To those who have had the lis, are you now back to normal? I when I say normal I mean normal normal. Like as if you never knew you ever had a fissure.

I have a chronic fissure but I have hardly any pain whatsoever. It just feels very fragile so getting up from a chair, walking down stairs etc doesn't feel good. No pain during bms, then tightness and slighttt discomfort begins maybe 30 minutes after and lasts for hours. I apply paw paw cream (which is mostly vaseline) after bms and this soothes so much. If I don't apply this then yes I will be in more pain.

I am wanting to get lis just because I'm sick of the routine of having to apply cream and because I don't feel like i can move very well. Even just holding myself with good posture feels risky because I think I'm going to tear it or something. I want to be able to move around like I used to be able to and go work out and lift some heavy ass weights again like i used to.

Point is, i think my symptoms are very very mild compared to how others on this forum are. I'm worried that if other people suffering from a fissure could get to where I am now, they would consider themselves normal and healed. That's why I'm asking how peoples outcomes are from lis. I don't want to get lis if I'm not going to be able to be 100% normal again where I can go work out and push myself etc. What's everyones thoughts?

Hi normajean,

There are a lot of people who have asked your same question, I encourage you to search around to help guide your thoughts. With any surgery, there is a risk that things could worsen or be just as bad after the surgery. However, most people find relief with the surgery. Many people have a similar situation to you as well. Some people have extreme pain and spasms with each BM but others, like you, are just agitated with the constant nagging. My advice for you is to reflect on the quality of life. If it's holding you back from being happy or comfortable, then you should definitely consider the surgery. However, if it's only minor - you need to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks (which there really arn't may risks, the biggest concern for most is incontinence, but people living with the constant pressure of an AF generally think the minimal risk of incontinence is worth it to cure the AF).

My opinion, anyway! :)

Hey normajeanchariot,
I was in somewhat of a similar situation as you. Pain during BM, but not always. Sometimes blood, but very little, gone with one wipe. Sometimes burning pain afterwards that can last up to 4 hrs, but most days I did not have his. There could be 1-2 weeks with no symptoms at all. So compared to many sufferers on here I probably had a mild case.
But I also could not completely get rid of it, and every few weeks I was phased with an inflammation which made BM quite painful. But I know how to get a grip of that and within a few days it was under control.
However, I was spending a tremendous amount of time curing myself. That included daily treatments of 2 hrs or more, plus all, the reading you do online looking for next best tip, newest miracle solution, vetting other people's recommendations, etc. All this time commitment took away from other things, foremost family, work, social life. So while my suffering was not as intense as what other people experience I know I couldn't life my life centered around this involuntary core interest.
That's what made me decide to go for LIS.
My main fears and concerns, in order of importance:
1. Pain after LIS
2. Healing progress and speed
3 will it be a 100% long term fix
4 incontinence, if permanent
5 temporary incontinence, hardly a concern

So how are you now??

And yes that's exactly it about the time spent - sometimes I feel like I'm spending half my day tending to the wound. I am no longer applying heat though which has dramatically decreased the time spent on it but I mean even just having to put cream inside yourself twice a day is enough for me.

Yes.....Im also curious how you are now? Im in NJ and desperately trying to find someone reliable that can perform the surgery. Been dealing with a CAF for about 5-6 months now. Getting really tired of sitz baths, tons of fiber (which causes me gas), stool softeners, etc. What part of the country did you have the surgery and who was the surgeon? I may grab a kitchen knife and cut my sphincter myself if this pain wont subside.

Ok, I had my LIS only yesterday, in San Francisco. Way too early to say if this was a success, but I am glad I did it. I am posting updates under another thread, "Just had LIS and sharing my experience". This is my first day post surgery and there will be an update soon.
How did I go about finding a good surgeon? Here is what I did:
First exam, when things weren't bad yet, was with an old physicians assistant. They had booked me for a femal provider, but being a guy I didn't feel comfortable with a female digging around down there. Big mistake. The guy had fingers like a butcher, and I suffered during the digital exam and it made the small fissure much worse.
Eventually I found my current CRS on Yelp. I only wanted a woman, they tend to have smaller fingers! This one had great Yelp reviews, and I was able to make an appointment within a few days.

I'm trying to organise surgery now but finding it somewhat difficult. I'm in Australia. If I go 'private' I have to pay for everything, which could be thousands. At this stage I'm thinking of going 'public' but this means waiting for 6-12 months for a surgeon and i can't pick my surgeon either! But honestly even if I was to go private I don't even know where to start. I can't find reviews for any surgeons in my area. Furthermore, I would like to see about 3 surgeons and talk to them each and try to figure out of they're good or not. I'm not sure how this would go via 'public' health and if I do this via 'private' health I'm having to pay for each appointment. I think I have hemmys too plus a skin tag so the operation might get pricey. No idea what to do

The most important thing is to find a surgeon who performs this operation frequently. That's what you want. I was at a point where getting my life back would have been worth a lot of money to me, and I would have paid a few thousand bucks for this if I had had to. Luckily I didn't and my insurance covered this. But after all, "time is money" and I was spending a LOT of time treating myself. So not getting it done is actually really expensive. I am not familiar with Australia and how to find a CRS. A quick Yelp review comes up with three results (Liverpool and Sydney). Maybe that's a start? Call and explain the problem and ask if they perform LIS, and once you have a specific Doctor ski him/ her how many LIS a month he/she does. On the other hand, the public option my have surgeons who perform this frequently, since they have a lot of patients. How do people in Australia go about this in general, with surgeries, say heart, stomach, etc surgery?

I dont really know to be honest. I found the website of some sort of surgeon society that provides a list of all their members and they have a decent list of surgeons in brisbane. I guess I'll just have to work my way through that list. I am now considering getting it done privately. Like I say though I'm still wondering how people heal up from a lis generally like if they are 100% afterwards because yeh my fissure is hardly painful at all. No pain during bms and just get tight about 30 minutes after for many hours. If i dont apply cream it feels really raw and sore. If I didn't have to put cream in myself I'd possibly be considering not doing anything about it. Having said that it still gets in the way of things. I try to workout with body weight exercises once every couple of weeks or so and I find that doing that aggravates what i think is a hemmorrhoid. Also trouble doing things like getting up from a chair and sitting down quickly, stretching my legs, any sort of sexual activity, even urinating is usually uncomfortable/painful.

Normajeanchariot, well you need a good diagnosis first. Maybe you don't even have a fissure, or only a small one, combined with hemorrhoids? Get it checked out first, then decide what your options are.