I never had any painful spasms. I had spasms, but they were not painful most of the time. I took me a long time to feel the difference of LIS. I felt looser right away - all the tight ness was gone, but my fissure would still tare occassionally. I would say it took 3-6 months for me to feel alot better.
Let your CRS know you are still having spasms. Maybe he did not cut enough - that does happen. However, either way, you should give it more time.
Let me know if you have anymore questions!

Oh, I did let him know I still had spasms. He said there was nothing more he could do for me.

I think you should get a second opinion then. If spasms are still your problem, you may need another LIS. My CRS said that sometimes people do need 2 LIS's. They are afraid to cut too much the first time. Don't give up hope - go talk to someone else!

hello crimeofpassion,
perhaps if you could ask for a muscle relaxant to help reduce spasms. there is one called cyclobenzaprine which may (or may not) help with the spasms in the anal region.
it is non-habit forming and the only side effect that would concern me is that initially it can knock you out. but that wears off.
although that doctor ma not have any more solutions for you, there will be another one that will.
happy healing,
happy

I'm actually on something called Servira right now, because of a sharp pain I get in my lower right side that my doctor thinks may be my colon spasming.
"Servira - this medication belongs to a class of drugs known as anticholinergic/antispasmodic drugs. It works by decreasing intestine cramping and calming the nerves."
Not sure if something like this could help with spasms...

I went to another colorectal surgeon today for a second opinion. During the exam, she couldn't see the fissure. But there was a significant amount of pain when she pressed on the area where the actual cut had been made during the surgery (she used both her finger and an anoscope - I'm so, so, SO sore right now! :(). She actually said I had a bit of blood present, although I've only ever noticed blood on my stool, not on toilet paper or my underwear. She also said that while most people's spasms stop right after the surgery, she has had a few patients who experienced lingering spasms. That kinda relieved me, as it could mean it'll just take me a bit longer to heal, especially since I have chronic diseases that can affect my pelvic floor muscles.
However, she thought she might have spotted a small hole/cut in the area where the incision was made when she used the scope, and asked me if I had noticed any pus. Definitely not, thank God! She said she didn't believe what she saw was serious, but she seemed to think there was a slight possibility that I could have an abscess or fistula. I did some google research, and I didn't realize that these two things are possible complications from the LIS surgery. My surgeon never told me that!!! I just don't understand...how does that work? Do you need another surgery to correct them?
The surgeon didn't want me to worry - she said I was still fresh from surgery. But I'm freaked out that the surgery made things worse. She had me schedule an appointment with her in roughly a month in case things don't get better/get worse, at which point she said she'll probably knock me out to get a better look at the area.
I only have about half a bottle of my nitro cream left, and I forgot to ask if she could prescribe me some. Maybe I'll call back...I'm not sure.
My other surgeon did say I tore my sutures a bit when I went to see him after the surgery. What if I got an infection and... Ugh. I am about to full out panic.

No reason why you couldn't call back and get it refilled! I like her response that the spasms may linger for a while for some patients. I have never hear of a fistula being a side effect of LIS...though I have seen a boardie or two get fistulas at some point after their LIS but I don;t see any real connection myself.
Yes, it is good for you to remind us that you have other pelvic floor dysfunctions, certainly they may be playing a role in the fact that your spasms are still present.
Hang in there, COP, and do what you can to relax and lie around and chill as much as possible for the next few weeks, give your butt a rest and hopefully the spasms will die down in due course!

I would highly recommend the pelvic floor retraining class that I just completed at Mayos. I'll try to write a summary when things settle down for me a bit.

Yes, that type of thing would probably be very helpful for me...
All of my muscles in the pelvic area are really tense. And I've noticed that after a BM, I become just as tight as I was before the surgery.

According to my therapist, LIS will not fix things completely if there is still pelvic floor dysfunction like I had. When I get caught up a little bit, I will try to find the article my therapist sent me on pelvic floor dysfunction and how we remedied it. I don't know if there is a link, but I will post it on a new thread as my mom is recovering nicely at home now from her surgery and recent hospitalization. Right now I am basically running two households. :roll: