just a question dano, how can your dr tell that the fissure is "totally healed"? just because he can't see it externally?? did he use any instruments, or just separate the buttocks and look around?
a lot of people on here say that their doctors can tell how long or deep their fissure is just by an exam, but i don't understand how that's possible. my doctor's never been able to "measure" mine just by looking around from the outside....he'll just see part of it externally and say "it's still there". this is so frustrating b/c i feel like i'm making no progress... i'll see what he says when i go in next week.
also dano, are you still having the same type of pain you were having with the fissure, or did you know that part was healed?

*fissulyna*...i started on the .05% nitro cream,was on that for like 2 months woth some results,like less spasms and pain wasnt as bad,so when i returned to the doc and he checked it out he gave the "fingering" of a life time,i bout fell off the table i was leaning on,then he says"it still there,i can feel it" i was about to scream like a child then he stopped.he then says its gotten smaller and asked if i had headachs with the cream,i says hardly any,so he upped to the highest he can which was a 2% cream,looked and smelled potent,told me not to use my bare finger to put it on as its high strength,stop if you get bad headachs...and not to drink while on it.later that night as i was applying it bare handed before i went out to drink ...,i was literally holding my head as it pounded ,it was like mild brain freeze for like a minute,then it went away...so i kept using it like 5 times a day, not the recommended 2-3 times as iwas told...low and behold the headachs stopped quickly and after a few weeks it was pretty much gone,and while on the new cream,spasms were rare,just like a small burning feel from the fissure whice was a cakewalk compared to before the cream use i would cake it in there as far as i could.then put a dab outside for good measure....oh yea,i use the metamucil caps,thats it,never tried anything else.metamucil makes my stools"soft and comfortable,like a fluffy pillow of poop"
*juney*, the dr would take the tip of his finger and slowly[and painfully] rub it on the fissure,almost like he was trying to poke his finger into it,says he can "gauge" the depth of it like that... he would look around there to wth just a light and the ol"elbows on the table" position.....i dont know how they can tell honestly,my regular dr used a anuscope which is like a clear funnel they cram in you ass then use this little light on a stick to see in there,i can honestly see how this would work great,you have 360 degrees to look around,he saw my fissure using this.the light was bright to cause you could feel the heat from it as he was snooping around in there,but it got old after the 3rd or 4th time,then he sent me to a gastroentologist..the pain i have now is like a 1 on a scale of 10,only when i fool with the fistula thing and irritate that,but its very minor.i knew the fissure was healed like the second it happened,see mine would try and heal every night,but when i got up in the morn,it would retear and the whole process started over,for months!! so when i started the creams,it took longer and longer to tear,and the pain got less and less,finally it stopped ,just like that.....

thanks for the info dano! i've always wondered how dr's could tell how big a fissure was or even if it was still there if it wasn't visible from the outside. my dr's always been able to see mine externally. the only time he looked inside was during surgery!
your story gives me hope that one day mine will heal! i think it's healing, albeit VERY slowly. bu at least the pain is lessening....
i'm sorry about your fistula though :(

Danny,
I had my second shot of Botox yesterday in the OR. MY CRS told me he measures the fissures healing on the symptoms I am having not on how the fissure looks. Weird huh? He did say that mine looked better since the last time he saw it in August. Good for you I am glad you are healed. I have a feeling it will take me a good year also to get mine fully healed too. I hope your fustula resolves quickly also. Your doctors name cracks me up.
Take Care
Patty
:snoopys:

How are you feeling now Patty? Glad to hear yours looks better.

Hey, Patty, keep us informed on how the new round of Botox goes....

Yeah Patty glad to hear your looks better. hopefully this shot will do the trick for you.

Oh DANO boy, your post is just hilarious - I mean - it was to me because I went through exactly same kind of exams on several occasions and was never able to REALLY present it to " my audience" in such a way that they would understand how hopeless and humiliated you feel in those "positions" and how, almost violated ! But, to make oneself at ease you come out of there and try to find some comedy in all of it or one would just go crazy. I was crying of laughter when you said "I applied it bare handed and went out to drink", ahahahaha, only a man
can do that :) , send the doc. to H and just do what feels right !!!!!! No wonder you survived so much pain with such great attitude !!!!! ; )
regarding your diet - did you change it a lot during your duel with the fissure? How much metamucil pills did you take a day and did you take them before or after the meals ?
You are really great guy DONO, like all members here - maybe it is the major link that connects us all - good people get fissures ; )))) !!!!
I am sure you will get rid of that stupid fistula and thanks God it does not hurt
!!!!!
All the best always

FISSULYNA,i really didnt change much as far as diet,i did stop eating peanuts and really hard chips,just in case they might snag something on the way out.i started using wheat bread,and drank alot of water..i take 5 pills in the morning and thats it.once in awhile if i get gassy,i will take the metamucil pills at different times. basically everything else is the same,i tried all these other foods and stuff,and not eating this and that,but it never did anything...for me anyway...it may really help others by changing thier diet,i dont know.but those few changes i made i still do.
when i 1st got the fissure i was kinda embarrased to show the doc,as ive never really been to the dr much,he goes on to tell me hes "seen it all" in his time,so i was like,hell with it,here we go....and its been a non-stop,pants dropping carnival since..i was at the point where i dont care if the Pope is looking down there,as long as he can fix it...seriuosly though,i was applying bare handed and going out that night.eveidently,that stuff messes with your blood pressure,making alcohol super potent?? im not really sure,i was trashed off of o'douls!! just kidding...it was pina coloda...

That is too funny! I swear half of the doctors in the SE have seen my butt! They may not even recognize my face anymore.

Ay Que Bueno! I love the Halloween get-up! Are you a drunken mariachi singer?