Hi -

I am new here and just at my wits end with anxiety and lack of answers. I have been dealing with Anal Fissures for several years - at least five years. They appear all over my anal region. It's at the point now when I feel a large BM coming on, I basically know something is goint to tear. Every time I tear (often in more than one place) they always heal within a few days. However, I've had one at either the 8:00 or 4:00 position that will tear and open, heal and be good for a week or a few weeks and then sure enough, the moment I have a large or hard BM, it tears again.

I'm so scared this is something serious like anal cancer. I just had a second flex sigmoidoscopy in July and that came back completely fine. The Dr said there were no concerns whatsoever. I also had one in 2010 as well, when this all started and when I experienced anal bleeding for the first time. That one was also completely fine.

I've gone to so many doctors (including a CRS about a year and a half ago) and they always say it's just small tears and since they heal, nothing to be concerned about. I've had at least a half dozen DREs, anascopes and two flex sigs, and here I am still having a small tear, or multiple tears, pretty much every month.

Everything I read online says that if the tears are multiple and located in the areas I have them, then they are due to something much more serious like cancer, etc. I don't have HIV or anything like that. Just so scared that this is somehow anal cancer and these docs just keep kissing it.

PLEASE, if anyone else had a similiar situation - multiple fissures located all over the region, that heal quickly but then reappear, please share your story.

Thank you

So I went back to the Colorectal Surgery center today and they did a complete exam. She did a visual inspection, a DRE and an Anoscope exam. She confirmed I have one fissure located at about 7 or 8:00. She said other than that, there is no sign of anything abnormal whatsoever. I asked her if she was concerned about the location of the fissure, and she said she was not. She did say it's not in a common place, but the fact that everything else looks completely normal, she was not at all concerned. Also, she looked at my flex sig results again from July and that there was no inflammation at all reported.

So I guess it's just the one fissure? She put me on a cream (not a steroid cream, but a muscle relaxer and healer combination) and I have to use it for ten weeks.

She told me to let my concerns of something serious go as she was not at all concerned about something serious.

Still, if anyone out there has ever had a fissure located outside of the normal 6:00 position, I'd still love to hear from you and your experience. Please, if someone can write me back about this, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thank you.

Sorry for all these posts, but one more thing. The title of this post says "multiple lateral fissures". I guess I don't have multiple? Just the one? I could have sworn I've had more than one before. She did say something like the one I have is an actual fissure and maybe the other ones I've thought I've had were more like abrasions and not a true fissure? Are there differences? I have noticed that I've gotten really small ones before and they healed almost overnight. This one I have though seems to heal and then a couple weeks later re-opens.

This is so stressful for me. And I just don't have anyone to talk to. Literally nobody knows about this issue I've been having other than the doctors.

I had a fissure at the 9 o'clock position that healed but gets irritated now and then. It was superficial so it healed with the help of ointments I think. It helps to talk about this with those close to you. Yes, bum problems are embarrassing but you'll find that others have dealt with this too and can offer support.

Thank you so much for your reply. Not tha I wish this same situation on other people, but it's at least comforting to know I'm not the only one out there. Mine has also healed well with ointment that the doctor prescribed. I have been following her healing plan and so far, so good. I really hope it stays this way.

I'm glad to hear yours has healed as well.

Thank you again for your reply.

I've also been dealing with recurring fissures in varying locations since Nov 2015. Perfect bowel movements for decades, but still get the fissures. Haven't been scoped yet and no plausible hypothesis for why I'm getting the fissures. On a quest to get answers and solutions!

I feel I have fissure located in anal canal and it’s like glass passing through at times but not like a really deliberating pain but I can tell it tore or something and I bleed. I feel for you and hope things improve.. I think a high fiber diet and more water will help me heal faster as sometimes I BM and no blood what so ever