Hi and thanks for whoever runs this site, it is so very helpful.

I should put a success story up but in short 20 years I got an AF and was in excruciating pain morning til night. After 6 months I had an LIS with great success, no side effects and eat/drink what I like. I do become complacent and have flare ups but the spasming is no where near what it was (mind bendingly painful spasms) and when it does flare up I nurse it back to health without too many troubles.

I am currently having the worst flare up I have ever had with painful spasms for the first time since the LIS. Nowhere near pre LIS but painful none the less. I fear a 2nd surgery or botox might be required, we shall see. This as always was caused by a hard and presumably girthy stool. If when this happens I had a way out I could possibly prevent any serious flare ups. My question is:

How do people deal with a hard stool once they have one sitting in the rectum and know it could do harm? Having searched on here there appear two options 1. enema - I have never tried this but am considered getting a syringe with tube or bulb to do a water one; 2. stick your finger up there and manually break this up. I am not sure this is really possible without causing more harm than good. Or is there another option?

Nothing more annoying than a hard one!

Patience is key for me. Not easy but it works.

I use a squatty potty foot stool or whatever they call them to help align my rectum to make passing stools easier. I also have a bidet and sometimes the cold water (believe it or not) relaxes the rectum in my case or maybe it stimulates movement. You might want to get warm water into a squirt bottle and shoot it in your anus (do not insert it - just squirt the outside. The warmer water should help relax the muscles. Other than that - your finger would help in a worse case scenario.

An enema is easy to do and it will force things. But it may backfire and tear your anus. Even if it did, a fissure doesn't automatically mean you are screwed. It may simply be an acute one. Do lots of sitz baths afterwards and you may stave off a chronic issue and face another nightmare scenario.

Thanks Rich.

Incidentally, having now scoured this great forum for info Laxido (or movicol or miralax etc) is a real game changer for me. I've been struggling with lactulose all this time.

Ironically my friend messaged me yesterday where he had to take drastic measures to get his stool to come out and had to use a finger.

Well wouldn't ya know it? Today it was my turn! I had a hard stool that was not coming out (save for a couple of little balls) and I knew that if I forced it, I would likely have a fissure. Not only that by pushing hard wouldn't be so nice for my body. I used the squatty potty, I shot some water from the bidet to maybe stimulate it, but it wasn't moving. So, I said screw it - and put my finger in there. It was actually not that big of a deal. I could feel a massive bulk hanging out of the rectum with lots of hard little pieces. I dug away and loosened it until I felt I could pass it myself. Ironically the majority of it was bulky, smooth and soft (and long!). No blood, no pain, no problem at all. So easy. I am relieved I will never have to worry in the future if/when this happens again. If this was a year ago, I would be having a really bad day. I would have strained endlessly to get it out. There would have been blood, pain, the works.

So happy for you rich44 you got your first 1 year after me you've tried botox like me only difference is that you got lis and are cured im not. I scared to get lis being a women theres more risks but i write this from the tub after trting botox twice I'm a bit stuck

My CRS said Botox is a TEMPORARY solution. He said if I did it, in 9 months I'd be right back to where I was. He said get the LIS and get on with your life. If you are concerned about incontinence get an anal manometry test to see if your sphincter is strong enough to tolerate an LIS. I was off the charts strong and the LIS was a piece of cake.

Has anyone here just tried one of those enemas you squeeze into your butt? It would liquify the hard stool, would it not? That's what I would do if I knew a hard one was coming! It would be out in like two mins, liquidy, which might be better than a hard one.

Yes. I have. Won’t work with a big one. Just use your finger. It’s easy.

Thanks Rich44, good to know. Its good to have this in the locker, I will try it once I am off the movicol... although that stuff is so good I won't dare stop it for a while yet. I might try and loosen things up with the shower hose first.