Hi all,

I suffered suffering from moderate chronic fissure tears/flare ups for several years, and then in Sept. 2014, I had a brief bout of constipation that led to a tear that caused me excruciating pain for about nine months. I tried topical ointments and such, but nothing was working, and so I finally decided to go for the LIS surgery in mid-April.

I'm very glad I had the surgery.

My surgeon told me that I had the largest fissure he had ever seen. So no wonder I was suffering so much. My condition was quite debilitating, and the last year was basically spent dealing with the pain. I barely went anywhere or did anything. And fortunately I was working at home with a part-time consulting project, because there's no way I could have functioned in a full-time office job. At home, I could take sitz baths, sit on heating pads and cope with the pain without having to be out amongst other people.

I had the surgery on April 20th, and it was a simple outpatient procedure. But, it did require general anesthesia, and the worst of it was the after effects of anesthesia, as I felt nauseous for several days. I also had had two skin tags which were removed during the surgery, and post-op they were more painful to heal than the fissure incision. It took about three weeks for that pain to go away. It wasn't intolerable (especially after learning to live with fissure pain), but I'm glad it has started to subside.

I tried so hard to avoid the surgery, but I wish I had done it much sooner. It was worth the trouble and moderate pain following the procedure. Today I am feeling much better, my fissure is healing, I don't get sphincter spasms anymore and the surgeon told me going forward, I shouldn't have relapses. That said, I am careful to make sure I am conscientious about my fiber and water intake, as I still don't want to put myself in situations where I'll have to strain. But I feel very optimistic that this condition is now "fixed" and the fissure is in the process of healing.

Best of luck to any of you who might be considering the surgery.

That's amazing news Pained.... I'm so happy for you!

OMB x

I don't want to give advice to anyone else, as I know each person's condition is unique. But if someone is a candidate for the LIS surgery, and has insurance to cover it and a good surgeon lined up, it can make a very positive difference. I didn't expect mine to change anything (I was feeling so discouraged), but it definitely improved my condition.