight Tylenol tomorrow which will be day 4 post-op.

Couple of questions to any gay guys out there may have had similar experience or surgery...

How long did you wait to bottom after surgery?
Is it safe? I sometimes worry about getting another fistula. Did anybody else have the same worries?

I'll keep posting as my recovery continues.

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

How long did you wait to bottom after surgery?

Good question. I am wondering the same. Does anyone have post-OP experience to share?

My LIS is scheduled for next Friday April 28th. I'm scared and nervous about it, but I will keep you guys updated. I am a bottom and had a hemorrhoidectomy in 2008, so I have been dealing with this problem since then. I have been to numerous doctors, and all of them said my anus was perfect. None of them diagnosed me with a fissure. After researching on and off for years I finally came to this conclusion on my own. The problem is if I had a large or hard bowel movement there’s this one spot where I would always tear. Seems like it was one of the cuts from the hemorrhoidectomy. It also tears every time I had sex. Crazy thing is I would go to the doctor and the could find nothing wrong with me. Since the hemorrhoidectomy, my anus is alot tighter, and my partner has said I am extremely tight, but the doctors examine me and say pressure is normal. Weird. Anyway i am at my wits end and tried nitro and botox. Botox didnt work, Nitro gave me some relief, but my problem would only happen every once in a while during a bowel movement, and everytime I have sex. I am hoping LIS will fix the problem with it being so tight. Sex is painful, and I can feel a sharp pain coming from the same spot everytime, then it ends up bleeding. Not to mention the random itching on the inside and throbbing from the area... Im hoping this will make things more loose. It’s really taken its toll on me emotionally and I just want my life back.

omg that sounds terrible. I hope the LIS can finally give you closure about this issue.
Last late-summer/fall I had a few times sex (was bottoming) and every time I was bleeding. No pain though, which I thought was a bit weird. Also it was only bleeding the first time. If I had sex 2 times in the same week it would only bleed the first time but not the second time anymore.
Decided to stop with sex for a while in December and haven't had sex since then (as a bottom). Now that I feel that the fissure is healed (read my post about it here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=11718) I think I soon will have a go again. I'm just terrified that I suddenly might bleed again and the pain will come back. I still can feel the tear inside but it's completely numb and not bleeding...

I finally have an LIS scheduled for next month, and browsing these forums have been a lot of help and makes me feel less like I'm suffering alone. Been suffering for 8 years (since I was 19) with chronic fissures and intense/horrible/awful pain during anal sex and after, and all the specialists have told me the same thing, "It looks fine. Drink lots of water, and take fiber/miralax, and if anal sex hurts, then refrain from it..." I'm a bottom, I've basically been celibate the last year and staying away from sex, but if I just wanted to live a sex-less life, I wouldn't be seeing a doc to fix this! Turns out I was right all along when I was adamant and finally saw a surgeon, it's a mixture of chronic fissures and excess scar tissue buildup that has caused the bleeding and tearing and searing pain to get worse over the years. He's going to go in and remove the scarring and relax the muscle a little bit and said that recovery time should be about 4 weeks.

I'm totally okay with abstaining from sex for a few more months, since I barely do it anyway -- and all my relationships have suffered from this -- but it's good to read some testimonials and get a better grip on what to do post-op. Good luck to everyone!